In 1977 the first Festival set the pattern, with screenings of Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den, Visconti's conversation piece and Rosi's Illustrious Corpses.

At the fourth Festival in 1980, audiences saw the UK Premieres of Petit's Radio On, Roeg's Bad Timing and Loach's Black Jack.

Other screenings that year included Mona Lisa directed by Neil Jordan, and the film and TV work of David Hare.

There was also a tribute to John Cassavetes and a series of films to investigate the influence of Cahiers du Cinéma, and Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jnr.

The Festival's centennial tribute to Buster Keaton contained his rarely seen final masterpieces The Cameraman and Spite Marriage.

2001 featured the premieres of Sidewalks Of New York, Brotherhood Of The Wolf, Otesanek, Beijing Bicycle, Betelnut Beauty, Swordfish, Scratch, The Isle & Sw9.

As part of 70mm Widescreen Weekends the Festival screened 2001: A Space Odyssey, The King And I, Lawrence Of Arabia, Pathfinder, My Fair Lady, And Vertigo.

Peter Wintonick attended a season of his work, and the Festival hosted tributes to Milos Forman, Tod Browning and Lon Chaney, and Darius Mehrjui.

Amongst 50 UK Premieres the Festival screened Spirited Away, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Goodbye, Lenin!, Time Of The Wolf, All The Real Girls, Belleville Rendezvous, Whale Rider and Spellbound; Cate Blanchett and Joel Schumacher attended a special screening of Veronica Guerin, Jane Birkin presented Merci Dr Rey, and Peter Greenaway attended the Premiere of his Tulse Luper Suitcases Part One: The Moab Story.

2004 Highlights amongst the Festival's 47 UK premieres included Stage Beauty, Before Sunset, Super Size Me, Clean, Comme Une Image, Coffee And Cigarettes, Riding Giants, Spike Lee's She Hate Me, and Robert Lepage's The Far Side Of The Moon.

The Festival brought scores of international filmmakers to Cambridge: Sir Richard Eyre launched the Festival at the opening night presentation of Stage Beauty; Julie Delpy presented the closing night screening of Before Sunset; and Robert Carradine introduced the UK premiere of Sam Fuller's The Big Red One: The Reconstruction.

[citation needed] A packed silver jubilee programme included UK Premieres of "The Last Mitterrand"; Crash; Broken Flowers; Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, introduced by the author of the film's source novel, Diana Wynne Jones; King's Game; Nightwatch; Saraband; Silver City (attended by director John Sayles); With Blood On My Hands - Pusher 2 introduced by director Nicolas Winding Refn, who also curated a season of film's that have influenced his work; Ghost in the Shell: 2: Innocence; Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room; Rock School; and Forest For The Trees, alongside a Studio Ghibli season and a retrospective for the Russian silent director Dziga Vertov.

A season celebrating the best in New German Cinema was once again curated by Monika Treut, and eclectic shorts and documentaries, including The Man Who Shot Chinatown and Deliver Us From Evil, contributed to the programme.

In 2008, the Festival opened with Walter Salles' Linha De Passe, and Tilda Swinton was one of the guests for the UK Premiere of "Julia".

The retrospective this year was on Derek Jarman: Remembered season, and Hey Negrita played a live set after a screening of the documentary "We Dreamed America".

Paddy Considine visited Cambridge to present his directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, and the Festival opened in style with a special preview of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

In attendance were the director, Tomas Alfredson, screenwriter Peter Straughan, and two of the film's lead actors – Gary Oldman and John Hurt.

Highlights included BBC Arena at 40: Night and Day 24 Hours, a 3-D special event with Brian May, and a BAFTA Kids workshop with Ben Shires and Katie Thistleton.

The Festival collaborated with Cambridge Live to present a specially curated film night celebrating Syd Barrett.

The 38th Festival opened on October 25 with The Man Who Killed Don Quixote presented by director Terry Gilliam,[21] who surprised audiences with a Q&A.

Monos, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and The Lighthouse were just some of the highlights and Castle of Dreams went on to win the Golden Punt Audience Award.

[23] a 16-day online film Festival, aimed at engaging their collective audiences and supporting filmmakers who had been hit hard by the pandemic.

In Dreams Are Monsters - A horror-focused feast for the senses, celebrating cult classics and contemporary feminist supernatural tales Resilience - The fight and protests for change during conflicts around the world and challenging stereotypes of different cultures.

Japan 2021 - A Window on Contemporary Japanese Cinema, in partnership with the BFI Nature & Community - Reflecting on the urgency of global warming and climate change.

Retro 3-D - The 2014 strand showcased the newly digitally restored 3-D classics from the '50s, including The Creature From The Black Lagoon, House of Wax, Inferno, and The Mad Magician.