From young programmers shaping a season around fashion and self-expression in Chester, to queer club culture in Lancaster and explorations of girlhood in Bradford – each project takes a distinctive local perspective on what youth culture means, past and present.

The 2026 BFI FAN UK-wide Rip It Up season explores and celebrates the changing face of youth rebellion, culture and expression – from joy to heartbreak - on screen in the UK. Read more programme highlights here.

Who better to tell the story of youth culture than the young people of today? For their Rip It Up season, Storyhouse recruited a group of Young Programmers aged 16–25 to develop a programme reflecting contemporary youth culture.

Approaching Rip It Up through the lens of fashion, rebellion and self-expression, the season brings together six impactful and inspiring films that explore the changing face of youth, alongside free 'Bedazzle It Like Beckham' and 'Brat & Bling' workshops where audience members can customise accessories and express their style with inspiration from the films. All films are Pay What You Can with tickets from £4.

Friends of Stretford Hall are hosting two Rip It Up screenings at the community venue, each with a distinct youth-focused wraparound element. For This is England (2006), participants will create poems and songs in response to the film’s themes and iconic soundtrack; and for Kneecap (2024) audiences can take part in an intro to DJing session and post-film DJ set.

With affordable tickets for under‑25s, the programme is designed to be welcoming, low‑cost and accessible.

HOME’s New Voices season – curated by Filmmaker in Residence Dan Thorburn – celebrates bold new storytellers and stories of youth on screen, mapping British youth culture across three decades. From Bradford scrapyards to London's 1977 pirate radio, and sun-scorched package holidays, the selected films address themes of youth with the urgency and conviction that British debuts are famed for.

Other Rip It Up cinema highlights include a special Q&A screening of Extra Geography (2026) and landmark film essay Handsworth Songs (1986).

HOME will also host programming workshops to support their Young Film Collective – a group of 15 cinema enthusiasts aged 18–25 – to curate two public screenings, with opportunities to develop accompanying events and activities. 

 

An exploration of Rip It Up through the lens of girlhood, Pictureville's season examines the ways young women have shaped and experienced youth culture through music, fashion, friendship, rebellion and identity. 

The programme includes beloved independent releases like Scrapper (2023) and Rocks (2019), as well as a screening of Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008) which is free to attend for community members.

Curated by emerging film programmers and two LGBTQIA+ youth groups – Queer by Gum and Queer Boots – The Dukes’ programme explores youth culture through a queer lens, with showings of cult titles Caravaggio (1986), My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), and Velvet Goldmine (1998).

The programme culminates in a club night, featuring a curated soundtrack and projections of queer short films exploring music and club culture within LGBTQIA+ communities.

 

Showroom's Rip It Up programme shines a light on Sheffield’s youth music culture. Part of Sheffield Film Festival, strands will be split into three sections spanning three generations, each with a key local musician focus, film and wraparound events: 1970’s-1990s (represented by Pulp), 2000’s-2010's (represented by Arctic Monkeys), and 2026 and Beyond, represented by partnerships with local groups such as Slambarz, Tracks, and Gut Level.