Film
A Prophet (18) dir: Jacques Audiard
Gritty French prison drama. Released on 22 January.

Capitalism: a Love Story (12A) dir: Michael Moore
The American documentarist's hotly anticipated polemic on the credit crunch. Released on 26 February.

She, a Chinese (tbc) dir: Xiaolu Guo
Tale of a young migrant's journey from rural China to London, from the acclaimed novelist and director.

Bad Lieutenant (15) dir: Werner Herzog
Nicolas Cage stars as a drug-addled cop in post-Katrina New Orleans. Out on 7 May.

Art
The Real Van Gogh: the Artist and His Letters Royal Academy of Arts, London W1, 23 January to 18 April
More than 35 of the artist's original letters will be on display, along with 65 of his paintings.

Chris Ofili Tate Britain, 27 January to 16 May
A major retrospective of one of Britain's leading contemporary painters.

Afro Modern: Journeys Through the Black Atlantic Tate Liverpool, 29 January to 25 April
Inspired by Paul Gilroy's landmark study The Black Atlantic, this explores the relationship between black culture and modernism.

Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey National Gallery, London WC2
24 February to 23 May
Centres on the 19th-century French painter's monumental work The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833).

Picasso: Peace and Freedom Tate Liverpool, 21 May to 30 August
An exploration of the artist's politics.

Yinka Shonibare Trafalgar Square, London WC2, from 1 May
Shonibare's "HMS Victory in a bottle" will be installed on the Fourth Plinth.

Opera
The Gambler Royal Opera House, London WC2, 11 to 27 February
Prokofiev's adaptation of the Dostoevsky novel. Directed by Richard Jones.

Aida Royal Opera House, London WC2, from 27 April to 16 May
David McVicar's presents a new production of Verdi's masterpiece.

Billy Budd Glyndebourne, 20 May to 27 June
Michael Grandage's staging of Britten's opera is a highlight of this year's festival.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Welsh National Opera, Cardiff, from 19 June, and Birmingham, from 6 July
Bryn Terfel stars in Wagner's epic about 24 hours in the life of a city.