Proudly flying the Union Jack again, the Mostly British Film Festival (MBFF) returns to San Francisco’s Vogue Theater (3290 Sacramento Street) from Feb. 5 through 12 for its 18th season of prestige movies from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India. The MBFF’s geographical breadth acknowledges former outposts of the once-expansive British Empire and directly addresses that historical connection in a few instances.
The festival has become a local tradition for a dedicated audience, invariably rewarded with a schedule of highly anticipated films making their Bay Area premieres, recent titles that were woefully overlooked or never received widespread release in the United States, and a handful of classics. Special events include opening- and closing-night parties, as well as tributes to cinema legends, featuring guest appearances.
A celebration of the late, legendary actor Richard Burton will kick off the festival on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of Mr. Burton, directed by Marc Evans. This new production dramatizes the true story of a young Welshman named Richard Jenkins, whose acting abilities were recognized and nurtured by a high school teacher whose last name Jenkins would eventually adopt. Burton’s daughter Kate Burton — the well-regarded stage and screen actress — will be in attendance that evening to speak about growing up with her renowned father and his superstar wife, Elizabeth Taylor. And the following afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Richard Burton’s electric portrayal of prototypical English working-class rebel Jimmy Porter will shine in a showing of the lauded 1959 “kitchen sink” drama Look Back in Anger.
Oscar-winners and Zooming guests
Past on-screen glories from the U.K. are further acknowledged with the presentation of two digitally restored best-picture Oscar-winners: Tom Jones (Feb. 7 at 4:45 p.m.), the randy and exuberant 1964 adaptation of Henry Fielding’s eponymous 18th-century novel, which featured Albert Finney in the title role and made him an international heartthrob; and Chariots of Fire, (Feb. 9 at 4:30 p.m.), the rousing 1982 examination of two runners training to compete in the 1924 Olympic Games. Plus, Girl with Green Eyes (Feb. 8 at 11 a.m.), the 1964 charmer starring Rita Tushingham and inspired by the semiautobiographical writings of Edna O’Brien, will be shown in tandem with Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story (Feb. 8 at 1 pm), a documentary about the bold Irish author.
Among the recent narrative features to be showcased, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.) is the powerful directorial debut of Embeth Davitz, who also is one of the stars of the movie and wrote the screenplay. It’s based on Alexandra Fuller’s memoir, set in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) in 1980 at the end of the country’s war for independence against British colonizers, and recounts a pivotal period in Fuller’s childhood on her family farm as she navigates the conflict and its aftermath. There will be a Zoom interview with Davitz before the screening.
There will also be a Zoom interview of Pierce Brosnan in conjunction with the sure-to-be-crowd-pleasing romance Four Letters of Love (Feb. 8 at 7:30 pm), which boasts the high-profile presence of Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne as elders in the cast. This fanciful tale of young love from director Polly Steele and screenwriter Niall Williams plays out amid the dream-like coastal mists of the Emerald Isle as would-be scribe Nicholas (Fionn O’Shea) and free-spirited Isabel (Ann Skelly) struggle to find one another.
From rural quests to urban strife
The History of Sound (Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.), directed and cowritten by Oliver Hermanus, is a quietly moving period piece about the developing relationship between music scholars Lionel and David in post-World War II America as they hike through rural areas to seek out and record traditional folk songs that would otherwise be lost to posterity. On the road, the two men, played with depth and sensitivity by Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, grow closer and closer, but away from their sociological and cultural quest, the expectations of society and the baggage of their different backgrounds prove difficult to surmount.
Brutal, heartbreakingly sad, and frighteningly realistic, Urchin (Feb. 10 at 5 p.m.) is a gritty street-level portrait of a desperate un-housed guy named Mike (Frank Dillane) as he tries to survive on the streets of modern-day London. It’s also actor Harris Dickinson’s first attempt at writing and directing a movie, and he has delivered an accomplished, unflinching look at a situation that is now all too common on the urban scene.
Other highlights: With or Without You (Feb. 10 at 2:30 p.m.), an Australian mother-daughter road picture; Brides (Feb. 9 at 7:30 pm), sparked by the actual tribulations of teenage girls who run away from Great Britain to marry Islamic radicals in Syria; Dead Man’s Money (Feb. 9 at 2:30 p.m.), a black comedy that take cues from Shakespeare’s Macbeth despite being set in a Northern Ireland pub; and Inside (Feb. 12 at 4:30 pm), a raw, no-holds-barred Aussie prison drama featuring Guy Pierce, Cosmo Jarvis, and Vincent Miller as inmates. As a special treat, the MBFF was given permission by Warner Bros. to screen provocative filmmaker Emerald Fennell’s interpretation of the timeless romantic novel Wuthering Heights — starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi — on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m., two days before its official theatrical release.
Documentaries and desserts
In addition to Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story, documentaries on the docket are Twiggy (Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.), director Sadie Frost’s celebrity-dappled salute to lanky supermodel Twiggy, the London-born face of the Swinging ’60s; Call Me Dancer (Feb. 7 at 10:30 am), recounting the exploits of a Mumbai street performer named Manish who is determined to become a successful professional dancer; and Rave on the Avon (Feb. 7 at 3 p.m.), an uplifting investigation into the pleasure and environmental activism surrounding Bristol’s River Avon.
Closing night is graced by the local premiere of I Swear (Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.), writer-director Kirk Jones’s acclaimed docudrama about the struggles of a Scotsman named John Davidson who has Tourette syndrome — and has no idea what it is. In fact, no one in the small town where Davidson lives is aware that he’s dealing with a genuine neurological disorder that triggers his sudden physical and vocal tics. Thus, Davidson, played by Robert Aramayo, is an outcast until his fortunes change. Directly following I Swear, the 2026 edition of the MBBF wraps up with a dessert reception in the theater.
All photos courtesy of the Mostly British Film Festival.
For ticket information and a complete schedule of films, visit the Mostly British Film Festival.