Another record-breaking New Year at BFI Southbank as it celebrates its BEST MONTH EVER

Once again BFI Southbank has broken box-office records and is celebrating its most 
successful month ever with its highest number of cinema viewers in January 2012. 


The winter chill couldn’t keep audiences away from its unique programme of 
packed screenings, exclusive events and to watch films that can’t be seen in any 
other cinemas: from Dickens on Screen and Woody Allen seasons to an extended 
run of Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante, the first London Comedy Film Festival and the UK 
premiere of Phyllida Law’s The Iron Lady. January paid admissions reached a record 
35,000 – an increase of 25% from January 2011 - while more than 180,000 visitors in 
total came to BFI Southbank, many of them stopping on their way for a drink or a 
bite to eat at benugo bar & kitchen, the new Drawing Room and The Riverfront, or to 
shop at the Filmstore. With these record results, BFI Southbank confirms its 
reputation as one of the best cultural hotspots in London.  


Clare Stewart, Head of Exhibition BFI, said:  “We are thrilled that 2012 has kicked-off 
with such brilliant results, indicating that audiences for great film are expanding and that 
film fans are, more than ever, seeking the big screen experience and diverse programming 
they can find at BFI Southbank." 


Looking ahead, Spring at BFI Southbank  is packed with even more exciting 
screenings and events, from the complete  David Lynch retrospective and the 
continuing  Dickens on Screen, presently screening, to the idiosyncratic genius of 
Peter Cook in March and the glorious Technicolor from  Vincente Minnelli
throughout April and May.  June will bring a Meltdown programme to complement 
the annual music festival, and the eagerly anticipated celebrations for The Genius of
Alfred Hitchcock will launch this Summer, when his entire body of work will screen 
over three months, accompanied by spectacular one-off screenings of his British 
silent films being held throughout London as part of the London 2012 Festival 
celebrations.