Several OKS have had distinguished careers in the cinema.

Michael Powell (KSC 1916-19) began as a director on ‘quota quickies’ in the 1930s. In collaboration with Emeric Pressburger he then made a series of distinctive works. His best-known films include: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948) and Peeping Tom (1960). A Canterbury Tale (1944) ends with scenes in war-damaged Canterbury.

Carol Reed (KSC 1917-21) was the son of Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He was at the peak of his reputation in the post-war years with Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949). He won an Oscar as Best Director for Oliver! (1968).

Charles Frend (KSC 1922-28) began his film career as an editor and worked on several early Hitchcock films. He then became a director at Ealing Studios. He is best know for The Foreman Went to France (1942), Scott of the Antarctic (1948) and The Cruel Sea (1953).

Eric Stacey (KSC 1915-16) went to America in the 1920s and was soon in Hollywood. He was an assistant director at Selznick International Pictures, including on Gone With the Wind. He received Oscar nominations for Les Miserables (1935), The Garden of Allah (1936) and A Star is Born (1937).

Leslie Mitchell (KSC 1914-20) was the voice of British Movietone News from 1938. Douglas Wilmer (KSC 1933-38) appeared in many films, including Richard III (1956), El Cid (1961) and Cleopatra (1962), and was Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series of 1964-5. Oliver Ford Davies (KSC 1952-57) has had a distinguished stage career and his films include three Star Wars episodes. Stefan Schwartz (KSC 1976-81) is best known as the director of Shooting Fish (1997) and has worked extensively in television. Tom Edmunds (KSC  1992-97) has directed his first feature film: Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back) (2018). The Esiri Brothers, Arie (KSC 1999-2001) and Chuko (KSC 1999-2004), directed Eyimofe [This is My Desire] (2020).

Anna Pinnock (KSC 1978-80) is a set decorator, whose work has included three James Bond films. She has received several Oscar nominations and won in 2015 for The Grand Budapest Hotel.