15th London Surf / Film Festival

Oct 23, 2026

Black and white London Surf / Film Festival 2026 poster: a surfer stalls on the shoulder of a grey peeling wave beside the festival title and dates

15th London Surf / Film Festival line-up announced

The London Surf / Film Festival returns to Riverside Studios in west London from 5 to 7 November 2026. Organisers have announced the 15th edition's programme, with world premieres for Luke Pilbeam's Celtic barrel film Thread and Fault Lines, the story of Noah Lane's near-fatal wipeout at Mullaghmore.

LS/FF has just dropped the line up for the 15th Annual London Surf / Film Festival x Finisterre hosted 5-7 November 2026 at the iconic Riverside Studios, and it’s an epic celebration serving up 3 nights of the ultimate in cinematic surf inspiration accompanied by talks, icons, change, culture, community good times and more.

“We founded LS/FF in 2011 around the kitchen table after a few good waves in the deep midwinter, with the aim of bringing together the UK surfing community to share the stoke, the storytelling and the cream of surf culture,” says award-winning filmmaker and Festival co-founder Chris Nelson. “After 14 editions, over 300 premieres plus art shows, live music, talks and good times, it has grown to become a must attend gathering for the global waveriding collective. At the heart of it all each year is a hand-picked line bringing to UK the very best surf films from across the globe and this year we’re privileged to spotlight tales from Africa, Canada, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, USA, Sri Lanka, Ireland, France, UK and beyond.”

There are documentaries to inspire, travel to stir the wanderlust as well as cinematography, stories and surfing that redefine the very bounds of possibility. Seeking out big waves, big adventures and big stories from the frigid fringes to the desert south, celebrating craft and tradition while embracing all that is fresh and fun and new, overcoming the odds and exploring our relationship with the world around us, meeting underground characters that embody the spirit of our culture, and all the while finding new waves in the most unexpected places it’s all about connection, fresh perspectives, new line-ups and the very pinnacle of creativity in the here and now.

With screenings accompanied by Q+A’s and ‘Audiences with…’ some of the world’s most relevant and exciting surfers and creatives from multi hyphenate Australian surfer and artist Jaleesa Vincent, to big wave charger Noah Lane, Scotland’s Phoebe Strachan and Brittany’s Ian Fontaine plus a raft of game changing filmmakers like Luke Pilbeam, Luka Raubenheimer, Joya Berrow, Owen Le Goff, Bellaray Bertrand-Webb, Rory Sutherland and Emmy award winning Mikey Corker, plus good times and more…you’re not going to want to miss this!

Check out the full line up here.

Jayce Robinson in a hooded wetsuit and gloves sets his arms inside a thick green cold-water barrel under a pale sky

Photo: James Bowden

World premiere: Thread, dir. Luke Pilbeam

A thread. A yarn. A tale. A story to tell. This is what happens when you bring together a peripatetic band of stand outs like Mason Ho, Noah Lane, Sandy Kerr, Phoebe Strachan, Jayce Robinson, Mike Lay, Easkey Britton, Cliff Kapono and Andy Jones among others. A visual and sonic masterpiece from award winning duo Luke Pilbeam and James Bowden journeying across the Celtic fringes, through thunderous barrels and peeling point breaks, pulling on threads that reveal that it’s as much about the journey as the folk that are with you along the way.

Accompanied by a special Q&A with Noah Lane & Luke Pilbeam.

A surfer in silhouette flies through the air above a dark breaking wave, spray lit from behind

Photo: Vampires Surf, dir. Jaleesa Vincent and Luka Raubenheimer

UK premiere: Vampires Surf, dir. Jaleesa Vincent & Luka Raubenheimer

From multi-hyphenate Australian surf creative Jaleesa Vincent and snake wrangling filmmaker Luka Raubenheimer comes this must-see, riotous romp of a fantasy surf film which combines stand out surfing from the likes of Jaleesa, Caity Simmers, Frankie Harrer & Kobe Hughes with creativity in equal measure. Spooky, funny and heartfelt, Vampires Surf is a timeless tale of surfing, friendship and following your destiny—even if it takes an eternity. Accompanied by a very special Q&A with Jaleesa Vincent & Luka Raubenheimer.

Aerial view of a surfer racing down the face of a huge green wave as the lip throws over behind him

Photo: Fault Lines, dir. Nathan Whitmarsh and Justin Hunt

World premiere: Fault Lines, dir. Nathan Whitmarsh & Justin Hunt

For Noah Lane, the ocean has always been a place of freedom. But when a near-fatal accident at infamous Irish big wave spot Mullaghmore brings him face to face with his own mortality, the life he has built around the water begins to take on a different meaning. Combining stunning cinematography and candid conversation, this intimate portrait of one of our favourite surfers to watch when big winter swells kick in, explores the quiet inevitability of change and asks what it means to hold on to the person you were, while learning to become someone new. Accompanied by a special Q+A with Noah Lane and filmmakers Nathan Whitmarsh & Justin Hunt.

A surfer in a bikini stands tall inside a big blue tropical barrel

Photo: ProCasual, dir. Jack Coleman

European premiere: ProCasual, dir. Jack Coleman

Stylistic polymath Jack Coleman presents his hotly anticipated new masterpiece of surf filmmaking creativity, ‘ProCasual’, fresh out of the edit suite and onto the big screen at LS/FF. Jack brings his trade mark sideways look at the celluloid world of wave sliding featuring the smoothest surfers on his blue planet, including Steph Gilmore, Caity Simmers, Bryce Young, Ryan Burch, Derrick Disney, Leah Dawson Lopez, Tosh Tudor and Jaleesa Vincent in this joyous ode to all that is good in surfing.

A surfer in a wetsuit, seen from behind in silhouette, holds his board under one arm and faces the sea at sunset

Photo: Into The Light, dir. Mikey Corker

UK premiere: Into The Light, dir. Mikey Corker

From Emmy Award winning filmmaker Mikey Corker this must-see documentary follows two young South African surfers Indiphile Indi Osinachi and Ntando Biggie Msibi whose dreams, against all odds, carry them across an ocean they were never meant to touch. Fuelled by possibility, the story illuminates the belief that sport and education can bridge divides. More than a surf story this is about stability measured week by week. About education as resistance. About reclaiming spaces once denied. About belonging.

Accompanied by a special Q+A with Mikey Corker.

A surfer in a wetsuit drives his board vertically up the lip of a heavy blue wave, spray exploding around him

Photo: The Surf Was Better Before, dir. Owen Le Goff

UK premiere: The Surf Was Better Before, dir. Owen Le Goff

Breton charger Ian Fontaine time travels into the future to become the person he fears: an old-timer who claims everything was better before, in this beautifully observed and wry take on surfing folklore. This showcase of deep barrels and peeling points will have you packing your bags and decamping to Brittany for the season. Sorry Ian!

Accompanied by a special Q+A with Ian Fontaine & Owen Le Goff.

More info and tickets here >>