CINECITY Brighton Film Festival returns from Friday 6 to Sunday 15 November 2026 for its 24th edition, with world cinema, previews of new films, a live-scored silent classic and Q&As across Brighton, Falmer and Lewes. The programme below comes from the festival’s own what’s on page, which lists every screening with times, venues and booking links.
Dates. Friday 6 to Sunday 15 November 2026, with three events after it.
Venues. Duke of York’s Picturehouse, Dukes at Komedia and Fabrica in Brighton, The Dance Space, the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts at Falmer, Depot in Lewes, and The Garden Cafe in St Ann’s Well Gardens, Hove.
Opening night. I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning at the Duke of York’s, Friday 6 November at 6pm.
Closing night. Elsinore at the Duke of York’s, Sunday 15 November at 9pm.
Tickets. Booked through each venue, with links on the festival site. The festival has posted a “selling fast” notice.
Opening and closing films
The festival opens with I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, directed by Clio Barnard from a script by Enda Walsh. The festival describes it as a tender look at friendship among five childhood friends from Birmingham who are now in their thirties and struggling with money worries, unfulfilled dreams and secrets coming to light. The cast includes Anthony Boyle, Daryl McCormack, Jay Lycurgo, Lola Petticrew and Joe Cole. It is rated 15, runs for 110 minutes and is shown a second time at the Attenborough Centre at 6.30pm on Wednesday 11 November.
The festival closes with Elsinore, directed by Simon Stone. Andrew Scott plays the actor Ian Charleson in his final months, when he was invited to play Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1989 while few people knew he was dying of AIDS. Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn and Luke Thompson are also in the cast, and the film runs for 104 minutes.
Previews and award winners
The programme includes one-off screenings of films before their UK release. The festival lists Minotaur, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s drama set in Russia in 2022, as a winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes. Josephine, directed by Beth de Araújo, is listed as winner of the Grand Jury Dramatic Prize at Sundance, and it is rated 18. Rose, directed by Markus Schleinzer, is described as a film in which Sandra Hüller won the Silver Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for her performance. Other previews include Jordan Firstman’s debut feature Club Kid, which the festival calls one of the standouts at this year’s Cannes, James Gray’s Paper Tiger with Adam Driver, Miles Teller and Scarlett Johansson, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, which the festival says is widely rumoured to be his last film as director. Ben’Imana, a Rwandan debut, is described as award-winning.
Day by day
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November
Opening night is at the Duke of York’s at 6pm on Friday. On Saturday, The Archivist is at Depot in Lewes at 2pm with a Q&A, and Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut is at the Duke of York’s at 5pm.
Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November
Sunday starts at the Duke of York’s at 11am with All of a Sudden, a French-language film by Hamaguchi, and continues with Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Violette at Dukes at Komedia at 3pm, King Auk at Depot at 3.15pm with a Q&A, and Rose at the Duke of York’s at 5.45pm. The 36-hour Film Challenge, showing student films made in 36 hours, is at the Attenborough Centre at 8.30pm. On Monday, Josephine is at Depot at 5.45pm, the Desmond Tutu documentary Tutu is at Dukes at Komedia at 6pm, a Quay Brothers animation and drawing event is at Fabrica at 6.30pm, and Big Girls Don’t Cry is at the Duke of York’s at 8pm with a Q&A.
Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November
Tuesday’s screenings are Paper Tiger at the Duke of York’s at 6pm, New Voices at Fabrica at 6.30pm, which shows short films by local filmmakers aged 16 to 25, Coward at Dukes at Komedia at 8.30pm, and The Illusion of a Quiet Night, filmed across Ukraine in one night, at Depot at 8.30pm. On Wednesday, Ben’Imana is at Dukes at Komedia at 6pm, the second showing of the opening film is at the Attenborough Centre at 6.30pm, CineCity Open, a programme of local shorts chosen from open submissions, is at Fabrica at 6.30pm, and Minotaur is at the Duke of York’s at 8.15pm.
Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November
Thursday brings The Education of Jane Cumming, a 19th-century Edinburgh drama, at Depot at 5.50pm, Danny Boyle’s Ink about the launch of The Sun at the Duke of York’s at 6pm, Son of the White Mare at Fabrica at 6.30pm, and Mouse at Dukes at Komedia at 8.30pm. On Friday, Tender Loving Care is at the Duke of York’s at 6.30pm and Clarissa, a reimagining of Mrs Dalloway set in Lagos, is at Depot at 8.15pm. The 1925 silent film The Phantom of the Opera is at Fabrica at 9.30pm, presented by Melting Vinyl with a new live score written and performed by the Scottish composers Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman. It is rated 18.
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November
Saturday is the busiest day. The Dance Space hosts Brighton Screendance programmes at 1pm, 4pm and 6.30pm. Sheep in the Box is at Dukes at Komedia at 2pm and the U-rated family film Maya, Give Me a Title is at Fabrica at 2pm. Nuisance Bear is at Depot at 4pm with a Q&A, Ultimate Thunder, a documentary about a Leeds punk band, is at the Attenborough Centre at 6pm with a Q&A, and Club Kid is at the Duke of York’s at 8pm. On Sunday, Silent Friend is at Depot at 1.30pm, A Long Winter by Andrew Haigh is at the Duke of York’s at 5.30pm with a Q&A, and the festival closes with Elsinore at 9pm.
After the festival
Three events follow the main dates, according to the festival’s page. On Saturday 21 November at 1.30pm and 3pm there is a free walk and talk titled Where Was the Film Studio? at The Garden Cafe in St Ann’s Well Gardens, Hove, with Frank Gray. A networking event for film programmers is at Fabrica on Tuesday 24 November at 6.30pm, and The Film Factory: Bertie and Laura’s Films, on early British cinema history, is at The Garden Cafe on Thursday 26 November at 6.30pm.
Before you book
The programme is the festival’s own at the time of writing and times can change, so check the venue’s booking page before you go. Each venue sets its own prices and accessibility information. Full details are on the festival website.
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