Anniversary retrospective announced for LIFF 2026

This year we’re celebrating 40 years of Leeds International Film Festival and 400 years since Leeds received its Royal Charter in 1626 so we’ve put together a special retrospective as part of LIFF 2026, curated by LIFF programmer Alice Miller. 

The City Plays Itself explores the portrayal of cities and urban life on film.One of cinema’s great protagonists, the city has been endlessly imagined, documented and mythologised by filmmakers. Journeying across continents and decades, the retrospective reveals the city as a place of wonder, conflict, aspiration and possibility. 

The first films revealed include Thom Anderson’s Los Angeles Plays Itself, Jacques Tati’s PlayTime, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay!, and Djibril Diop Mambéty’s The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun. 

The full LIFF 2026 programme will launch online on 1 October, when you’ll be able to discover all the films in The City Plays Itself retrospective alongside our full selection of new feature films and shorts. Tickets go on sale 8 October.