Philadelphia Film Festival Announces First Wave of Films for Historic 35th Edition
Philadelphia Film Festival Announces First Wave of Films for Historic 35th Edition
The 35th Philadelphia Film Festival, running October 15–25, 2026, has announced the first wave of films for its milestone edition. This year’s festival marks a double anniversary: 35 years of the Philadelphia Film Festival and 25 years of the Philadelphia Film Society.
Headline Selections
Among the festival’s headline selections are “Wild Horse Nine,” the latest film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin McDonagh and winner of the Best Actor prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes; Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden,” winner of the Best Actress prize at Cannes; Beth de Araújo’s “Josephine,” winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance; Simon Stone’s “Elsinore,” winner of the International People’s Choice Award at Toronto; Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s “La Bola Negra,” also a Toronto People’s Choice winner; and “Behemoth!,” from Oscar-nominated director and writer Tony Gilroy.
World Premieres
The festival’s Filmadelphia section will host the World Premieres of four films: Hoag Kepner’s “Big Phan,” Doree Simon Hatfield’s “Gentle by Birth,” Andrew Sullivan’s “I Don’t Want to Drink Your Blood Anymore,” and Max Korman’s “Joy Will Prevail.”
This year’s lineup includes new work from a number of internationally recognized filmmakers, including Pedro Almodóvar’s “Bitter Christmas,” Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Look Back,” Mike Leigh’s “Tender Loving Care,” Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Fatherland,” Lee Chang-dong’s “Possible Love,” Radu Jude’s “The Diary of a Chambermaid,” Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur,” Lukas Dhont’s “Coward,” David Greaves and William Greaves’ “Once Upon a Time in Harlem,” Andrew Haigh’s “A Long Winter,” and Julia Loktev’s two-part “My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow” and “My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile.”
Documentary selections include Dawn Porter’s “When a Witness Recants,” Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s “Naza,” Sharon Liese’s “Seized,” Quinn Whitney Wilson and Viridiana Lieberman’s “Jean-Michel Basquiat,” Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco’s “The Match,” Matty Wishnow’s “The Last Critic,” and Sam Green’s “The Oldest Person in the World.”
J. Andrew Greenblatt, CEO and Executive Director of the Philadelphia Film Society, said the 35th anniversary offers an opportunity to celebrate the festival’s history while looking ahead to the future of cinema. He said this year’s lineup brings together filmmakers from around the world, spanning new work from established directors to discoveries from debut filmmakers, and described the program as reflecting the breadth and ambition the festival aims to represent for this milestone year.
Michael Lerman, Artistic Director and Chief Creative Officer, said the announced selections represent only a portion of the full program. He noted that this has been a strong year at the box office and said the scale of this year’s festival reflects that, calling it the organization’s biggest program to date. Lerman said additional titles and details will be announced soon.
The complete lineup for the 35th Philadelphia Film Festival, including additional films, guests and special events, will be revealed on October 7, 2026.
First Wave of Titles
- ALL OF A SUDDEN — Ryûsuke Hamaguchi | France, Japan, Germany, Belgium | 2026
- ARRESTED MEMORY — SABU | Taiwan, Japan | 2026
- BEHEMOTH! — Tony Gilroy | USA | 2026
- BEING HEUMANN — Siân Heder | USA | 2026
- BEN’IMANA — Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo | Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway | 2026
- BIG PHAN — Hoag Kepner | USA | 2026 — World Premiere
- BITTER CHRISTMAS — Pedro Almodóvar | Spain | 2026
- BRIAN — Will Ropp | USA | 2025
- BUNKER — Florian Zeller | France, Spain | 2026
- THE BURNING GIANTS — Phuttiphong Aroonpheng | Thailand, France, Singapore, Netherlands | 2026
- CLARISSA — Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri | Nigeria, USA | 2026
- CONGO BOY — Rafiki Fariala | Central African Republic | 2026
- COWARD — Lukas Dhont | Belgium, France, The Netherlands | 2026
- THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID — Radu Jude | France, Romania | 2026
- THE DREAMED ADVENTURE — Valeska Grisebach | France, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria | 2026
- ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG — Abinash Bikram Shah | Nepal, Germany, Brazil, France, Norway | 2026
- ELSINORE — Simon Stone | UK, Italy, USA | 2026
- EVERYTIME — Sandra Wollner | Germany | 2026
- FATHERLAND — Paweł Pawlikowski | Poland, France, Germany, Italy | 2026
- FJORD — Cristian Mungiu | Romania, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark | 2026
- GENTLE BY BIRTH — Doree Simon Hatfield | USA | 2026 — World Premiere
- HALF — Samjad | India | 2026
- I DON’T WANT TO DRINK YOUR BLOOD ANYMORE — Andrew Sullivan | USA | 2026 — World Premiere
- I’LL BE GONE IN JUNE — Katharina Rivilis | Germany, Switzerland, USA | 2026
- INK — Danny Boyle | UK | 2026
- JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Quinn Whitney Wilson, Viridiana Lieberman | USA | 2026
- JOSEPHINE — Beth de Araújo | USA | 2026
- JOY WILL PREVAIL — Max Korman | USA | 2026 — World Premiere
- LA BOLA NEGRA — Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi | Spain | 2026
- LA GRADIVA — Marine Atlan | France | 2026
- THE LAST CRITIC — Matty Wishnow | USA | 2026
- A LONG WINTER — Andrew Haigh | Canada, UK | 2026
- LOOK BACK — Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan | 2026
- THE MATCH — Juan Cabral, Santiago Franco | Argentina | 2026
- MINOTAUR — Andrey Zvyagintsev | France, Germany, Latvia | 2026
- MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I – LAST AIR IN MOSCOW — Julia Loktev | USA | 2024
- MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART II – EXILE — Julia Loktev | USA | 2026
- NAZA — Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor | UK | 2026
- NEVER AFTER DARK — Dave Boyle | Japan | 2026
- THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD — Sam Green | USA | 2026
- ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM — David Greaves, William Greaves | USA | 2026
- POSSIBLE LOVE — Lee Chang-dong | South Korea | 2026
- SEIZED — Sharon Liese | USA | 2026
- TENDER LOVING CARE — Mike Leigh | UK | 2026
- TOO MANY BEASTS — Sarah Arnold | France | 2026
- UGLY CRY — Emily Robinson | USA | 2025
- WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS — Dawn Porter | USA | 2026
- WRITTEN ON THE WIND — Douglas Sirk | USA | 1956
- WILD HORSE NINE — Martin McDonagh | UK, USA, Chile | 2026
- YELLOW LETTERS — İlker Çatak | Germany, France, Turkey | 2026
