Portobello Film Festival 2025

Portobello Film Festival celebrates 30 years of free films with a special screening of Charlie Paul's 2021 documentary For No Good Reason, featuring Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam and Richard E Grant. The opening night at The Gate Picturehouse is the only ticketed event, just turn up on any of the other nights - all are free to attend!

The film explores the connection between life and art through the eyes of seminal British artist Ralph Steadman, who designed this year's poster. For No Good Reason charts the large-scale disintegration of a demoralised youth culture that followed the legendary music, literature and art scene of the 60s and 70s, setting the tone for the festival's origin story.

Notting Hill has been at the heart of British counterculture and inspired by the area's free music scene, a group of filmmakers and writers got together, including film director Barney Platts-Mills (Bronco Bullfrog), Black British writer Courttia Newland (co-writer for Steve McQueen's Small Axe) and Jonathan Barnett who has led the festival ever since, supported by projectionist and programmer Raymond Myndiuk, in 1996 to start a film festival that didn't charge filmmakers for showing or movie lovers for attending. 

For the first couple of years, Portobello Film Festival took place in a tent at Athlone Gardens. By the early 00s Portobello Film Festival was hosted across a diverse range of bars, cafes, cinemas and nightclubs, with movies moving on to Cannes, Edinburgh and Venice. With free submissions and a commitment to screen all entries, the programming ranges from short films shot on handheld camcorders to sleek productions, with filmmakers invited to introduce their work.

Guy Ritchie, Sarah Gavron and Shane Meadows all debuted early works at Portobello Film Festival, with Terry Gilliam, John Malkovich and Hanif Kureshi amongst the many notable participants.

This year 250 new films will be shown, many short, from across the UK and all over the world, including a focus on Spain.

Tickets for Opening Night

Venue details