BFI | Features and reviews

Beloved for his roles in films from Dead Calm to Jurassic Park, Sam Neill – who has died aged 78 – was a vital figure in New Zealand cinema who, in 1995, made a documentary for the BFI offering thoughtful reflections on the unease and troubled political history permeating his nation’s filmmaking.

Pithy, playful, provocative – video essays have emerged as a major form of cultural commentary since the dawn of online video sites in the mid 2000s. Here we introduce the five video essay makers whose work we’ve selected for preserving in the BFI National Archive.

Our season of Chabrol’s cool, deliciously wicked thrillers runs at BFI Southbank from 1 September to 6 October, with a BFI Distribution re-release of La Femme infidèle returning to cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 11 September.

Filmmakers from Bong Joon Ho to John Woo pay tribute to the critic, curator and translator Tony Rayns (1948-2026), whose support and friendship shaped their careers.

As Sumitra Peries’s remarkable 1978 coming-of-age drama The Girls returns in a new restoration, we present a 10-film introduction to the often under-recognised cinema of Sri Lanka.