Early Bird passes are now on sale for the 10th birthday edition of Cinema Rediscovered – the UK’s leading celebration of newly-restored films, forgotten gems and classic revivals.

The festival will take place at Watershed and other venues in and around Bristol UNESCO City of Film from Wed 22 to Sun 26 July 2026.  

From now until Wed 27 May, you can get up to 30% off a full festival pass giving access to a 60+ event line-up of screenings, talks and special guest events. 

Cinema Rediscovered 2026 will open with the UK premiere of a new 4K restoration of Mario Bava’s high-octane and influential pop-art masterpiece Danger: Diabolik  (1968), with a video-introduction from Edgar Wright. This will also mark the launch of our Comics Come Alive strand featuring live action screen adaptions of comics. 

Among them will be Edgar Wright’s own Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010); 25th anniversary showings of camp classic Josie & The Pussycats (2001) and off-beat gem Ghost World (2001) which gave breakout roles to Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson plus Park Chan-wook’s visceral Oldboy (2003) and playful docu-drama American Splendor (2003). 

Other confirmed highlights include:   

• Rogue Hollywood – a strand exploring the dark side of the American psyche in the 1970s including the 50th anniversary of Elaine May’s neglected gem Mikey and Nicky (1976) starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk; Paul Schrader’s dissection of middle-class morality in Hardcore  (1979) and Diane Keaton cruising bars for sex and drugs in Looking for Mr. Goodbar  (1977). 

• 15+ Premieres including the World Premiere of the 4K restoration of John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar  (1963); and UK Premieres of Joseph Losey’s Cannes Festival winning Accident (1967) introduced by the director’s son, Josh Losey; Hong Kong New Wave director Peter Yung’s debut feature The System (1979); Cynthia Beatt’s The Party – Nature Morte (1991) starring Tilda Swinton; and Lynchian gothic tale Nadja (1994); and a new reconstruction of Erich von Stroheim’s lost silent masterpiece Queen Kelly (1929) by Milestone Film & Video, presented by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson; author of The Curse of Queen Kelly.

• A look at the 50-year history of Curzon Film (including the original inception as Artificial Eye).

• Closer to home, we also plan to celebrate Aardman’s 50th anniversary to coincide with Cracking Exhibition, Gromit! 50 Years of Aardman in Bristol at M Shed.

Read more for first highlights and to book your Early Bird Pass!