London Palestine Film Festival (LPFF) returns this November with a programme of fiction, documentary and short films showcasing the richness of Palestinian life through lived experiences and everyday realities. From UK Premieres and new films made in Gaza to archival works and filmmaker conversations, the festival brings a wide range of stories to cinema screens across London from 13th to 27th November.
The festival opens on Friday, November 13th at the Barbican with the UK Premiere of Who Is Still Alive, directed by Nicolas Wadimoff. Nine voices from Gaza speak about the loved ones they have lost, sharing memories of their lives before and amid the destruction in the neighbourhoods whose outlines they draw in chalk on the ground. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Wadimoff and Jawdat Khoudary, one of the film’s participants and founder of Gaza’s Al Mat’haf archaeology museum. A second screening follows the next afternoon.
LPFF 2026 concludes on Friday, November 27th at Curzon Mayfair with Conversation with the Sea, directed by Muayad Alayan. Following its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film tells the story of a father in Jerusalem searching for the truth about his son, who was believed to have drowned twenty years earlier.
Among the programme highlights is a tribute to Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri, screening at both Rio Cinema and Riverside Studios. His son, actor Saleh Bakri, will join audiences for a discussion after each screening. Edward Said: Between Worlds, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, also screens twice. Directed by Maiken Baird and made with access to the Said family archives, the documentary traces Said’s life from Jerusalem to New York in his own words. The screening on November 15 at Cine Lumiere will be followed by a conversation with Baird.
At the ICA, a double bill of Here and Elsewhere (Ici et Ailleurs) and Godard in America revisits Jean-Luc Godard’s unfinished film project about Palestinian resistance. The programme also includes Land of Canaan, Maggie Lemere’s documentary about Palestinian olive farmers, screening in partnership with Zaytoun. Further titles include Life Support, presented in partnership with Health Workers for Palestine; Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me; the UK Premiere of Who Killed Alex Odeh?; and three programmes of short films from Gaza, the West Bank and the diaspora.
Khaled Ziada, Founder and Director of London Palestine Film Festival, states, “Founded in the late 90s, the annual two-week film festival continues to create spaces of discussion. Each edition spotlights stories of political realities as experienced by Palestinians, both at home and in the diaspora, through the creative lens of cinema. This year’s programme keeps Gaza at its heart, opening with Who is Still Alive, Nicolas Wadimoff’s most recent documentary mapping Gaza through the stories of nine refugees, and featuring a number of short films documenting the realities on the ground in Gaza. We also celebrate the nuances of the life and legacy of Edward Said, from Jerusalem to New York, exile and belonging, and pay tribute to Mohammad Bakri and his extensive career in cinema and theatre.”
Full Programme of Events
Friday, 13 November at 8.00pm – Barbican Cinema 1
Opening Night / UK Premiere: Who Is Still Alive (115 min)
Followed by a conversation with Nicolas Wadimoff and Jawdat Khoudary
Presented in partnership with The Galilee Foundation
Saturday, 14 November at 3.00pm – Barbican Cinema 1
Who Is Still Alive (115 min)
Followed by a conversation with Nicolas Wadimoff and Jawdat Khoudary
Presented in partnership with The Galilee Foundation
Saturday, 14 November at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
UK Premiere: Who Killed Alex Odeh? (84 min)
Sunday, 15 November at 2.00pm – Ciné Lumière
Edward Said: Between Worlds (107 min)
Followed by a conversation with Maiken Baird
Sunday, 15 November at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Partition and The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing (77 min)
Followed by a conversation with Diana Allan and Theo Panagopoulos
Monday, 16 November at 8.00pm – Barbican Cinema 3
From Ground Zero+ Shorts (103 min)
Gaza to Oscar, Very Small Dreams, Colours Under the Sky, Dreams of Farah and Zahra and Unfinished Stories
Tuesday, 17 November at 6.20pm – Curzon Hoxton, Screen 1
Gaza Shorts (81 min)
all that appears solid is built on blood, What the Sand Remembers, The Scene and Hassan
Followed by a guided discussion facilitated by Hekayyatna
Tuesday, 17 November at 7.30pm – Ropetackle Arts Centre (Shoreham, West Sussex)
Land of Canaan (87 min)
Tuesday, 17 November at 8.00pm – Sands Films
A Man Fell (70 min)
Wednesday, 18 November at 6.20pm – Curzon Hoxton, Screen 1
Shorts Programme (101 min)
Kentucky Gaza, Gaza Bride 17, Coyotes, the salt fisherman and Stuck
Wednesday, 18 November at 8.15pm – Barbican Cinema 2
Habibi Hussein (96 min)
Followed by a conversation with Alex Bakri
Thursday, 19 November at 6.00pm – Rio Cinema
A Life in Cinema: A Tribute to Mohammad Bakri (124 min)
Followed by a discussion with Saleh Bakri
Thursday, 19 November at 8.45pm – Barbican Cinema 2
Do You Love Me (75 min)
Friday, 20 November at 8.00pm – Riverside Studios, Screen 1
A Life in Cinema: A Tribute to Mohammad Bakri (124 min)
Followed by a discussion with Saleh Bakri
Saturday, 21 November at 5.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Life Support (93 min)
Followed by a conversation with Daniele Rugo, Prof Nick Maynard and Dr Tanya Haj Hassan
Presented in partnership with Health Workers for Palestine
Saturday, 21 November at 5.40pm – Curzon Soho, Screen 1
Mediterranean Fever (108 min)
Followed by a conversation with Maha Haj
Saturday, 21 November at 8.00pm – Riverside Studios, Screen 1
The Clown of Gaza and One More Show (132 min)
Sunday, 22 November at 2.00pm – Rio Cinema
Edward Said: Between Worlds (107 min)
Sunday, 22 November at 4.10pm – The Garden Cinema
Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me (96 min)
Sunday, 22 November at 6.00pm – ICA, Screen 1
Revolutionaries Never Die (89 min)
Followed by a discussion with Elhum Shakerifar
Sunday, 22 November at 8.00pm – Riverside Studios, Screen 1
Lovely Butterfly and For Life (110 min)
Monday, 23 November at 6.20pm – Curzon Soho, Screen 1
Chronicles from the Siege (98 min)
Tuesday, 24 November at 8.00pm – Sands Films
Madleens (49 min)
Followed by a guided discussion facilitated by Hekayyatna
Wednesday, 25 November at 6.30pm – Curzon Hoxton, Screen 1
Palestinian Unwanted and Another Day Shall Come (89 min)
Wednesday, 25 November at 8.30pm – ICA, Screen 1
Here and Elsewhere and Godard in America (98 min)
Followed by a conversation with Jamal Awar, Abla Kandalaaft and Claire Nicolas
Thursday, 26 November at 6.00pm – Rio Cinema
Land of Canaan (87 min)
Presented in partnership with Zaytoun
Thursday, 26 November at 6.20pm – Bertha DocHouse
Concrete Land (101 min)
Friday, 27 November at 6.00pm – Curzon Mayfair
Closing Night: Conversation with the Sea (112 min)
