The 90-seat cinema is on a former cargo ship from 1913 and holds free screenings every week. Final nominations follow on 3 November.
Theatreship, a floating arts centre moored between the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf, is on the longlist for BIFA’s Cinema of the Year 2026. It is the London venue named on the list.
Before it became an arts centre, the ship carried cargo into London. The 300-tonne vessel was built in 1913, and today its cinema has room for 90 people.
Screenings run every week and cost nothing to attend. There is one catch. The title is kept secret, so the audience only learns which film it is watching once it begins.
Films are only part of the programme. The ship also stages theatre performances and puts on live music, which makes it one of the cheaper evenings out on the water in east London.
Close to 50,000 votes went into drawing up the longlist. Theatreship shares it with venues outside the capital, among them Lincolnshire’s Kinema in the Woods, where a live organ plays along to silent films. Folkestone’s Silver Screen Cinema has also made the list. It sits inside a Grade II-listed town hall.
The next stage comes on 3 November, when the final nominations are published. The winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 6 December.
The full longlist, including the other cinemas in the running, can be found on the BIFA website.
The ship is moored on the water between the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf.
Nothing. Screenings run every week, and the title is kept secret until the film starts.
The final nominations are published on 3 November and the winner is revealed at the ceremony on 6 December.
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