BFI are delighted to announce details for our January season, DAVID LYNCH: THE DREAMER at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX (1 January – 1 February), paying tribute to a true multidisciplinary artist and unique visionary. Honouring David Lynch’s enduring influence and legacy the programme is a chance for reflection a year on from his passing and what would have been his 80th birthday. The season, curated by BFI Lead Programmer Kimberley Sheehan and Head of Cinema Programme Justin Johnson, includes his great masterpieces screening at BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX as well as a selection available on BFI Player, his innovative short films and playful digital experiments, documentary portraits, including a preview of new documentary WELCOME TO LYNCHLAND (Stéphane Ghez, 2025), plus a series of contextual events and a TWIN PEAKS inspired immersive installation. Full season listings available here

Although he was a certified grandmaster of the surreal, and frequently characterised as a maker of challenging films, the true defining quality of David Lynch’s work is its power to connect with audiences. He crafted distinct dreamscapes, through his rich visuals, idiosyncratic music choices and haunting sound design, that are charged with human emotion, moving us to both frightening and nostalgic places and taking us on journeys to examine and understand the darkness that lurks under everyday pristine facades. Lynch embraced a spectrum of creative outlets. Unarguably one of the most influential filmmakers of the last 50 years, David Lynch’s brilliance reshaped cinema, television, music, art and the internet, leaving his mark and creating some of the most iconic moments that continue to reverberate in popular culture. Lynch challenged our perceptions of what art could be, and whatever his medium, he was an artist of pure singular visions without compromise. His very name an adjective that has entered the cinematic lexicon. 

Introducing the season on 7 January THE CINEMATIC VISIONS OF DAVID LYNCH will include contributions from writer Simran Hans (writer and guest host for Mubi’s Ladies of Lynch Podcast) and author Tom Huddleston (author of David Lynch: His Work, His World), will consider the defining elements of Lynch’s original visual style and sound design, alongside his work outside of cinema and his immense influence on a generation of artists and filmmakers.  

The BFI Southbank includes screenings of ERASERHEAD (1977), THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980), including a screening introduced by actor and filmmaker Dexter Fletcher on 27 January, DUNE (1984), BLUE VELVET (1986), WILD AT HEART (1990), LOST HIGHWAY (1997), THE STRAIGHT STORY (1999), MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) and INLAND EMPIRE (2006). There’s also the opportunity to experience Lynch’s universe on the UK’s biggest screen at BFI IMAX with screenings of ERASERHEAD (11 January), BLUE VELVET (12 January), WILD AT HEART (18 January), LOST HIGHWAY (1 February) and MULHOLLAND DRIVE (25 January). Several of Lynch’s films will also be available on BFI Player.

Jon Nguyen’s intimate documentary portrait, DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE (2016), is an engaging insight into Lynch’s personal philosophy for leading a creative life. We also preview new documentary, WELCOME TO LYNCHLAND (Stéphane Ghez, 2025) on 3 January. Ghez’s film takes the viewer on a journey through the life and career of David Lynch, weaving in perspectives from some of his closest collaborators including Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini and Sabrina Sutherland. 

Throughout his career, Lynch also harboured an enthusiasm for short-form work and animation, THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH on 11 January will present six of his shorts, including The Alphabet (1968) and The Grandmother (1970) followed by all eight episodes of his animated web series DUMBLAND (2002). Lynch was an early adopter in embracing the potential for digital video and was a pioneer of using the internet as a creative medium in his work. Using his website DavidLynch.com as a raw sketchbook these digital videos burst with experimental, sometimes haunting, often playful pieces, which he wrote, directed and scored himself. In 2006, he compiled the best of these into DYNAMIC: 01 (2006) screening on 9 January. 

Audiences will also get to immerse themselves in the world of TWIN PEAKS. The BFI National Archive’s pristine 35mm print of TWIN PEAKS – ORIGINAL US PILOT (1990) was used for the BBC original broadcast in October 1990 and was a massive hit recently at the Film on Film Festival in June when it screened for our closing night. The archive print will enjoy a repeat screening on 12 January introduced by the BFI National Archive’s Senior Curator Lisa Kerrigan. Lynch’s cinematic masterpiece, his TWIN PEAKS prequel, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) will include a screening on 13 January followed by a discussion about the importance of Lynch’s work to the trans community hosted by Sarah Cleary, curator of Funeral Parade presents. Plus, there is a rare screening of TWIN PEAKS: THE MISSING PIECES (2014), Lynch’s companion piece made twenty years after TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME. Assembled from deleted scenes and alternative takes, TWIN PEAKS: THE MISSING PIECES is essential viewing for all TWIN PEAKS completists. We’ll also be screening TWIN PEAKS: FIRE FALK WITH ME and TWIN PEAKS: THE MISSING PIECES as a David Lynch birthday double bill on 20 January.

Elsewhere guests at BFI Southbank throughout January can also step into another dimension to visit TWIN PEAKS Black Lodge and immerse themselves in a special installation, recreating the show’s iconic Red Room complete with velvet drapes and chevron flooring with a space curated by Lindsey Bowden, producer of Twin Peaks  UK Festival, A Gathering of Angels.   

Further special events will include the return of our Philosophical Screens series on 15 January which will take a drive down David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY, when Lucy Bolton, Ben Tyrer and Catherine Wheatley will navigate the twists and turns of Lynch’s neo-noir nightmare. In partnership with Stims Collective we host a relaxed screening of Lynch’s WILD AT HEART for neurodivergent audiences on 12 January, including a post screening discussion with filmmaker and Stims Collective co-founder Georgia Kumari Bradburn. Elsewhere, two relaxed Sip and Paint painting sessions, themed around TWIN PEAKS on 12 January and the Lynch “art life” on 31 January, will pay homage to the filmmaker’s first passion, painting, the creative output he always returned to. Acrylic paint and mini canvases will be provided.

Join us on the dancefloor for a fusion of music and digital art projections inspired by the films and work of David Lynch at our David Lynch VJ Night on 17 January, when our VJs will create a unique audiovisual experience across the dancefloor. Do you know where you could find Winkie’s Diner and the Double R Diner? If so, pull up your favourite log and join us for a Lynch-loaded film quiz, David Lynch Quiz on 30 January. In addition, City Lit host a four-week course, CITY LIT AT THE BFI: THE INTERPRETATIONS OF LYNCHIAN DREAMS exploring Lynch’s cinema from multiple angles. Through a range of perspectives, tutors Mary Wild and Paul Sutton will trace how Lynch’s films blur the realms of reality and dreams.