Spielberg season, BFI

‘[I aim to] enthrall, entertain, take people out of their seats...’

Steven Spielberg

The BFI's Spielberg season 2016 celebrates the most famous director in the world over a gigantic two month season confirming that Spielberg rules.

Ahead of his latest release and very first collaboration with Disney, The BFG, catch up on the Spielberg’s you've missed over the years, or rediscover those golden oldies.

If you’re aged 16 to 25, head down to BFI Southbank 45 minutes before the film starts to grab a last-minute ticket for just £3.

Here's our pick of the best of Spielberg screenings at the BFI's summer season:

Bridge of Spies, 28th and 31st July
Described by Spielberg as “one of the most astonishing stories about the Cold War I’d ever heard”, Bridge of Spies is about an insurance lawyer (Tom Hanks) who is recruited by the CIA to negotiate the release of a POW: it's everything that it says on the tin.

War Horse 30th and 31st July
Spielberg's star-studded blockbuster, which received the most 2012 Oscar nominations – including Best Picture – follows a boy trying to find his horse Joey and bring him home, after his father sells him to the British cavalry in WWI.

Catch Me If You Can
This is the true story of a young man, Frank Abagnale Jr (Leonardo DiCaprio) who outfoxed the FBI in a daring scam which made him a millionaire before his 19th birthday, by posing as a pilot, doctor and lawyer. DiCaprio's is a gloriously slippery and sophisticated performance in this, perhaps the most relaxed of Spielberg's films.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
One of the greatest family films of all time, E.T. tells the story of an alien a long way from home who befriends a young boy called Elliott. With the government hot on his trail, E.T. must find a way back to his own kind. Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece is lovingly made, and only the hardest heart could fail to shed a tear.