BFI Southbank

BFI Southbank sits beside the Thames under Waterloo Bridge in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is part of the South Bank cultural quarter where the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre stand nearby. The site once housed the Thameside restaurant before the National Film Theatre opened in 1957. A second screen was added in 1970. In 2007 the complex was enlarged and renamed BFI Southbank, taking over the old Museum of the Moving Image building. The cinema is run by the British Film Institute and specialises in classic, independent and non-English language films. Its largest auditorium, NFT1, has been called “one of the crown jewels of the London film scene” by Forbes. BFI Southbank also hosts the BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ Film Festival each year. It is the only UK cinema licensed to screen nitrate film publicly. The building includes a médiathèque, a contemporary art gallery, a shop and a bar and restaurant. Visitors find four cinemas, a library, café and exhibition space inside the complex. The foyer bar often hosts small performances. Outside, the South Bank promenade entrance features a grand canopy of cast fibreglass that glows like a cinema screen. The riverside setting offers views of the Thames and the city beyond.