The BFI have announced details for their January season, David Lynch: The Dreamer, at London's BFI Southbank and IMAX (1 January–1 February), paying tribute to a true multidisciplinary artist and unique visionary. Honouring 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 includes his great masterpieces, his innovative short films and playful digital experiments, documentary portraits, including a preview of new documentary Welcome to Lynchland (Stéphane Ghez, 2025), plus a Twin Peaks-inspired immersive installation. A selection of Lynch's films will also be available on BFI Player.
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, his brilliance reshaped cinema, television, music, art and the internet.
The season 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). Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014) will screen as a David Lynch birthday double bill on 20 January. 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), Mulholland Drive (25 January) and Lost Highway (1 February).
