Full Inaugural Programme Announced For The Final Film Festival

The Final Film Festival (TFFF) has announced the complete programme for its inaugural edition, taking place across London from August 6th–9th 2026.

Launching as a multi-venue celebration of independent cinema, repertory discoveries and emerging voices, TFFF brings together new international premieres, overlooked classics, special screenings and experimental works across venues including Curzon Soho, ICA, Genesis Cinema, The Nickel Cinema, Picturehouse Finsbury Park, The Castle Cinema, Peckhamplex and Canal Film Club. 

The festival opens with PERFUMANIA, a madcap freewheeling comedy by director/musician Charlotte Ercoli, starring Tim Heidecker, Julia Fox, Kevin Kline and Gina Gershon. It closes with FACES OF DEATH by Conan Le Cillaire (John Alan Schwartz), the 1978 film that gained notoriety in the 80s VHS era, presented as a world premiere of the new restoration. 

A further gala is the UK Premiere of THE TRAINER directed by maverick filmmaker Tony Kaye (American History X) an absurdist romp follows penniless, musclebound “creative genius” Jack Flex on a punk Odyssey through a modern Los Angeles, written by and starring Vito Schnabel with Julia Fox. 

Making a Julia Fox ‘triple bill’ at TFFF is the queer romantic drama PERFECT, the feature debut by music video artist Millicent Hailes. 

The Final Film Festival was founded by independent film programmers Jack Hewitt and Kit Ramsay, with the aim of creating a new home for independent cinema in London, bringing together new voices, rediscovered works and the filmmakers shaping the future of film culture. 

Kit Ramsay says:

“TFFF has come about quickly and excitingly because it’s filling a gap in London’s cinema culture! In an age of ‘online’ cinephilia and taste curation, audiences can find, through various means, a far broader diet than is typical for a four-wall cinema or festival. The fact is that TFFF comes from a few disparate influences; we love the mainstay cinemas and festivals London has to offer, but we also love the pop-up cinema culture found in bar basements all over and the repertory festivals of Bristol and Bologna [Cinema Rediscovered and Il Cinema Ritrovato]. We wanted a festival to exist that housed all that under one programme.” 

Jack Hewitt adds:

“TFFF is best described as an inevitability. With the recent success of similar flavours of festivals like LA Festival of Movies (LAFM) and Brunswick Underground Film Festival (BUFF) there is a clear cultural demand for that brand of filmmaker/ community focused programming. With our programme in particular, Kit and I realised that there is no consistent pipeline for a bulk of films premiering at Tribeca, New/Next, Rotterdam and Locarno to quickly come to London unless a name is attached or it befits an arthouse’s monthly strand. London hasn’t been a hub for independent cinema in decades, we wanted to change that.” 

The programme includes an In Competition section of eight films by emerging filmmakers screening as world and UK premieres exclusively at The Nickel Cinema; while the Out-of-Competition section showcases for the first time in the UK works of indie filmmakers shown at film festivals in the US and internationally, such as – Locarno, San Sebastian, Tallahassee, New/Next Baltimore, Downtown Festival, Berlinale, SXSW, and Tribeca. 

The repertory programmes celebrate rediscovered, underseen and newly re-evaluated works; plus an In Focus: programme celebrating maverick filmmaker, the late Albert Pyun; and a selection presented in collaboration with independent distributor Radiance Films. 

A section of special screenings includes unique current and repertory titles, as well as an In Focus of four shorts from between 1984-1992 by music video director Richard Heslop. 

Alongside feature works TFFF includes a Short Film Showcase that embraces the friction between different forms and perspectives in filmmaking. 

For full programme details and tickets, visit tfffestival.co.uk. And @tff_festival on Instagram. 

In Competition 

The festival’s inaugural competition strand showcases emerging filmmakers from across the world, screening exclusively at The Nickel Cinema. 

National Sport — William North 

Hard Time Love — Joao Pedro Faro 

Eramus — Oliver James Hunt 

Softshell — Jinho Myung 

Plane Film — Orla Smith 

Affection Affection — Alexia Walther & Maxime Matray 

Sitting Idle — Luke Olutunmogun 

Belief Is Not Without Pathos — Owen Vince 

Gala Screenings 

*Opening Night* Perfumania — Charlotte Ercoli, UK Premiere, Thursday 6 August, Curzon Soho Preceded By The Belt — Adrian Anderson (Co-Director Of Pomp & Circumstance) 

*Closing Night* Faces Of Death — Conan Le Cillaire (John Alan Schwartz), (USA, 1978), New Restoration World Premiere, Sunday 9 August, Genesis Cinema 

With an intro by filmmaker Daniel Goldhaber whose upcoming reimagining of the original stars Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery

*Gala* The Trainer — Tony Kaye, Uk Premiere, Sunday 9 August, Genesis Cinema Followed By Live Q&A With Tony Kaye And Preceded By Mirror Mirror — Eema Kaye 

Out Of Competition 

The Out-Of-Competition Section Showcases For The First Time In The Uk Works Of Indie Filmmakers Shown At Film Festivals In The Us And Internationally. 

A. Rimbaud — Patrick Wang 

Camping Du Lac — Eléonore Saintagnan 

Cece’s Interlude — Tee Park 

City Wide Fever — Josh Heaps 

Drinking & Driving — Jillian Frank And Avalon Fast 

Imaginal Disk — Amanda Kramer 

Perfect — Millicent Hailes 

Pomp And Circumstance — Adrian Anderson & Patrick Gray 

Python Hunt — Xander Robin 

The Trainer — Tony Kaye 

Women As Lovers — Koxi 

You Sorta Know It’s Going To End — Kalil Haddad & Ryan Steel (Hosted By Lucy Peter Of Electric Blue Cinema) 

Repertory Programme 

Tfff’s Repertory Programme Celebrates Rediscovered, Underseen And Newly Reevaluated Works: 

Godmonster Of Indian Flats — Frederic Hobbs (USA, 1973) 

The Hereafter — Michael J. Murphy (UK, 1983) 

Pola X — Leos Carax (France, 1999) 

Personal Problems — Bill Gunn (USA, 1980) New Restoration 

Surge Of Power: The Stuff Of Heroes — Mike Donahue (USA, 2005) – Hellbreeder — Johannes Roberts & James Eaves (UK, 2004) 

Herostratus — Don Levy (UK, 1967) (Hosted By Georgia Hunter Of Siren Screen) – Image Of The Beast — Donald W. Thompson (USA, 1981) (Preceded By Short The Daylight Zone Introduced By Screenwriter Maurielle Mcgarvey) 

In The Dark — Ned Caderni (Usa, 2000) 

In Focus: Albert Pyun 

Tfff presents a dedicated strand celebrating the work of maverick filmmaker Albert Pyun (1953-2022), His singular sision, and the enduring creative power of cinematic spaces that exist defiantly outside the mainstream. 

Alien From L.A. (USA, 1988) 

Nemesis (USA, 1992) 

Radioactive Dreams (USA, 1984) 

Captain America (USA, 1990) Director’s Cut UK Premiere 

Radiance Partnership 

In collaboration with independent distributor and label Radiance Films, Tfff will present a selection of repertory titles across the festival weekend At Genesis Cinema:

White God, Black Death — Glauber Rocha (Brazil, 1964) 

Hi, Mom! — Brian De Palma (USA, 1970) 

The Dancing Hawk — Grzegorz Krolikiewicz (Poland, 1978) 

Special Screenings 

The festival will also feature A Selection Of Unique Events: 

The Astrologer — Craig Dennehy (USA, 1976) presented With Tarot – House Of The Dead — Uwe Boll (Usa, Canada, Germany, 2003) followed by a late-night party in the woods wourtesy of Canal Film Club 

Surprise – Pete Hewitt (UK, 2011) 

In Focus: Richard Heslop Shorts 

Short Film Showcase 

TFFF presents a selection of short works exploring new forms of storytelling and moving image practice: 

Good Cock, Bad Cock — Nelly Dansen 

Maidenhair — Julia Sipowicz 

Murder Him in Your Mind — Sophie Monks Kaufman & Lisa Schnepp

Route 310 — Julia Mervis 

Sea Within Yourself — Polina Kuzminska 

Swimming Lessons — Ned Caderni 

Talismans — Lada Kopytova 

Total Coverage — Julian Barahona Rhi & Cheyenne Terborg