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Our top 10 films to see at Leeds International Film Festival
30th October 2025
Celebrate 39 years of the Leeds International Film Festival
With over 260 films showing, between the 30th October and 16th November, at venues including Hyde Park Picture House, Cottage Road Cinema & Howard Assembly Room, there is a movie for everyone to choose from. With Brazilian cinema, genre movies, UK premieres, documentaries, a Night of the Dead marathon of horror, classics and much much more!!!
Did you know Leeds International Film Festival also offers a range of passes from the LITE PASS with 6 individual tickets to any screening, all the way to the EXPLORER GOLD PASS where there is no limit to the movies you see and discounts at several independent restaurants, bars and cafes!
We’ve compiled our team’s top 10 choices to see this year:
BLUE MOON
Hyde Park Picture House | 30th October
Not just the opening film for the Leeds International Film Festival, but this movie is about an opening night too. As Lorenz Hart, Ethan Hawke delivers a career-best performance, waiting for his former collaborator at the afterparty for Broadway show Oklahoma! A witty yet melancholic portrait of friendship, art, and faded glory.
THE CHORAL
Hyde Park Picture House | 31st Oct
From director Nicholas Hytner and Leeds writer Alan Bennett, this WW1 period drama comedy was filmed locally in Saltaire. Chorus master Dr. Henry Guthrie, played by Ralph Fiennes, recruits those left behind as the war rages on the Western Front to continue making music for the local community.
SPACE CADET
Vue in the Light | 1st Nov
Hyde Park Picture House | 9th Nov
Based on the graphic novel, this animated movie is also unique in its lack of dialogue. As young astronaut Celeste goes on her first space mission, her guardian robot reflects on their time together as he is left by himself. A heart-warming tale for all the family with themes of loss and grief.
PILLION
Hyde Park Picture House | 4th Nov
Pictureville | 7th Nov
Vue in the Light | 9th & 13th Nov
Cottage Road Cinema | 16th Nov
One of the highlights of the year with it’s red carpet premiere going viral online. This moving portrait of love and self-discovery stars Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård as a mild-mannered young man and a biker entering into a relationship.
THAT SUMMER IN PARIS
Vue in the Light | 6th & 12th Nov
Howard Assembly Room | 9th Nov
Set during the 2024 Paris Olympics, Blandine leaves her quiet life in Normandy to see her favourite swimmer and reconnect with her half sister. A tender and vibrant story about family, identity and quiet transformation.
Book That Summer in Paris here.
FWENDS
Everyman Cinema at Trinity Leeds | 8th & 10th Nov
An almost entirely improvised movie about two friends reuniting for a weekend in Melbourne and having to distract themselves for an uncertain future as adults. The first feature length film from director Sophie Somerville, it was also shot on a budget of only 5,000 Australian dollars.
TRAINS
Howard Assembly Room | 9th Nov
The Leeds Library | 10th Nov
Elegantly compiled from wordless black and white archive footage, Trains is a sweeping history of people, industry and conflict in twentieth century Europe, all focussed on one piece of life changing technology – the locomotive. See it on the 9th Nov at the Howard Assembly Room or on the 10th Nov at The Leeds Library.
THE GIRL WHO STOLE TIME
Vue in the Light | 1st & 9th Nov
Check out the UK premiere of this fast-paced fantasy action adventure about a humble village girl who gains the ability to stop time. The film is in Mandarin with English subtitles so suited more for older children and adults.
Book The Girl Who Stole Time here.
YALLA PARKOUR
Hyde Park Picture House | 12th Nov
Mill Hill Chapel | 13th Nov
Presented in partnership with the Leeds Palestinian Film Festival, this documentary follows an online friendship between the director and a young parkour artist in Gaza. An exploration of homeland and a nail-biting sports tale.
MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE
Howard Assembly Room | 7th & 9th Nov
Chapel FM | 11th Nov
Elegance Bratton takes the audience on a musical journey from late 70s Chicago to modern pop, and how house music was shaped by technological innovations and the Black and queer communities.
BONUS!
QUEENS OF THE DEAD
Hyde Park Picture House | 14th & 15th Nov
A closing film to the Leeds International Film Festival and headliner for The Night of the Dead marathon, this outrageous horror-comedy shows the patrons of a queer warehouse party in Brooklyn fighting a zombie apocalypse, featuring queer icons Nina West, Dominique Jackson, Margaret Cho and Cheyenne Jackson.
Find the whole programme of movies, shorts and details about accessible performances over at leedsfilm.com.
* copy from the Leeds International Film Festival programme.