What's On This Week: Possible Love, Look Back and a Linda Linda Linda Q&A
What's On
What's On This Week: Possible Love, Look Back and a Linda Linda Linda Q&A
Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October 2026: the London Film Festival's final week, Ben Whishaw at the Rio, Mayhem in Nottingham and MilkTea's East of Punk at Picturehouse
The BFI London Film Festival enters its last week, with Wednesday the biggest day for East Asian cinema. Alongside it, the Rio in Dalston has Ben Whishaw introducing a Tsai Ming-liang classic, Mayhem opens in Nottingham, and MilkTea brings LINDA LINDA LINDA back to the big screen with a Q&A.
Here is everything East Asian that is on, day by day, with a look at the fortnight ahead. Times come from each venue's own page where possible, so check before you travel.
Tuesday 13 October
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE on 35mm
Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong, Prince Charles Cinema, London, 3:15pm
Prince Charles Cinema screens IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000) on 35mm at 3:15pm, a second chance after last Thursday's lunchtime show. Wong Kar-wai's 1962 Hong Kong romance, with Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung as neighbours who slowly realise their spouses are having an affair, still looks extraordinary on film.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, directed by Wong Kar-wai, Prince Charles Cinema, Tuesday 13 October, 3:15pm, 35mm
If you want it at home as well, the Criterion Blu-ray of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is on the Terracotta store.
Wednesday 14 October
The big East Asian day at the London Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival, 7 to 18 October, London and UK-wide
Four East Asian titles play on Wednesday at the London Film Festival:
POSSIBLE LOVE, 2:15pm, Royal Festival Hall. Lee Chang-dong's first film since BURNING in 2018 won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice, with Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong as two couples whose lives become entangled after a funeral.
POSSIBLE LOVE, directed by Lee Chang-dong, LFF, Wednesday 14 October, 2:15pm, Royal Festival Hall
GODZILLA MINUS ZERO, 5:30pm, BFI IMAX. Takashi Yamazaki's sequel, set in 1949 as another monster threat emerges. It plays the IMAX again on Friday 16 October, and at Prince Charles Cinema that evening at 5:30pm. Our GODZILLA MINUS ONE 4K UHD is in stock if you want to catch up first.
LOOK BACK, 5:45pm, BFI Southbank. Hirokazu Kore-eda's live-action adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga, about two women pursuing manga artistry whose partnership grows into a deep friendship, is in the festival's official competition. It plays again on Friday 16 October at 12:55pm at Vue West End, and on Saturday 17 October at 5:40pm at Prince Charles Cinema. To catch up with Kore-eda, AFTER LIFE, MABOROSI and THE SHOPLIFTERS are on the Terracotta store.
LOOK BACK, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, LFF competition, Wednesday 14 October, 5:45pm, BFI Southbank
EASTER, 6:40pm, ICA. Mokya Shin's documentary follows an ageing Korean trans burlesque performer as she reflects on love and her career.
Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October
Mayhem opens in Nottingham
Mayhem Film Festival, Broadway, Nottingham
Mayhem Film Festival runs at Broadway from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 October, with three Asian titles. YOU ARE THE FILM, Makoto Ueda's 68 minute Japanese sci-fi comedy, plays on Friday 16 October at 4:15pm (Third Window Films handles its physical release). GHOST IN THE CELL, Joko Anwar's Indonesian prison horror, plays on Saturday 17 October at 6:45pm. And NEVER AFTER DARK, Dave Boyle's Japanese horror about a travelling psychic who helps lost souls cross over, plays on Sunday 18 October at 6:45pm. It plays again at Celluloid Screams in Sheffield on 25 October.
NEVER AFTER DARK, directed by Dave Boyle, Mayhem, Sunday 18 October, 6:45pm
If the original J-horror is more your speed, RING is on our shelves.
Friday 16 October
Ben Whishaw introduces Goodbye, Dragon Inn at the Rio
Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, Rio Cinema, Dalston, 8:15pm
The Rio Cinema in Dalston celebrates its 50th year with the Rio Forever season, and on Friday Ben Whishaw introduces one of his favourite films, Tsai Ming-liang's GOODBYE, DRAGON INN (2003), at 8:15pm. It is set in a crumbling Taipei cinema on the night of its last screening of King Hu's DRAGON INN, and the Rio calls it a slow-cinema masterpiece. Apichatpong Weerasethakul has described it as the best film of the last 125 years.
GOODBYE, DRAGON INN, directed by Tsai Ming-liang, Rio Cinema, Friday 16 October, 8:15pm, introduced by Ben Whishaw
Our GOODBYE, DRAGON INN Blu-ray is on the Terracotta store.
Also on Friday: the Garden Cinema in Covent Garden hosts a free screening of the Korean drama DEAR X from 6pm, with a talk from CJ ENM, part of the Korean Cultural Centre UK's Curated Korea season. Places are limited and booked by registration, and attendance is confirmed by email. And Michelle Yeoh stars in the Chinese drama IT'S MY TIME, which opens in UK cinemas on 16 October, mainly outside London.
Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October
LINDA LINDA LINDA, with a Q&A
Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan, 2005, 4K restoration
Nobuhiro Yamashita's cult classic LINDA LINDA LINDA returns in a 4K restoration. Three days before their school festival, a girl band is down to three members, so they recruit the first person who walks past as their singer: Son, played by Bae Doona, a Korean exchange student who barely speaks Japanese. They have almost no time to learn three songs, including The Blue Hearts' punk anthem.
On Saturday 17 October, Japanese Film Club screens the restoration at Dukes at Komedia in Brighton (5:30pm) and Montrose Playhouse (6pm). On Sunday 18 October at 2pm, MilkTea presents it with a Q&A at Picturehouse Finsbury Park. It is the first of three events in MilkTea and Picturehouse's EAST OF PUNK season, developed in response to the BFI's Rip It Up season, which traces how cultures travel, starting with punk's journey from the UK to Japan and opening out into British East and Southeast Asian youth cultures as they are lived today.
LINDA LINDA LINDA, directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita, MilkTea presents with Q&A, Picturehouse Finsbury Park, Sunday 18 October, 2pm
The season continues with a preview of IN WAVES at Picturehouse Central on Tuesday 20 October at 6:30pm, and MIXTAPE: YOUTH EDITION with a Q&A at Picturehouse Finsbury Park on Thursday 22 October at 8pm.
Also on Saturday, Japanese Film Club has TOKYO SONATA at the Rio (5:45pm) and a 4K restoration of SHALL WE DANCE? at Ciné Lumière (5:45pm), and Prince Charles Cinema plays LOOK BACK at 5:40pm. On Sunday, the last day of the London Film Festival, POSSIBLE LOVE plays at Vue West End at 12pm.
Outside London
In Nottingham, Mayhem runs from Thursday to Sunday (above). In Brighton and Montrose, LINDA LINDA LINDA plays on Saturday. On Tuesday 20 October, POSSIBLE LOVE previews at Picturehouses in Bath, Brighton (Duke's at Komedia), Cambridge, Chester, Edinburgh (the Cameo), Epsom, Henley, Norwich, Oxford, Southampton and York, and it runs at Watershed in Bristol from 23 October. From 22 October, the Cambridge Film Festival runs to 1 November, with Ryusuke Hamaguchi's ALL OF A SUDDEN at the Arts Picturehouse on Saturday 24 October at 4:15pm. And in Sheffield, Celluloid Screams runs from 22 to 25 October.
Coming Up
Tuesday 20 October: POSSIBLE LOVE previews, and it opens on Friday 23 October. Lee Chang-dong's film arrives in UK cinemas for a limited run before its Netflix release, including Riverside Studios in London. If you want to catch up on Lee Chang-dong first, OASIS is on the Terracotta store.
Wednesday 21 October: NO OTHER CHOICE at the ICA. Park Chan-wook's film plays as part of the ICA's Artist's Film Picks, programmed by Autumn Knight.
From Thursday 22 October: the Shohei Imamura season at the ICA. The ICA opens what it calls the first major retrospective of Imamura's work in the UK in more than twenty-five years, running to 13 December. It begins with STOLEN DESIRE on Thursday 22 October at 6:30pm, then ENDLESS DESIRE on Saturday 24 October at 4pm and a double bill of NISHI GINZA STATION and MY SECOND BROTHER on Sunday 25 October at 2:30pm, with PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS, THE INSECT WOMAN and INTENTIONS OF MURDER to follow. All six of the films in Radiance's RADICAL JAPAN: SURVIVAL AND DESIRE box set, play in the ICA's first fortnight. The box set comes with a 120 page book, and you can reserve your copy on the Terracotta store, out 16 November.
Sunday 25 October: KUNG FU HUSTLE at Kung Fu Cinema, 6pm. Stephen Chow's 2004 kung fu comedy, with a short film beforehand, at the Ritzy Picturehouse in Brixton. Kung Fu Cinema is London's monthly martial arts night, and we are proud to be supporting it. The same morning, Japanese Film Club presents PENGUIN HIGHWAY in dubbed English at the Rio at 10:30am.
Monday 26 October: PAPRIKA on 35mm. Satoshi Kon's film marks its twentieth anniversary at Picturehouse Central at 7pm, with a panel discussion.
London Korean Film Festival: tickets on sale now. The 21st edition runs 2 to 16 November across BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière and the ICA, opening with THE JOURNEY TO GYEONG-JU and closing with TRISTES TROPIQUES. Full programme and booking at koreanfilm.co.uk.
Support the venues keeping East Asian cinema on the big screen.
Terracotta Distribution is a specialist UK retailer for East Asian cinema on physical media, with knowledgeable curation, direct customer service, and carefully chosen stock you won't find on the high street. If we missed your screening, let us know and we will add it next week.
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