Encounters Film Festival Is Back in Bristol – And Bristol Girls Get 15% Off

Bristol Girls, your September plans just got a lot more cinematic. Encounters Film Festival is returning to the city from 23th - 27th September 2026, and this year’s programme is huge. Even better? We’ve got an exclusive 15% discount for the City Girl community.

Taking over venues across Bristol including Watershed, Prospect Building, We The Curious and Wake The Tiger, the 31st edition of Encounters brings together film, animation, music, talks, live events and some seriously exciting creative talent.

This year, there are 140 films on the programme, including 18 world premieres and 43 UK premieres, meaning plenty of what you’ll see in Bristol hasn’t been shown to UK audiences before.

Saoirse Ronan, Aardman and a 360° cinema experience

Photography by Portland Productions

There are some big names on this year’s line-up.

One of the festival highlights is the UK premiere of Paper Plane, the directorial and screenwriting debut of Academy Award-nominated actor Saoirse Ronan.

There’s also a very Bristol moment courtesy of Aardman, with a special screening of the new Shaun the Sheep film The Beast of Mossy Bottom, introduced by BAFTA-winning producer Richard Beek.

And if your idea of cinema goes a little beyond sitting in front of a screen, Encounters is opening with a 360° dome screening at We The Curious.

Film meets music in Bristol

This year’s festival is leaning heavily into the relationship between music and film too.

The programme includes the UK premiere of Sirat Live, an audiovisual collaboration from filmmaker Oliver Laxe and Kangding Ray, alongside an event bringing Kangding Ray together with Bristol’s own Geoff Barrow of Portishead.

There’s also a celebration of Warp Records music videos on Bristol’s Megascreen, followed by a late-night festival party at Wake The Tiger.

Essentially: you definitely don't have to be a film obsessive to find something here you'll want to book.

Talks, masterclasses and a peek behind the scenes

Photography by Portland Productions

If you’re more interested in how films actually get made, Encounters is bringing some brilliant names from across the industry to Bristol.

Expect talks and masterclasses covering everything from casting and animation to documentary, visual effects, storytelling, content creation and the changing ways filmmakers are breaking into the industry.

There’s also screenPLAY, a new strand dedicated to positive screen experiences and digital play, spanning gaming, filmmaking, animation and content creation.

Get 15% off Encounters Film Festival with Bristol Girl

And now for the bit we really like.

City Girl Network readers can get 15% off most standalone Encounters events, Discovery Passes and full Festival Passes with the code: Bristol_Girl

Simply head to the Encounters 2026 online festival programme, choose what you’d like to see and click “Have a discount code?” at checkout before entering Bristol_Girl.

The discount excludes Industry Passes and a small number of limited-capacity events, including Claymotion workshops and walking tours.

We’ll be heading to Encounters ourselves this September, so keep an eye on Bristol Girl for what we get up to.

Encounters Film Festival takes place across Bristol from 23–27 September 2026. Browse the full programme and book your tickets at 2026.encounters.film.