THE SOUTH LONDON FILM FESTIVAL UNVEILS 2026 PROGRAMME FEATURING TITLES FROM ASHLEY WALTERS AND BASHY ALONGSIDE FILMS BACKED BY JORDAN PEELE, IDRIS ELBA AND WUNMI MOSAKU

South Lon­don is once again put­ting inde­pend­ent cinema, emer­ging tal­ent and power­ful storytelling centre stage as the South Lon­don Film Fest­iv­al returns to Pic­ture­house Ritzy, Brix­ton, from 12–27 Septem­ber 2026 for its sixth edition.

With a pro­gramme span­ning nar­rat­ive film, anim­a­tion, doc­u­ment­ary and music video, this year’s fest­iv­al brings togeth­er estab­lished names and rising voices — with a par­tic­u­larly strong pres­ence of Black Brit­ish tal­ent and stor­ies explor­ing iden­tity, mas­culin­ity, men­tal health, com­munity and the real­it­ies of con­tem­por­ary life.

Among the standout titles is Echoes, dir­ec­ted by Alex Lan­ipekun and star­ring Ash­ley Wal­ters and Nath­alie Emmanuel. The film explores male friend­ship, child­hood trauma and the secrets that can remain bur­ied for years before resurfacing.

There is also How Black Men Lose Their Smile, a stripped-back visu­al piece centred on Ash­ley Thomas, aka Bashy, examin­ing iden­tity, vul­ner­ab­il­ity and the exper­i­ences and micro-aggres­sions that shape the lives of Black men.

Music and film col­lide with the screen­ing of Dave’s “The Boy Who Played the Harp”, dir­ec­ted by Edem Wornoo, bring­ing the BRIT and Mer­cury Prize-win­ning artist’s visu­al world to the big screen.

Anoth­er not­able selec­tion is Star­boy, star­ring Mal­colm Kam­u­lete, Michael Salami and Akai Cole­man. The story fol­lows a rising rap­per forced to con­front the con­sequences of his influ­ence after attend­ing the birth­day party of one of his young fans — offer­ing a timely look at music, respons­ib­il­ity and the impact artists can have on the next generation.

The festival’s Offi­cial Awards Show­case also fea­tures BAF­TA-win­ning anim­a­tion Two Black Boys in Para­dise, based on Dean Atta’s acclaimed poem and nar­rated by Jordan Steph­ens, along­side The Pigs Under­neath, exec­ut­ive pro­duced by Jordan Peele and star­ring Josh Tedeku and Vinette Robinson.

The pro­gramme con­tin­ues with Far From the Plains, star­ring Adoles­cence act­or Amari Bac­chus along­side BRIT-nom­in­ated artist Kojey Rad­ic­al and Faith Alabi. Set against the back­drop of South Lon­don, the film fol­lows a 14-year-old boy find­ing refuge at a stable while his moth­er struggles with depression.

The festival’s clos­ing night, She Owns the Scene Vol. 2, puts women in front of and behind the cam­era in the spot­light. The pro­gramme includes How to Hide It, dir­ec­ted by pro­fes­sion­al box­er and Olympi­an Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore and exec­ut­ive pro­duced by Idris Elba and Sab­rina Elba; MANGO, writ­ten and dir­ec­ted by Joan Iyi­ola and exec­ut­ive pro­duced by BAF­TA-win­ning act­or Wunmi Mosaku; and Leav­ing Ikorodu in 1999, dir­ec­ted by Rashida Seriki and fea­tur­ing Sheila Atim, Tobi Bakre and Tomi Ojo.

The fest­iv­al also presents An Ode to Joy, a World Première dir­ec­ted by Ash­leigh Ash­ley and star­ring legendary act­or Rudolph Walk­er, explor­ing mature love, grief and find­ing a new nor­mal after loss.

For audi­ences inter­ested in the inter­sec­tion of cul­ture, com­munity and social issues, Beloved Ber­mond­sey offers a por­trait of a chan­ging South Lon­don neigh­bour­hood, bring­ing togeth­er teen­agers, long-term res­id­ents and new­er arrivals to reflect on regen­er­a­tion, iden­tity and what the com­munity means to them.

With thou­sands of sub­mis­sions received each year, the South Lon­don Film Fest­iv­al has developed into an import­ant plat­form for inde­pend­ent film­makers from the UK and around the world. Its 2026 edi­tion con­tin­ues that mis­sion while cre­at­ing space for film­maker Q&As, net­work­ing, industry con­ver­sa­tions and career development.

As founder and Man­aging Dir­ect­or Kyriakos Geor­giou puts it, the fest­iv­al was foun­ded on the prin­ciple: “Don’t give people a rule­book. Give them a platform.”

And this year, that plat­form is bring­ing some ser­i­ous tal­ent to Brixton.

South Lon­don Film Fest­iv­al 2026
📍 Pic­ture­house Ritzy, Brixton
📅 12–27 Septem­ber 2026
🎟️ Tick­ets are now on sale at the South Lon­don Film Fest­iv­al website.

For the full pro­gramme and tick­et inform­a­tion, vis­it southlondonfilmfest.co.uk.