Sundance Film Festival | 18 January – 28 January

The first major North American festival of the year, Sundance is back with a plethora of new titles that are likely to have us all talking for the coming year. Among this edition’s selection is the much-anticipated Love Lies Bleeding, from Rose Glass, the director of the acclaimed Saint Maud, which stars Kristen Stewart as a gym manager who falls for a female bodybuilder. System Crasher director Nora Fingscheidt is also back with The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan in a story set in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. And most enticingly, Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen, stars of The Worst Person In The World, reunite for the Oslo-set Handling the Undead.

The British Academy of Film and Television Awards | 18 February

Our own version of the Oscars, the BAFTAs are the perfect precursor to the Academy Awards and often point the way to how voters are responding to the year’s best movies. This year, the EE BAFTA Awards will be held once again at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre. On host duties is actor David Tennant, recently seen back in his most famous role as Dr. Who. With the long list for nominees already announced, Barbie, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon currently lead the way, featuring in 15 categories. The festival’s long list for British Short Film includes Abdou Cissé’s Festival of Slaps, Joe Weiland’s Gorka, Yellyfish and Lobster by Yasmin Afifi and Yellow by Elham Ehsas, which all screened at ASFF 2023.

Cannes Film Festival | 14 May – 25 May

The world’s most prestigious film festival gets underway in May, with its 77th edition set to bring some of the world’s greatest filmmakers to the French Riviera. Last year saw Justine Triet become only the third woman to win the Palme d’Or with the coolly brilliant Anatomy of a Fall. While the jury is still out on what might play in competition in 2024, it would be the perfect festival for two-time Palme winner Frances Ford Coppola to bring his long-gestating sci-fi Megalopolis to the Crosiette.

Sheffield DocFest | 12 June – 17 June

Film Programme entries are now open for the 31st edition of Britain’s brightest documentary film festival, which brings together non-fiction features and shorts from around the world. The 2023 programme comprised of 122 films (86 features, 36 shorts) and included 38 world premieres, opening with Paul Sng’s Tish, about photographer Tish Murtha. Now’s your chance to submit your film for the 2024 line-up.

Aesthetica Short Film Festival | 6 November – 10 November

Once again taking place in the beautiful historical city of York, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival will unfold in November, showcasing stunning short films across a multitude of disciplines. Now in its fourteenth edition, the BAFTA-qualifying ASFF will once again be a hybrid experience of both in-person events and, from 6-30 November, an on-demand digital platform to complement the festival’s live experience. With industry panels, guest speakers, networking and masterclasses, it’s an essential part of the festival calendar. Entries Now Open! Submit your film in January and save 50%, with the CODE: JAN24X50