The 11th festival closed on 20 September with Northern Soul at Belmont Bowls Club. All 24 free screenings, venues and doors times, and no 2027 dates yet.
The 2026 festival has finished
The Streatham Free Film Festival’s 11th edition ran from Tuesday 1 to Sunday 20 September 2026 and is over. It closed with Northern Soul at Belmont Bowls Club, Northern Soul records from 7pm and the film at 7.30pm. All 24 events were free and none needed a ticket, and that held from the first listing to the last.
No 2027 dates have been published. Checked on Tuesday 23 September, the festival’s own page on freefilmfestivals.org still carries the 2026 programme and says nothing about next year. This is a volunteer festival that announces late: its 2026 calendar was still gaining events in the first week of September, four of them after our 14 August check, so an early announcement would be out of character.
One date on that calendar is not a Streatham screening. The listing for Zootropolis 2 on Tuesday 23 September is at Raynes Park Community Church, which is in Merton. Free Film Festivals runs several south London festivals off the same calendar, so a date after 20 September on that page does not mean the Streatham programme has been extended.
The full 2026 programme is kept below as it ran, with the venues and doors times.
Where it stood on 8 September, with 21 films left
Re-checked against the festival’s own calendar on 8 September 2026. Nothing has been cancelled or moved since our 2 September check, and 21 of the 24 events are still to come, from tonight through to Sunday 20 September. All of them are free and none needs a ticket.
- Tonight, Tuesday 8 September, 7.30pm: The Secret Agent, in the beer garden at the Crown and Sceptre. Outdoors, so dress for it.
- The three outdoor nights left are Crazy, Stupid, Love at The Manor Arms on Thursday 10 September, and The Princess Bride at Hillside Gardens on Saturday 19 September, plus tonight’s beer garden screening.
- The busiest days are Saturday 12 September (three films, two of them at Streatham Library) and Sunday 13 September (three back to back at The British Home).
- The festival closes with Northern Soul at Belmont Bowls Club on Sunday 20 September, with live music from 7pm and the film at 7.30pm.
Everything already gone: the Film Quiz on 1 September, Jurassic Park at The Rookery on the 5th and The Swimmers at English Martyrs Church Hall on the 6th.
The Streatham Free Film Festival’s 2026 programme runs from Tuesday 1 to Saturday 19 September, and the festival’s own calendar now lists 24 events, four more than when we first checked it on 14 August. Every one is free, and every one carries the same line on the festival’s own listing: “Free (No ticket required - First come first served)”. There is nothing to book and nothing to pay, which makes arriving early the only thing that decides whether you get in.
The festival describes this as its 11th edition, running from 1 to 20 September and put on by volunteers as part of the Free Film Festivals network. The published calendar now ends on 20 September, matching that.
Updated 2 September 2026, and four things have moved since our last check.
The Swimmers is not at Tooting Bec Lido any more. The festival has renamed the listing “The Swimmers - VENUE CHANGED” and moved it indoors to English Martyrs Church Hall, 2 Mitcham Lane, SW16 6NN, still Sunday 6 September at 7.30pm. Two warnings on that one. The event page still carries the line “bring a blanket or camping chair”, which was written for the lido and is no longer useful advice for a church hall. And it gives two different doors times: the listing field says 6.30pm, the body text says 7pm. Turn up for 6.30pm if it matters to you.
Three films have been added to the programme:
- Serial Mom, Monday 14 September, the hill, 5 Streatham High Road, SW16 1EF. Doors 7pm, film 7.30pm. John Waters, 1994, cert 18, 1hr 35. Bar open throughout.
- The VelociPastor, Thursday 17 September, The Railway, 2 Greyhound Lane, SW16 5SD. Doors 7.30pm, film 9.30pm, the latest start of the festival. Cert 18, 75 minutes. Bar and food served throughout.
- Northern Soul, Sunday 20 September, Belmont Bowls Club, Broadlands Avenue, SW16 1NA. Doors 6pm, Northern Soul records played from 7pm, film 7.30pm. Cert 15, 1hr 42.
The festival now ends on 20 September, not the 19th. Northern Soul closes it, which brings the published calendar into line with the 1 to 20 September the festival has always advertised. That takes the programme to 24 events, four more than when we first checked on 14 August.
The open-air nights
The festival’s summary promises three outdoor screenings. The calendar as published marks four films OUTDOORS, plus one in a pub beer garden.
It opens outdoors on Saturday 5 September at The Rookery, Streatham Common, SW16 3HR, with Jurassic Park (PG, 127 minutes). Doors are at 6.30pm for a 7.15pm start, and the listing tells you to pack a picnic, bring camping chairs and wrap up warm, with a tuck shop and bar on site. That screening is sponsored by InStreatham with support from SCCOOP.
The following evening, Sunday 6 September, The Swimmers is screened open air at Tooting Bec Lido, doors 6.30pm and film at 7.30pm. On Thursday 10 September The Manor Arms hosts Crazy, Stupid, Love outdoors at 7pm with a pre-film mixer, and the festival closes on Saturday 19 September with The Princess Bride at Hillside Gardens, doors 6.30pm for a 7.15pm start. The fifth open-air option is The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian thriller, in the beer garden of the Crown and Sceptre on Tuesday 8 September.
The venues are the point
Almost none of this happens in a cinema. Streatham Library takes a family double bill on Saturday 12 September, with Inside Out 2 at 11am and Hitchcock’s Vertigo at 1.30pm. Belmont Bowls Club has Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere that evening at 7pm with live music. The British Home runs three films in one day on Sunday 13 September: Bride & Prejudice at 1pm, The Intouchables at 3.30pm and I Swear at 7pm.
The most unusual booking is Wiener-Dog on Saturday 19 September at 1pm, screened at The Mud Room dog grooming parlour on Leigham Court Road, SW16 2ND, and billed as dog friendly. Elsewhere there is Cronos, Guillermo del Toro’s first feature, in El Chico’s Mexican Restaurant on 15 September; Pillion at Batch & Co. Coffee on 18 September; and a short film night for London filmmakers at Vinters Studios on 9 September.
Every screening, in order
| Date | Film or event | Venue | Doors | Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1 Sep | Film Quiz | The Rebel Inn | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Sat 5 Sep | Jurassic Park (outdoors) | The Rookery, Streatham Common | 6.30pm | 7.15pm |
| Sun 6 Sep | The Swimmers venue changed, now indoors | English Martyrs Church Hall, 2 Mitcham Lane | 6.30pm (page also says 7pm) | 7.30pm |
| Tue 8 Sep | The Secret Agent | Crown and Sceptre beer garden | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Wed 9 Sep | Short Night | Vinters Studios | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Thu 10 Sep | Crazy, Stupid, Love (outdoors) | The Manor Arms | 7pm | 7pm |
| Fri 11 Sep | RESPECT | Ruach Church (Streatham Hill Theatre) | 7pm | 8pm |
| Sat 12 Sep | Inside Out 2 | Streatham Library | 10.30am | 11am |
| Sat 12 Sep | Vertigo | Streatham Library | 1pm | 1.30pm |
| Sat 12 Sep | Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere | Belmont Bowls Club | 6.45pm | 7pm |
| Sun 13 Sep | Bride & Prejudice | The British Home | 12.30pm | 1pm |
| Sun 13 Sep | The Intouchables | The British Home | 3.30pm | 3.30pm |
| Sun 13 Sep | I Swear | The British Home | 6.30pm | 7pm |
| Mon 14 Sep | Serial Mom added since August | the hill, 5 Streatham High Road | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Tue 15 Sep | Cronos | El Chico's Mexican Restaurant | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Wed 16 Sep | Everybody to Kenmure Street | The White Lion | 7pm | 7.30pm |
| Thu 17 Sep | The VelociPastor added since August | The Railway, 2 Greyhound Lane | 7.30pm | 9.30pm |
| Fri 18 Sep | Quartet | St Leonards Church Hall | 1pm | 1.30pm |
| Fri 18 Sep | Pillion | Batch & Co. Coffee | 7.30pm | 8pm |
| Sat 19 Sep | Wiener-Dog (dog friendly) | The Mud Room, Leigham Court Road | 12.30pm | 1pm |
| Sat 19 Sep | North of the Sun | The Woodfield Pavilion | 12.30pm | 1pm |
| Sat 19 Sep | Save the Cinema | The Woodfield Pavilion | 1.30pm | 2pm |
| Sat 19 Sep | The Princess Bride (outdoors) | Hillside Gardens | 6.30pm | 7.15pm |
| Sun 20 Sep | Northern Soul added since August, closes the festival | Belmont Bowls Club, Broadlands Avenue | 6pm | 7.30pm (music from 7pm) |
Common questions
When is Streatham Film Festival 2026?
Tuesday 1 September to Sunday 20 September 2026. The calendar used to stop on the 19th; the festival has since added Northern Soul at Belmont Bowls Club on the 20th, so the programme now runs the full span it advertises.
When is the Streatham Film Festival in 2027?
Not announced. As of 23 September 2026 the festival has published no 2027 dates. Every edition so far has run in September, and the 2026 one filled the first three weeks of the month, so early September 2027 is the sensible assumption until the programme goes up. The calendar usually firms up in August.
Do you need tickets for Streatham Film Festival?
No. Every event carries the same line on the festival’s listing: free, no ticket required, first come first served. Arrive at the doors time rather than the start time, because there is nothing reserving you a seat.
How much does Streatham Film Festival cost?
Nothing. All 24 screenings and events are free. The outdoor nights have a bar and a tuck shop on site, and the festival is run by volunteers.
What is the opening film?
The season opens with a film quiz at The Rebel Inn on 1 September. The first screening is Jurassic Park outdoors at The Rookery on Streatham Common on Saturday 5 September, doors 6.30pm for a 7.15pm start.
Where are the outdoor screenings?
The Rookery on Streatham Common (Jurassic Park, 5 September), the Crown and Sceptre beer garden (The Secret Agent, 8 September), The Manor Arms (Crazy, Stupid, Love, 10 September) and Hillside Gardens (The Princess Bride, 19 September). The Swimmers on 6 September was originally an outdoor screening at Tooting Bec Lido and has been moved indoors to English Martyrs Church Hall.
What is the last film of the festival?
Northern Soul at Belmont Bowls Club on Sunday 20 September, doors 6pm with Northern Soul records played from 7pm and the film at 7.30pm.
What is the latest screening?
The VelociPastor at The Railway on Thursday 17 September starts at 9.30pm, with doors from 7.30pm and food served through the evening.
What it means for you
No ticket means no guaranteed seat. Each event page states that entry is first come, first served, so the practical advice is to treat the doors time as the arrival time rather than the start time. Doors open 30 to 45 minutes before the film at most venues, and for the outdoor nights the listings ask you to bring your own seating, blankets and warm clothes.
Two dates are worth planning around now. The family slot is the 11am screening of Inside Out 2 at Streatham Library on Saturday 12 September, and the three films at The British Home on Sunday 13 September make an afternoon and evening in one place. If you want the big communal night, it is Jurassic Park at The Rookery on 5 September, on the same slope people already use for picnics.
Getting there. The Rookery sits at the top of Streatham Common; our guide to things to do in Clapham, Brixton and Streatham has the practical detail on the common and the walled garden, and the tube and train times page covers journeys across the borough.
If you want it to keep happening. The festival is volunteer-powered and its listing says plainly that it would like to hear from anyone willing to help this year or at future screenings. Details are on the festival’s contact page.
Programmes change. Every date, time and venue above was taken from the festival’s own event pages, first on 14 August 2026 and re-checked on 24 August, and it is worth checking the listing again before you travel.
Sources
- Streatham Free Film Festival 2026 programme, Free Film Festivals, checked 14 August 2026.
- Individual event listings on freefilmfestivals.org for each event, which carry the venue, doors time, start time and the “Free (No ticket required - First come first served)” entry line.
- Festival calendar and the individual event pages for The Swimmers, Jurassic Park and The Princess Bride re-checked on 24 August 2026 for the event count and start times.
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