AFI Fest 2026 Presented By Canva Unveils Full Lineup
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Monday, 05 October 2026 12:27
- Written by A&E Contributing Editor
The American Film Institute (AFI) announced the complete lineup for AFI FEST 2026 presented by Canva, taking place in Hollywood from October 21 to 25 with screenings at the world famous TCL Chinese Theater. Passes are available at FEST.AFI.com.
This year’s festival presents 157 films across 5 Red Carpet Premieres, 12 Special Screenings, 13 Luminaries selections, 18 Discovery titles, 16 World Cinema selections, 17 documentaries, 3 After Dark films, 4 Guest Artistic Director presentations, 45 films in the Short Film Competition, and 24 films from the AFI Conservatory Showcase presented by AMC Global Media. Of the official selections, 45% are directed by women and 32% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
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Rounding out the impressive slate of already announced titles are highlights including Lee Chang-dong’s Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize winner POSSIBLE LOVE; Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Cannes prize-winning ALL OF A SUDDEN, starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto; Werner Herzog’s highly anticipated BUCKING FASTARD, starring Kate Mara and Rooney Mara; Andrew Haigh's A LONG WINTER, starring Fred Hechinger, Kit Connor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Caitríona Balfe; Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert's THE IDIOT(S) starring Johnny Flynn and Aimee Lou Wood; Mike Leigh's San Sebastián Golden Shell winner TENDER LOVING CARE; and the North American Premieres of Asghar Farhadi's PARALLEL TALES, starring Isabelle Huppert, Vincent Cassel and Virginie Efira; and Céline Sciamma's TUTTI FRUTTI, which premiered earlier this year at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Additional highlights include several eagerly anticipated award winners, including İlker Çatak's Berlinale Golden Bear winner YELLOW LETTERS; Markus Schleinzer's ROSE, starring Sandra Hüller, winner of the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance; Sandra Wollner's EVERYTIME, winner of Cannes' Un Certain Regard top prize; Marine Atlan's Cannes' Critics' Week Grand Prize winner LA GRADIVA; Louis Clichy's IRON BOY, winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize; Stephanie Ahn's BEDFORD PARK, winner of the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Debut Feature; and Lance Hammer’s QUEEN AT SEA starring Juliette Binoche alongside Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, who shared the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.
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This year’s edition will also include new works from top auteurs such as Ali Asgari (A BIT OF LIGHT), Clio Barnard (I SEE BUILDINGS FALL LIKE LIGHTNING), Anna Biller (THE FACE OF HORROR), Anthony Chen (WE ARE ALL STRANGERS), Quentin Dupieux (FULL PHIL), Fernando Eimbcke (FLIES), Radu Jude (DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID), Barbara Kopple (UNION TOWN), Marie Kreutzer (GENTLE MONSTER), Hong Sang-soo (THE DAY SHE RETURNS and NOWHERE TO LAY MY EYES) and Rodrigo Sorogoyen (THE BELOVED).
Among the other high-profile documentary selections screening at this year’s festival are Pegah Ahangarani's REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION, winner of Cannes' L'Œil d'Or Prize; Joss Crowley's Toronto-premiered PRETENDERS; Ahmed Hassouna's Venice-debuted CITIZEN OSAMA; Rachel Mason's MY BROTHER'S KILLER; Ayden Mayeri's SXSW Grand Jury award-winning SUMMER 2000: THE X-CETRA STORY; plus Sundance award winners ONE IN A MILLION (Jack MacInnes and Itab Azzam), NUISANCE BEAR (Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden) and SOUL PATROL (J.M. Harper).
The lineup represents 50 countries and includes 10 official submissions for Best International Feature at the 99th Academy Awards®: 9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN (Thailand); ALL OF A SUDDEN (Japan); CITIZEN OSAMA (Palestine); ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG (Nepal); EVERYTIME (Germany); THE MELTDOWN (Chile); NINA ROZA (Canada); POSSIBLE LOVE (South Korea); ROSE (Austria) and WE ARE ALL STRANGERS (Singapore).
“Our 40th edition of AFI FEST celebrates the cinematic artistry of bold, inspiring filmmakers from around the world," said Todd Hitchcock, Director of AFI FEST and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. “With more than 80 features and nearly 70 shorts, AFI FEST 2026 will once again light up the screen of the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre with a wide-ranging slate of films that includes highly anticipated awards favorites and a few surprises as well."
“We’re thrilled to share some of the year’s most compelling films with the film lovers of Los Angeles at the 40th edition of AFI FEST — from red carpet premieres and major works by established auteurs to exciting debuts from emerging talents, this year’s lineup invites audiences to spend five days experiencing worlds beyond their own and making the connections that great art can spark," said Abbie Algar, Director of Programming, AFI FEST and AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.
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Canva is the exclusive Presenting Sponsor of AFI FEST. FIJI Water is the festival’s Official Water Sponsor. American Airlines is the Official Airline of the festival.
As previously announced, the 40th edition of AFI FEST will run October 21 to 25 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in the heart of Hollywood. The festival will open with the U.S. premiere of WILDWOOD and close with BEING HEUMANN. Additional Red Carpet Premieres include the World Premiere of THE MOSQUITO BOWL, I PLAY ROCKY and RAY GUNN. Special Screenings include 14th, ASHES, BEHEMOTH!, BITTER CHRISTMAS, BUNKER, CLARISSA, ELSINORE, JOSEPHINE, THE MAN I LOVE, MOUSE, TANGLES and WILD HORSE NINE.
This year’s Guest Artistic Directors are Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The Guest Artistic Director Program will include “An Evening with Lord and Miller” which will feature a Q&A with the directors followed by a screening of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) as well as screenings of HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971), THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979) and RIFIFI (1955).
Passes to AFI FEST 2026 are now available for purchase online at FEST.AFI.com. Festivalgoers can choose from the Star Pass, Patron Pass and the new Marquee Pass. The AFI FEST Star Pass features access to all screenings (excluding Red Carpet Premieres), early screening selection and theater access, access to the AFI FEST Festival Lounge, AFI FEST merch and free rush access. The Patron Pass features all the benefits of the Star Pass, plus access to Red Carpet Premieres and priority screening selection and theater access.
Individual tickets will be available for purchase on October 3.
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AFI FEST is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Animated and Documentary Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards®. AFI FEST is also a qualifying festival for consideration for the British Short Film categories of both the BAFTA Film Awards and the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
AFI is a nonprofit, donor-powered organization. Join AFI’s Premiere Circle to support the American Film Institute and enjoy access to exclusive one-of-a-kind opportunities at AFI events, including AFI FEST. To learn more, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Canva, the all-in-one visual communication and collaboration platform, returns as the exclusive Presenting Sponsor of AFI FEST 2026. Built to empower everyone across the entertainment industry, from screenwriters and directors to producers, production teams and studios, Canva helps bring ideas from early concept to screen. Entertainment professionals use Canva to pitch projects and secure buy-in, develop storyboards and mood boards, plan productions, collaborate with cast and crew, create marketing campaigns and promotional assets, and build presentations that bring creative visions to life.
Canva will be integrated throughout AFI FEST including hosting industry networking events and hands-on training workshops for filmmakers, while powering the festival's digital and printed materials. Entertainment professionals can explore resources to pitch projects, plan shoots and bring creative visions to life at canva.com/entertainment.
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Red Carpet Premieres
AFI rolls out the red carpet for some of the biggest films of the festival. Sure to be an exciting celebration of the best in film, the section delivers world-class filmmakers and artisans and a dose of Hollywood magic that can only be found at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre.
BEING HEUMANN
Directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Siân Heder (AFI DWW+ Class of 2005) and based on true events, BEING HEUMANN is the revolutionary, irreverent and deeply human story of the least likely people trying to pull off the impossible and change the lives of millions. DIR Siân Heder. SCR Siân Heder, Rebekah Taussig. CAST Ruth Madeley, Madeline Delp, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Rob Delaney, Daniel Durant, Roberta Colindrez, Antwan Tolliver, Jon Beavers, Ray Fisher, Andrew Pilkington, Michael Patrick Thornton, Russell Harvard, Charlie Rush-Reese, Rio Finnegan, D'Arcee Charrington Neal, Will Brill, Matthew August Jeffers, Sienna Rafter, Rein Barcel. USA
I PLAY ROCKY
Academy Award®-winning director Peter Farrelly (GREEN BOOK, AFI FEST 2018) tells the electrifying true story of an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn't just meant to write 1976's ROCKY. He was meant to be Rocky Balboa. DIR Peter Farrelly. SCR Peter Gamble. CAST Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, P.J. Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Matt Dillon, Stephan James, Kiki Seto. USA
THE MOSQUITO BOWL
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America's greatest college football stars, John McLaughry (Nicholas Galitzine), Bob Baumann (Bill Skarsgård), Tony Butkovich (Ray Nicholson) and David Schreiner (Tom Francis), set fame aside to enlist in the Marines. Directed by Peter Berg from a book by Buzz Bissinger. DIR Peter Berg. SCR Peter Berg, Mark L. Smith. CAST Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, Tom Francis. USA
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RAY GUNN
A decades-in-the-making passion project from Oscar® winner and visionary Brad Bird, RAY GUNN is a retro-futuristic neo-noir mystery, featuring the voice talents of Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits. DIR Brad Bird. SCR Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins. CAST Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits. USA
WILDWOOD
From Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA-winning studio LAIKA (CORALINE), WILDWOOD is a sweeping adventure about love, sacrifice and the magic that reveals itself when we dare to look beyond the familiar. DIR Travis Knight. SCR Chris Butler. CAST Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Richard E. Grant. USA
Special Screenings
Highlighting the most acclaimed films of the season from both master filmmakers and emerging talents, these films stand apart for their artistry and unforgettable stories, characters and performances.
14th
From one of the most influential filmmakers of our time, Ava DuVernay, comes an urgent confrontation with a shattered America and its unfinished promise. DIR Ava DuVernay. USA
ASHES (CENIZA EN LA BOCA)
Multi-hyphenate director, producer and actor Diego Luna adapts Mexican writer Brenda Navarro's acclaimed novel for his fourth feature, a powerful and unconventional immigration drama about a young Mexican woman who journeys to Spain with her brother to join the mother who left them behind as children. DIR Diego Luna. SCR Abia Castillo, Diego Rabasa, Diego Luna. CAST Anna Díaz, Adriana Paz. Mexico, Spain
BEHEMOTH!
With this time-hopping tale of a gifted cellist and former child prodigy (Pedro Pascal) who returns to Los Angeles and the world of film scoring after two decades on the road, Tony Gilroy (MICHAEL CLAYTON) crafts a complex character study, a story of artistic reinvention and a love letter to the mysterious alchemy between moving images and the music that makes us feel their emotional heft. DIR Tony Gilroy. SCR Tony Gilroy. CAST Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Hank Azaria, Will Arnett. USA
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BITTER CHRISTMAS (AMARGA NAVIDAD)
Eye-popping sweaters and interiors, the dramatic effect of a Chavela Vargas song, the sizzling screen presence of Rossy de Palma. Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar plays the hits before smashing his own playbook in this brilliant piece of autofiction, following the parallel stories of two self-obsessed filmmakers who contemplate the limits of inspiration. DIR Pedro Almodóvar. SCR Pedro Almodóvar. CAST Bárbara Lennie, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Luengo, Patrick Criado. Spain
BUNKER
Oscar® winners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz square off in this marital thriller from Oscar®-winning filmmaker Florian Zeller. Renowned architect Miguel (Bardem) and editor Sofia (Cruz) find their 17-year marriage in jeopardy when a tech billionaire offers Miguel a Faustian bargain: design a bunker for the mogul and his oligarch friends to survive the inevitable social upheaval that will target them first. DIR Florian Zeller. SCR Florian Zeller. CAST Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, Patrick Schwarzenegger. France, Spain
CLARISSA
With a star-studded ensemble cast, Arie and Chuko Esiri (EYIMOFE, AFI FEST 2020) relocate Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway to contemporary Lagos, turning its meditation on memory, desire, class and privilege into a distinctly Nigerian story. DIR Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri. SCR Chuko Esiri. CAST Sophie Okonedo, David Oyelowo, India Amarteifio, Toheeb Jimoh, Ayo Edebiri. Nigeria, USA
ELSINORE
Andrew Scott gives a bravura performance as Ian Charleson, a gifted actor best known for his roles in CHARIOTS OF FIRE and GANDHI, who played Hamlet in a legendary 1989 National Theatre production before dying of AIDS in 1990. DIR Simon Stone. SCR Stephen Beresford. CAST Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, David Dawson. UK, USA, Italy
JOSEPHINE
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the 2026 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition, Beth de Araújo's remarkable sophomore feature is a profound examination of childhood innocence lost, the cascading effects of violence and the limits of parental protection. DIR Beth de Araújo. SCR Beth de Araújo. CAST Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy. USA
THE MAN I LOVE
In Ira Sachs' 1980s NYC musical drama, self-proclaimed theater artist Jimmy George (Rami Malek) draws lovers, friends and family into his orbit but leaves them spinning as his larger-than-life personality diminishes before their eyes. DIR Ira Sachs. SCR Mauricio Zacharis, Ira Sachs. CAST Rami Malek, Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Luther Ford. USA
MOUSE
When her world is turned upside down, high-school senior Minnie (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) forms a complicated relationship with her best friend's mother (Sophie Okonedo), who presents a stark and dreamy contrast to Minnie's own working-class, single-parent household. DIR Kelly O'Sullivan, Alex Thompson. SCR Kelly O'Sullivan. CAST Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Chloe Coleman, Tara Mallen, Iman Vellani, David Hyde Pierce. USA
TANGLES
Leah Nelson, in her feature directorial debut, adapts Sarah Leavitt's acclaimed graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother and Me into one of this year's most heartfelt animated films, by turns moving and surprisingly mirthful. DIR Leah Nelson. SCR Leah Nelson, Sarah Leavitt, Trev Renney. CAST Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Seth Rogen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Beanie Feldstein, Wanda Sykes, Pamela Adlon, Sarah Silverman. USA, Canada
WILD HORSE NINE
Director Martin McDonagh continues his exploration of the complexities of male friendship, this time between two CIA agents who are stationed in Chile shortly before Pinochet's coup. The stellar cast includes Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and an excellent John Malkovich, who delivers a nuanced, humorous turn of existential dread. DIR Martin McDonagh. SCR Martin McDonagh. CAST John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailín Salas, Tom Waits, Parker Posey. Chile
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Luminaries
The latest films from world-renowned filmmakers whose work continues to challenge and inspire.
ALL OF A SUDDEN
Co-winners of the Best Actress Award at Cannes, Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto star in Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's (DRIVE MY CAR, AFI 2021) Paris-set tale of friendship and the resilience required to truly care for another human being. DIR Ryusuke Hamaguchi. SCR Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna. CAST Virginie Efira, Tao Okamoto, Kyôzô Nagatsuka, Kodai Kurosaki. Japan
BUCKING FASTARD
Werner Herzog's singular new film, which stars Kate Mara and Rooney Mara in their first film together, takes inspiration from the extraordinary real-life story of British sisters Freda and Greta Chaplin, twins whose unusual bond and shared life became the subject of public fascination in the 1980s. DIR Werner Herzog. SCR Werner Herzog. CAST Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson. USA
DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (FEMME DE CHAMBRE)
Enfant terrible of the Romanian New Wave, filmmaker Radu Jude returns with another scathing satire, loosely adapting Octave Mirbeau's novel into a metatextual and even more provocative treatise on class and immigration in modern-day Europe. DIR Radu Jude. SCR Radu Jude. CAST Ana Dumitrascu, Mélanie Thierry, Vincent Macaigne. Romania, France
DOUBLE FEATURE: HONG SANG-SOO X 2
THE DAY SHE RETURNS
Swapping soju for German beer, Hong Sang-soo’s 34th feature is a playful triptych following middle-aged actress Jeong-su as she does a series of interviews about her latest film, finding profundity in repetition and revealing truths about identity, memory and privacy. DIR Hong Sang-soo. SCR Hong Sang-soo. CAST Song Seon-mi, Cho Yun-hee, Park Mi-so, Kim Sun-jin, Kang So-yi.
Passes are available at FEST.AFI.com.
