A film's life is decided on a circuit: discovered in the January snow at Sundance or Rotterdam, financed at Berlin's market, crowned at Cannes, launched into the awards season from Venice, Telluride and Toronto. This guide maps that circuit festival by festival — the 38 festivals, in 22 countries, that between them run the world's film business.
The list is arranged in the order the year meets it: the winter circuit, the spring summit at Cannes, the summer festivals, the autumn launch, and the specialists in animation, documentary and genre. For each festival: its city and founding year, its 2026 edition and dates as held (and 2027 dates where the festival has officially announced them), its leadership — verified name by name against the festival's own site or a 2025–26 press source, because leadership is where guides go stale — its principal venues, its sections and top awards, its industry market, and its scale where the festival itself publishes a figure. Where no figure is published, the entry says so. The gaps, including the one festival whose 2026 leadership could not be verified, are named at the end.
THE WINTER CIRCUIT
1. SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL — PARK CITY AND SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES
Founded 1978 (as the Utah/US Film Festival, Salt Lake City; renamed the Sundance Film Festival in 1991) · 2026 edition — the final Utah edition
2026 edition: 22 January – 1 February 2026 · 2027 dates: 21–31 January 2027, in Boulder, Colorado — the festival's new home (officially announced by the Sundance Institute)
Leadership: Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming; Amanda Kelso, Acting CEO, Sundance Institute; Kim Yutani, Director of Programming
Principal venues: Theatres across Park City and Salt Lake City for the final Utah edition. Announced Boulder venues from 2027 include the Boulder Theater, Chautauqua Auditorium, Macky Auditorium and the Roe Green Theatre (University of Colorado Boulder) and Cinemark Century Boulder
Sections: U.S. Dramatic Competition; U.S. Documentary Competition; World Cinema Dramatic Competition; World Cinema Documentary Competition; NEXT; Premieres; Midnight; Shorts
Top awards: Grand Jury Prizes (U.S. and World Cinema, dramatic and documentary); Audience Awards; Festival Favorite Award
Scale: 16,201 submissions in total for 2026, including 4,255 feature films; 90 feature films selected, 40% of them by first-time filmmakers (Sundance Institute figures, December 2025)
Industry market: No attached sales market; Sundance is the year's first major acquisitions arena, with distribution deals negotiated on site during the festival
Website: festival.sundance.org · Contact: Festival information and submissions via festival.sundance.org; Sundance Institute at sundance.org
Founded in Salt Lake City in August 1978 by Robert Redford and partners as the Utah/US Film Festival; moved to Park City in 1981 and took the Sundance name in 1991. The 2026 edition closed more than four decades in Utah; the festival's biggest on-site deal that year was A24's acquisition of US rights to The Invite, reported at more than US$10 million. Founder Robert Redford, who died in September 2025, had given his blessing to the Boulder move before his death.
2. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM (IFFR) — ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Founded 1972 (as Film International, founded by Huub Bals) · 55th edition
2026 edition: 29 January – 8 February 2026 · 2027 dates: 28 January – 7 February 2027 (56th edition; dates published by IFFR)
Leadership: Vanja Kaludjercic, Festival Director
Principal venues: de Doelen (festival centre, Schouwburgplein); Pathé Schouwburgplein; Theater Rotterdam; Cinerama; Oude Luxor Theater; KINO; LantarenVenster (IFFR's published 2026 venue list)
Sections: Tiger Competition and Big Screen Competition are the festival's two competitions, within a programme of themed, retrospective and short-film strands
Top awards: Tiger Award (€40,000, shared between director and producer); VPRO Big Screen Award (€30,000); IFFR Audience Award (€10,000)
Scale: Not published for 2026 in the sources consulted
Industry market: CineMart, IFFR's co-production market (launched 1984; presents 20–25 projects a year to co-producers, funds, sales agents and distributors), alongside the Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab. CineMart 2027 runs 31 January – 3 February 2027
Website: iffr.com · Contact: Via iffr.com; CineMart enquiries to cinemart@iffr.com (published by IFFR)
One of the world's largest audience-and-industry festivals and the traditional January home of new independent and experimental cinema; its emblem is the tiger.
3. GÖTEBORG FILM FESTIVAL — GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
Founded 1979 (inaugural edition per the festival; see Notes on edition numbering) · 49th edition
2026 edition: 23 January – 1 February 2026 · 2027 dates: 29 January – 7 February 2027 (50th edition; officially announced)
Leadership: Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director. Mirja Wester was CEO through the 2026 edition, her tenth in the post; Lundberg serves as Acting CEO in the interim, and Kristina Colliander, appointed CEO in 2026, takes up the post in autumn 2026
Principal venues: Draken (festival cinema; home of the Nordic Film Market in 2026); Stora Teatern; and cinemas across Gothenburg
Sections: Nordic Competition; International Competition; Ingmar Bergman Competition (for debut filmmakers)
Top awards: Dragon Award (International Competition) and the Nordic Competition's Dragon Award; Honorary Dragon Award (2026: Agnieszka Holland); Nordic Honorary Dragon Award (2026: Noomi Rapace); Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award
Scale: 287,000 visits and 2,600 accredited industry delegates from 50 countries in 2026; 266 films from 76 countries (festival figures)
Industry market: Nordic Film Market (28–30 January 2026) and TV Drama Vision (27–28 January 2026), the festival's industry platforms
Website: goteborgfilmfestival.se · Contact: Via goteborgfilmfestival.se
The largest film festival in the Nordic region. Edition numbering: the festival dates its inaugural edition to 1979 and numbers 2026 as its 49th edition and 2027 as its 50th; both are printed as the festival publishes them.
4. BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (BERLINALE) — BERLIN, GERMANY
Founded 1951 · 76th edition
2026 edition: 12–22 February 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Tricia Tuttle, Festival Director; Tanja Meissner, Director of Berlinale Pro* (including the European Film Market). The 2026 Competition jury was chaired by Wim Wenders
Principal venues: Berlinale Palast, Potsdamer Platz (principal venue); cinemas across Berlin
Sections: Competition; Berlinale Special; Perspectives; Panorama; Forum; Generation; Berlinale Shorts; Retrospective
Top awards: Golden Bear for Best Film (2026: Yellow Letters, directed by İlker Çatak); Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize; Silver Bear awards for direction, performance and artistic contribution
Scale: 278 films from 80 countries in the 2026 programme. For 2025 the festival reported 340,000 public admissions and more than 115,000 industry admissions (figures cited by the festival director in January 2026)
Industry market: European Film Market (EFM), 12–18 February 2026 — one of the world's three great film markets — with the Berlinale Co-Production Market (14–17 February) under the Berlinale Pro* umbrella; 2026 saw the launch of EFM Frontières Focus, a genre showcase mounted with the Frontières market
Website: berlinale.de · Contact: Via berlinale.de
The first of the year's FIAPF top-tier festivals and, with its market, the European industry's opening summit of the year.
THE SPRING SUMMIT
5. SXSW FILM & TV FESTIVAL — AUSTIN, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
Founded 1987 (SXSW); the Film & TV Festival's 33rd edition was held in 2026 · 33rd Film & TV Festival
2026 edition: 12–18 March 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Claudette Godfrey, Vice President, Film & TV, SXSW
Principal venues: Paramount Theatre and the State Theatre, downtown Austin; Alamo Drafthouse cinemas; ZACH Theatre; and venues across Austin
Sections: Narrative Feature Competition; Documentary Feature Competition; Narrative Spotlight; Documentary Spotlight; Midnighters; television premieres; XR Experience
Top awards: Jury awards in the feature competitions; Audience Awards; XR Experience Award
Scale: 120 feature films, including 90 world premieres, plus 52 short films and television and XR programmes in 2026 (SXSW figures)
Industry market: No standalone market; film runs inside the combined SXSW conference and festivals. In 2026 all SXSW components ran concurrently for the first time, in a condensed seven-day format during the Austin Convention Center renovation
Website: sxsw.com · Contact: Via sxsw.com
Part of the wider SXSW gathering of film, music, comedy and technology in Austin each March.
6. HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (HKIFF) — HONG KONG, CHINA
Founded 1977 (inaugural edition at Hong Kong City Hall) · 50th edition
2026 edition: 1–12 April 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Dr Wilfred Wong, Chairman, The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society; Albert Lee was Executive Director for the 50th festival; Fred Tsui was appointed Executive Director to succeed him, assuming duties on 23 September 2026
Principal venues: Hong Kong Cultural Centre; Hong Kong City Hall; Hong Kong Arts Centre; M+; Premiere Elements; Emperor Cinemas (iSQUARE and Times Square); East Kowloon Cultural Centre (2026 venue list)
Sections: Young Cinema Competition (Chinese-language and World); Documentary Competition; Short Film Competition; gala presentations; Filmmaker in Focus
Top awards: Firebird Awards in the Young Cinema, Documentary and Short Film competitions
Scale: 215 films from 71 countries and regions in the 2026 programme
Industry market: The Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the HAF Film Lab, the festival society's industry programmes, run in the same season as part of Hong Kong's Entertainment Expo
Website: hkiff.org.hk · Contact: Via hkiff.org.hk (The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society)
One of Asia's longest-running film festivals. The 50th edition, themed '50 and Beyond: Framing the Future', included a Golden Jubilee exhibition at Hong Kong City Hall, where the first HKIFF was held in 1977.
7. CANNES FILM FESTIVAL — CANNES, FRANCE
Founded 1946 · 79th edition
2026 edition: 12–23 May 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Iris Knobloch, President; Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate
Principal venues: Palais des Festivals et des Congrès; Grand Théâtre Lumière (the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière); cinemas along the Croisette
Sections: Competition; Un Certain Regard; Out of Competition; Midnight Screenings; Cannes Premiere; Special Screenings. The Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week and ACID run as parallel sections
Top awards: Palme d'Or (2026: Fjord, directed by Cristian Mungiu); Grand Prix; Jury Prize; Best Director; Best Screenplay; Best Actor; Best Actress
Scale: 2,541 feature films submitted from 141 countries for the 2026 Official Selection (festival announcement, April 2026)
Industry market: Marché du Film, the world's largest film market, runs concurrently in and around the Palais des Festivals
Website: festival-cannes.com · Contact: Via festival-cannes.com
The commercial and ceremonial summit of the festival year: the Official Selection is presented each April in Paris by the President and the General Delegate, and the Marché du Film sets the year's market tone.
8. TRIBECA FESTIVAL — NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
Founded 2002 (by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff) · 25th edition
2026 edition: 3–14 June 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Jane Rosenthal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tribeca Enterprises; Cara Cusumano, Festival Director and Senior Vice President of Programming
Principal venues: Theatres and venues across Tribeca and lower Manhattan; festival headquarters at 375 Greenwich Street
Sections: U.S. Narrative Competition; International Narrative Competition; Documentary Competition; Spotlight; Viewpoints; Tribeca NOW (new media and creators); television, games and audio storytelling programmes
Top awards: Juried awards across the narrative, documentary and short film competitions, and audience awards
Scale: Nearly 14,000 submissions were evaluated for the 2026 festival (Festival Director Cara Cusumano). A frequently quoted figure of some 150,000 attendees is an undated general claim, not an official 2026 figure
Industry market: Tribeca Creators Market, the festival's industry marketplace for filmmakers and creators, within an expanded industry programme (2026)
Website: tribecafilm.com · Contact: Via tribecafilm.com
Founded in 2002 in the revival of lower Manhattan after the attacks of 11 September 2001; in its 25th year the festival opened submissions to social-media creators in the NOW programme for the first time.
9. SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (SIFF) — SHANGHAI, CHINA
Founded 1993 · 28th edition
2026 edition: 12–21 June 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Chen Guo, Managing Director, Shanghai International Film & TV Events Center (the festival's organising body), announced the 2026 dates. No festival or artistic director was named in the official announcements consulted — see the guide's Named Gaps
Principal venues: Cinemas across Shanghai (no single principal venue is published in the sources consulted)
Sections: Golden Goblet Awards competitions: Main Competition; Asian New Talent; Documentary; Animation; Short Film
Top awards: Golden Goblet Awards across the five competition strands. In 2026 all 12 Main Competition titles were world premieres, a first for the festival
Scale: About 4,100 submissions from 125 countries and regions for 2026 (a festival record), and more than 420 films screened (Shanghai municipal government, May 2026). For 2025 the festival reported more than 3,900 submissions and some 500,000 admissions
Industry market: International Film & TV Market, held with the festival
Website: siff.com · Contact: Via siff.com
China's only FIAPF-accredited competitive feature film festival, and one of Asia's largest.
THE SUMMER FESTIVALS
10. SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL — SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Founded 1954 (inaugural festival opened 11 June 1954 at the University of Sydney) · 73rd edition
2026 edition: 3–14 June 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Nashen Moodley, Festival Director
Principal venues: State Theatre (the festival's home since 1974); Sydney Opera House; Event Cinemas George Street; State Library of NSW; Dendy Newtown; The Ritz, Randwick; Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne; Palace Central and Palace Norton Street; Art Gallery of NSW; Sydney Town Hall (2026 venues)
Sections: Official Competition; features, documentaries, short films and retrospectives from around the world
Top awards: Sydney Film Prize (A$60,000) for the winner of the Official Competition
Scale: 248 films from 81 countries in the 2026 programme (festival programme announcement); later coverage rounded the figure to 'more than 250 films' — the programme-announcement figure is the one printed
Industry market: No attached market published in the sources consulted
Website: sff.org.au · Contact: Via sff.org.au
One of the world's longest-running film festivals; its founders took the Edinburgh festival, founded three years earlier, as part of their model.
11. KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (KVIFF) — KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC
Founded 1946 · 60th edition
2026 edition: 3–11 July 2026 · 2027 dates: 2–10 July 2027 (61st edition; officially announced by the festival)
Leadership: Karel Och, Artistic Director; Kryštof Mucha, Executive Director; Petr Lintimer, Head of Production. The festival presidency has been vacant since the death of Jiří Bartoška in 2025, and no successor was named in the sources consulted
Principal venues: Hotel Thermal (principal venue); Grandhotel Pupp; Imperial Spa (Císařské Lázně); Karlovy Vary Theatre; Cinema Čas
Sections: Crystal Globe Competition; Proxima Competition; Special Screenings; Czech Films; Out of the Past; Future Frames; Afterhours
Top awards: Grand Prix – Crystal Globe for Best Film (US$25,000; 2026 winner: Fruit Gathering); Proxima Grand Prix; Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema
Scale: 179 films and 472 screenings in 2026, including 43 world premieres (festival figures)
Industry market: KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days — Works in Progress, Works in Development and First Cut+ project presentations for Central and Eastern European cinema
Website: kviff.com · Contact: Via kviff.com; festival@kviff.com
Central and Eastern Europe's leading festival, held each summer in the spa town of Karlovy Vary; the Crystal Globe has been its grand prize since 1948.
12. MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (MIFF) — MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Founded 1952 (continuously running since 1952, per MIFF; see Notes on edition numbering) · 74th edition
2026 edition: 6–23 August 2026 (with MIFF Regional, 14–16 and 21–23 August, and MIFF Online, 14–30 August) · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Al Cossar, Artistic Director; Damien Hodgkinson, Chief Executive Officer
Principal venues: ACMI; Hoyts Melbourne Central (2026 opening venue); and partner cinemas across Melbourne; MIFF Online via ACMI Cinema 3
Sections: Bright Horizons Competition; features, documentaries, short films and XR works; MIFF Regional and MIFF Online programmes
Top awards: Bright Horizons Award (A$140,000, supported by VicScreen — among the world's richest film prizes); Uncle Jack Charles Award
Scale: More than 300 screen works across 600+ sessions in 2026 (festival coverage)
Industry market: 37°South Market (6–9 August 2026), MIFF's screen financing market, in its 19th year, run with the MIFF Premiere Fund and the Accelerator Lab for directors. In 2026 the market hosted 458 delegates, 174 producers and more than 3,300 scheduled meetings (MIFF Industry)
Website: miff.com.au · Contact: Via miff.com.au; market via MIFF Industry
Edition numbering: MIFF states that it has been continuously running since 1952 and numbers 2026 as its 74th edition; the count is printed as the festival publishes it.
13. LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL — LOCARNO, SWITZERLAND
Founded 1946 · 79th edition
2026 edition: 5–15 August 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director; Maja Hoffmann, President
Principal venues: Piazza Grande (the festival's open-air square, seating several thousand); cinemas across Locarno
Sections: Concorso Internazionale (International Competition); Concorso Cineasti del Presente; Piazza Grande; Fuori Concorso; Open Doors screenings
Top awards: Golden Leopard (Pardo d'Oro) for Best Film in the International Competition (2026 winner: You Don't Belong Here, directed by Florin Șerban)
Scale: 233 films in the 2026 programme, including 103 world premieres, with 17 titles in the International Competition (festival figures via Cineuropa). Locarno Pro expected about 2,000 accredited industry guests in 2026
Industry market: Locarno Pro (6–11 August 2026), the festival's industry platform, headed by Markus Duffner — including Open Doors, the co-production platform whose 2025–2028 cycle is dedicated to 42 countries of the African continent (Open Doors ran 5–10 August 2026)
Website: locarnofestival.ch · Contact: Via locarnofestival.ch; Locarno Pro: locarnopro@locarnofestival.ch
The summer's auteur summit: a festival built around the Piazza Grande's nightly open-air screenings and a competition devoted to new cinema.
14. SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL — SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Founded 1995 (founded by the Obala Art Centar during the siege of Sarajevo) · 32nd edition
2026 edition: 14–21 August 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Jovan Marjanović, Festival Director (in post since February 2022, succeeding founder Mirsad Purivatra); Izeta Građević, Creative Director
Principal venues: National Theatre (awards and closing ceremonies); open-air and cinema venues across Sarajevo
Sections: Competition Programme — Feature Film, Documentary Film, Short Film and Student Film; Open Air; summer screenings
Top awards: Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film (2026 winner: Everytime, directed by Sandra Wollner); Hearts of Sarajevo across the competition strands
Scale: 250 films from 70 countries in 2026; 1,215 submissions for the competition programmes, from which 51 films were selected (festival figures)
Industry market: CineLink Industry Days, the festival's industry platform, with Talents Sarajevo for emerging filmmakers of the region
Website: sff.ba · Contact: Via sff.ba
Southeast Europe's leading festival, founded in 1995 in the final year of the siege of Sarajevo and grown into the region's principal meeting point for filmmakers.
15. EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (EIFF) — EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1947 (the world's oldest continually running film festival) · 79th edition
2026 edition: 13–19 August 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Paul Ridd, Chief Executive Officer and Festival Director; Emma Boa, Festival Producer; Andrew Macdonald, Chair of the Board
Principal venues: Filmhouse; Cameo Cinema; Cineworld Fountainbridge; Leith Theatre; Monkey Barrel Comedy; Central Hall serves as the festival hub (2026 venues)
Sections: Sean Connery Prize competition for feature filmmaking; Thelma Schoonmaker Prize competition for short filmmaking; Out of Competition
Top awards: The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence (£50,000) and Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence (£15,000) — both decided by audience vote
Scale: 38 new feature presentations and 21 world premieres in 2026 (festival coverage). In 2025 admissions rose to 16,500, from 12,000 in 2024, with more than 300 filmmakers, producers and distributors attending (festival figures)
Industry market: An industry programme runs within Edinburgh's August festivals season, alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival
Website: edfilmfest.org · Contact: Via edfilmfest.org
Relaunched in 2024 as a new entity after the collapse of its former parent company in 2022; the 2026 edition was the third under the present leadership, positioned at the heart of Edinburgh's August festivals.
THE AUTUMN LAUNCH
16. VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — VENICE (LIDO), ITALY
Founded 1932 (the world's oldest film festival) · 83rd edition
2026 edition: 2–12 September 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia; Alberto Barbera, Artistic Director of the Cinema Department — his mandate was extended by the Biennale board in March 2026 through the 2027 and 2028 editions
Principal venues: Palazzo del Cinema and the Sala Grande, Venice Lido
Sections: Venezia 83 (Competition); Out of Competition; Orizzonti; Venice Classics; Biennale College Cinema
Top awards: Golden Lion for Best Film (2026 winner: Woman Unknown, directed by May el-Toukhy); Grand Jury Prize; Special Jury Prize; Coppa Volpi for Best Actor and Best Actress
Scale: Not published in the sources consulted for 2026
Industry market: Venice Production Bridge, the festival's industry platform, including the Venice Gap-Financing Market, the Book Adaptation Rights Market and Final Cut in Venice; the Bridge's 2026 Focus countries were Switzerland and Greece
Website: labiennale.org/en/cinema · Contact: Via labiennale.org
The autumn launch begins here: Venice opens the season that runs through Telluride, Toronto and New York into the awards campaigns.
17. TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL — TELLURIDE, COLORADO, UNITED STATES
Founded 1974 (first held 30 August 1974; founded by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and James Card) · 53rd edition
2026 edition: 4–7 September 2026 (Labor Day weekend) · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Julie Huntsinger, Executive Director
Principal venues: Sheridan Opera House (the festival's original home); Werner Herzog Theatre; and theatres created for the weekend across the town of Telluride
Sections: The SHOW — the main programme; Guest Director programme (2026: Rebecca Hall); tributes and retrospectives
Top awards: Non-competitive: Telluride gives no film prizes. Its honours are the Silver Medallion tributes (2026: Andrew Haigh, Sandra Hüller and John Malkovich)
Scale: More than 60 feature films, shorts and revivals in the 2026 programme (festival). Attendance is not published; the lineup is traditionally announced only the day before the festival opens
Industry market: None; Telluride's influence is critical and curatorial — a word-of-mouth launchpad into the awards season
Website: telluridefilmfestival.org · Contact: Via telluridefilmfestival.org (the festival is operated by the National Film Preserve)
The mountain counterpoint to Venice and Toronto on the same September weekend: no press conferences, no market, no prizes — and a programme revealed at the last possible moment.
18. TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF) — TORONTO, CANADA
Founded 1976 · 51st edition
2026 edition: 10–20 September 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Cameron Bailey, Chief Executive Officer; Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer; Charles Tremblay heads TIFF: The Market (from 2026)
Principal venues: TIFF Lightbox; Roy Thomson Hall; Princess of Wales Theatre; Royal Alexandra Theatre; Scotiabank Theatre Toronto; Festival Street on King Street West
Sections: Gala Presentations; Special Presentations; Platform; Midnight Madness; Discovery; TIFF Docs; Short Cuts
Top awards: People's Choice Award (2026 winner: La bola negra) — voted by audiences and watched worldwide as an early marker for the awards season
Scale: TIFF does not publish a headline attendance figure in the sources consulted; the City of Toronto expected audiences of close to 500,000 for Festival Street (a city figure, not a TIFF attendance figure)
Industry market: TIFF: The Market — new for 2026, the festival's first formal industry market, held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 10–16 September 2026 — alongside the festival's long-standing industry conference
Website: tiff.net · Contact: Via tiff.net
North America's largest festival and the audience-facing heart of the autumn launch; 2026 added a formal market to fifty years of industry conferencing.
19. SAN SEBASTIÁN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — SAN SEBASTIÁN (DONOSTIA), SPAIN
Founded 1953 (first edition opened 21 September 1953) · 74th edition
2026 edition: 18–26 September 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: José Luis Rebordinos, Director (in post since 2011; the 2026 edition was his last after 15 years). Maialen Beloki was appointed in April 2026 to succeed him from 1 January 2027
Principal venues: Kursaal Congress Centre (principal venue); Victoria Eugenia Theatre; venues across San Sebastián. Festival offices at Tabakalera, Plaza de las Cigarreras 1
Sections: Official Selection; New Directors; Horizontes Latinos; Perlak; Zabaltegi–Tabakalera; Culinary Zinema
Top awards: Golden Shell for Best Film (2026 winner: Tender Loving Care, directed by Mike Leigh); Silver Shell awards; the honorary Donostia Awards
Scale: 263 films from 47 countries in 2026. The outgoing director has estimated that industry accreditations grew from about 600 to more than 2,400 across his tenure — his own estimate, not an audited figure
Industry market: Industry programme including the Europe–Latin America Co-Production Forum (21–23 September 2026), reflecting the festival's role as the bridge between European and Latin American cinema
Website: sansebastianfestival.com · Contact: ssiff@sansebastianfestival.com; +34 943 481212 (published by the festival)
Spain's leading festival and the Zinemaldia, as it is known in Basque; Europe's principal showcase for Latin American cinema.
20. ZURICH FILM FESTIVAL (ZFF) — ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Founded 2005 · 22nd edition
2026 edition: 24 September – 4 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Christian Jungen, Chief Executive Officer (formerly the festival's artistic director); Martin Moszkowicz, President (from 1 July 2026, succeeding Doris Fiala); Reta Guetg, Vice President
Principal venues: Kongresshaus Zurich (opening venue); cinemas across Zurich
Sections: Feature Film Competition; Documentary Film Competition; gala premieres and themed sidebars
Top awards: Golden Eye Award for the competition winners, with honorary Golden Eye and Golden Icon awards
Scale: 133 films in 2026, 46 of them world or European premieres (festival figures)
Industry market: Zurich Summit, the festival's film-finance and industry gathering, held during the festival
Website: zff.com · Contact: Via zff.com
Founded in 2005, the youngest festival in this guide's autumn launch; 2026 brought a new president and a former artistic director confirmed as CEO.
21. NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL (NYFF) — NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
Founded 1963 · 64th edition
2026 edition: 25 September – 12 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Dennis Lim, Artistic Director (chair of the selection committee, with Florence Almozini, Justin Chang and Rachel Rosen)
Principal venues: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (principal venue); the venues of Film at Lincoln Center
Sections: Main Slate; Currents; Spotlight (including the new NYFF Encounters strand from 2026); Revivals; Shorts
Top awards: Non-competitive: the New York Film Festival gives no prizes; selection itself is the honour
Scale: Main Slate of about 32 films and 15 features in Currents in 2026 (Film at Lincoln Center figures)
Industry market: None attached; the festival is a curated showcase presented by Film at Lincoln Center, and the closing summit of the autumn launch
Website: filmlinc.org/nyff · Contact: Via filmlinc.org
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center since 1963; the Main Slate is the year's most concentrated survey of world cinema for North American critics and audiences.
22. BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (LFF) — LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1957 · 70th edition
2026 edition: 7–18 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director (Artistic Director, BFI Festivals); Ben Roberts, Chief Executive, BFI
Principal venues: Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall (gala venue); BFI Southbank; partner cinemas across London and ten partner venues around the UK
Sections: Headline galas and themed strands, with competitions for best film, first feature, documentary and short film
Top awards: Best Film Award, Official Competition (2026 winner: Imperium, directed by Sergei Loznitsa); Sutherland Award for Best First Feature (2026: 9 Temples to Heaven); Grierson Award for documentary; Short Film Award
Scale: 251 features, short films, series and immersive works from 88 countries in 2026, including 33 world premieres (BFI figures)
Industry market: No attached market; an industry programme of talks and networking runs within the festival
Website: bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival · Contact: Via bfi.org.uk
The UK's flagship festival, presented by the British Film Institute; the 70th edition played in London and at partner venues across the country.
23. FILMFEST HAMBURG — HAMBURG, GERMANY
Founded 1992 · 34th edition
2026 edition: 24 September – 3 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Malika Rabahallah, Festival Director (in post since 2024)
Principal venues: Abaton; CinemaxX Dammtor; Metropolis; Passage; Studio-Kino (the five festival cinemas, plus neighbourhood 'FilmFest ums Eck' venues)
Sections: Ten sections including Kaleidoskop, Veto! and Große Freiheit (contemporary German cinema); the Filmmaker in Focus format
Top awards: Douglas Sirk Award, presented since 1995 for an outstanding contribution to film culture (2026 recipient: Helen Mirren), alongside prizes for political film, young directing talent and youth cinema
Scale: More than 120 productions screened in 2026 (festival); a figure of around 60,000 visitors is quoted in general descriptions of the festival, not tied to a single edition
Industry market: Filmfest Hamburg Industry Days (introduced in 2025), with the Explorer Conference; European Work in Progress holds its edition during the industry days. German Unity Day, 3 October, is the festival's Free Admission Day
Website: filmfesthamburg.de · Contact: Via filmfesthamburg.de (Filmfest Hamburg gGmbH, Mönckebergstraße 18, 20095 Hamburg)
An audience festival in the Hanseatic city: five city-centre cinemas, filmmakers in conversation with the public, and a free-admission closing day on 3 October.
24. BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (BIFF) — BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA
Founded 1996 (first edition; see Notes on a rival founding date) · 31st edition
2026 edition: 6–15 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Jung Han-seok, Festival Director; Ellen Y.D. Kim, Director of the Asian Contents & Film Market
Principal venues: Busan Cinema Center, Haeundae (principal venue); cinemas across Busan, with Community BIFF in Nampo-dong
Sections: Competition (for the Busan Awards); New Currents; Jiseok; A Window on Asian Cinema; Korean Cinema Today; World Cinema; Open Cinema
Top awards: Busan Award for Best Film (2026 winner: Midday Meal, directed by Majid Majidi); New Currents Award (2026: Birds in the Dark). Under FIAPF's March 2026 accreditation reform, the Busan Award became an Academy Award–qualifying route for Best International Feature Film — the only such route in Asia
Scale: 246 films from 59 countries in the official selection (festival press conference figure; a City of Busan release said 247), and 315 films in total including Community BIFF (some reports say 316). Screenings drew 200,043 admissions in 2026 and total attendance reached 277,027, the festival's largest audience since 2015 (festival figures, reported by Variety)
Industry market: Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), 10–13 October 2026 at BEXCO — its 21st edition, incorporating the Asian Project Market and the Busan Story Market. In 2026 ACFM registered 3,158 participants from 1,266 companies in 58 countries
Website: biff.kr · Contact: Via biff.kr; ACFM badge enquiries: platform@acfm.kr
Founding date: the festival's own history dates the first BIFF to 1996; one widely used reference infobox gives 'Founded 1995', apparently counting the preparatory year. The guide prints 1996, the year of the first edition. A reference listing also named an artistic director (Choi Soon-dae) that could not be corroborated in festival or trade sources; it is not printed as leadership.
25. ROME FILM FEST (FESTA DEL CINEMA DI ROMA) — ROME, ITALY
Founded 2006 · 21st edition
2026 edition: 13–25 October 2026 (the festival's own dates; one visitor source gave an opening of 14 October) · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Salvatore Nastasi, President, Fondazione Cinema per Roma (the 2026 edition was the first under his chairmanship); Paola Malanga, Artistic Director
Principal venues: Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone (principal venue); MAXXI; Casa del Cinema; cinemas across Rome
Sections: Progressive Cinema Competition (18 films in 2026); Grand Public; Freestyle; Best Of
Top awards: Best Film, Grand Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Actor in the Progressive Cinema Competition; Poste Italiane Best Debut Film Award; Best Documentary Prize
Scale: About 150 titles from 55 countries in 2026 (festival figures via Cineuropa)
Industry market: No market is named in the sources consulted
Website: romacinemafest.it · Contact: Via romacinemafest.it
Rome's autumn festival, built around the Auditorium Parco della Musica and a large public audience.
26. AFI FEST — LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
Founded 1987 (launched by the American Film Institute as the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, succeeding FILMEX) · 40th edition
2026 edition: 21–25 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Bob Gazzale, President and Chief Executive Officer, AFI; Todd Hitchcock, Director of AFI FEST; Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Guest Artistic Directors (2026)
Principal venues: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood
Sections: Red Carpet Premieres; Special Screenings; Luminaries; Discovery; World Cinema; Documentaries; After Dark; Short Film Competition
Top awards: Largely non-competitive for features; the Short Film Competition is Academy Award–qualifying. AFI describes the festival as a showcase of the year's best festival films, free to the public
Scale: 158 films from 50 countries in 2026 (AFI figures)
Industry market: None attached
Website: fest.afi.com · Contact: Via fest.afi.com; submissions via FilmFreeway
The American Film Institute's Los Angeles festival: five days in Hollywood that gather the year's festival successes for Los Angeles audiences and the awards-season industry.
27. VIENNALE — VIENNA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Founded 1960 (first held) · 64th edition
2026 edition: 22 October – 3 November 2026 (the festival's official save-the-date; one secondary source gave 4 November) · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Eva Sangiorgi, Festival Director
Principal venues: Five cinemas with six auditoriums across central Vienna (2026)
Sections: A non-competitive survey of the year's cinema: features, documentaries and short films, with retrospectives and tributes
Top awards: Vienna Film Prize (for an Austrian film); FIPRESCI Prize of the international critics
Scale: 261 films from 71 countries and 330 public screenings in 2026 (festival figures)
Industry market: None attached
Website: viennale.at · Contact: ticketservice@viennale.at; +43 1 526 594 769 (festival ticket service, published by the festival)
Austria's principal film festival is deliberately unhurried: no market and no prizes economy — a fortnight of films in the city's historic cinemas.
28. TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF) — TOKYO, JAPAN
Founded 1985 (held biennially 1985–1991, annually thereafter — which is why 2026 is the 39th edition) · 39th edition
2026 edition: 26 October – 4 November 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Takeo Hisamatsu, Festival Director (appointed effective 14 April 2026, returning to the role he held in 2017–2021); Shozo Ichiyama, Programming Director. Hisamatsu succeeded Hiroyasu Ando, who had led the festival since 2019 (one report dated Ando's departure to 31 May 2026 — see the README's discrepancy notes)
Principal venues: The Hibiya–Yurakucho–Marunouchi–Ginza district: TOHO Cinemas Hibiya; TOHO Cinemas Chanter; Marunouchi Piccadilly; Humantrust Cinema Yurakucho; Kadokawa Cinema Yurakucho; Hulic Hall Tokyo; Cine Switch Ginza; National Film Archive of Japan
Sections: Competition; Asian Future; Nippon Cinema Now (competitive from 2026); Gala Selection; World Focus; Japanese Animation
Top awards: Tokyo Grand Prix for Best Film in Competition; Kurosawa Akira Award (2026 recipients: Mohammad Rasoulof and Mipo O)
Scale: 204 films in 2026. In 2025 the festival reported 69,162 admissions and 2,557 international guests, and TIFFCOM drew 4,610 participants (festival figures via Screen Daily)
Industry market: TIFFCOM (28–30 October 2026), the festival's content market, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center Hamamatsucho-Kan
Website: tiff-jp.net · Contact: Via tiff-jp.net
Japan's only FIAPF-accredited competitive festival, organised by UniJapan; the 2026 edition opened a new leadership era in its late-October slot after Busan.
29. THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — THESSALONIKI, GREECE
Founded 1960 · 67th edition
2026 edition: 5–15 November 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Akis Sakellariou, President of the Board of Directors; Elise Jalladeau, General Director; Orestis Andreadakis, Artistic Director (official staff list, filmfestival.gr)
Principal venues: Olympion theatre (the festival's historic home, with the Pavlos Zannas theatre); venues across Thessaloniki
Sections: International Competition; Meet the Neighbors+; Film Forward; Immersive — the competitions are for first and second features — plus the Greek Film Festival programme
Top awards: Golden Alexander 'Theo Angelopoulos' Award for Best Feature Film (€10,000); Silver Alexander for Best Director (€5,000)
Scale: Not published in the sources consulted for 2026
Industry market: AGORA, the festival's industry platform (6–14 November 2026), including the Crossroads Co-production Forum and the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy
Website: filmfestival.gr · Contact: Via filmfestival.gr
Greece's leading festival, held each November in the port city of Thessaloniki; its AGORA is the principal industry meeting point for cinema from Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean.
30. TALLINN BLACK NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL (PÖFF) — TALLINN, ESTONIA
Founded 1997 (founded by Tiina Lokk-Tramberg) · 30th edition
2026 edition: 6–22 November 2026 (the festival's official dates; one reference infobox gave a closing date of 20 November) · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Tiina Lokk-Tramberg, Festival Director and founder
Principal venues: Cinemas across Tallinn, with screenings also in Tartu
Sections: Official Selection Competition; First Feature Competition; Baltic Film Competition; Critics' Picks; Just Film (the children's and youth festival); PÖFF Shorts
Top awards: Grand Prix for Best Film in the Official Selection Competition (€20,000 grant)
Scale: For 2025 the festival reported 94,789 admissions (an all-time high), 249 films and 275 shorts from 79 countries across 894 screenings; the festival cites about 90,000 visits and some 2,000 guests a year (festival figures)
Industry market: Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, the festival's industry platform
Website: poff.ee · Contact: info@poff.ee; +372 56 208 308 (MTÜ Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival, Telliskivi 60a/2, 10412 Tallinn — published in the festival's regulations)
A FIAPF-accredited competitive festival since 2014, taking its name from Estonia's dark November evenings — Black Nights.
31. CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (CIFF) — CAIRO, EGYPT
Founded 1976 (founded by Kamal El-Mallakh) · 47th edition — the edition marks the festival's 50th anniversary
2026 edition: 11–20 November 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Hussein Fahmy, Festival President; Mohamed Tarek, Artistic Director
Principal venues: Cairo Opera House (the festival's historic home); Tahrir Cinema and Zawya Cinema joined the venue list for 2026
Sections: International Competition (12 films in 2026); Arab and international panorama programmes; shorts and restored classics
Top awards: Golden Pyramid for Best Film in the International Competition; Golden Pyramid Lifetime Achievement Award; Faten Hamama Award for Excellence
Scale: 5,600 submissions (2,100 features and 3,500 shorts) and 145 films from 64 countries, including 17 world premieres, announced by the festival for 2026
Industry market: Cairo Film Industry Days, the festival's industry platform
Website: ciff.org.eg · Contact: Via ciff.org.eg
The Arab world's oldest major festival. Founded in 1976, it numbers 2026 as its 47th edition — some years in its history were not held — while celebrating its 50th anniversary.
32. MAR DEL PLATA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA
Founded 1954 · 41st edition
2026 edition: 5–15 November 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: NOT VERIFIED for the 2026 edition — see the guide's Named Gaps. Gabriel Lerman and Jorge Stamadianos were co-directors of the 39th edition (2024), the most recent festival leadership published in the sources consulted; the festival is organised by INCAA, Argentina's film institute
Principal venues: Teatro Auditorium, including the Astor Piazzolla hall (principal venue)
Sections: International Competition; national and Latin American programmes; retrospectives and restored classics
Top awards: Golden Astor for Best Film in the International Competition (the Astor awards were renamed in 2004 in honour of Astor Piazzolla); Silver Astor awards, including a Lifetime Achievement honour
Scale: Not published in the sources consulted for 2026
Industry market: Industry activities run with the festival under INCAA; no market is named in the sources consulted
Website: mardelplatafilmfest.com · Contact: Via mardelplatafilmfest.com; festival telephone +54 11 4383 5115 (festival listing)
Latin America's oldest major festival and its historic FIAPF competition, founded in 1954 in the Atlantic resort city of Mar del Plata; several years in its history were not held, which is why 2026 is the 41st edition.
THE SPECIALISTS
33. ANNECY INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL — ANNECY, FRANCE
Founded 1960 · 2026 edition (styled the 66th edition in festival coverage; see Notes)
2026 edition: 21–27 June 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Marcel Jean, Artistic Director (stepping down after the 2027 festival, announced September 2026); Mickaël Marin, Chief Executive Officer of CITIA, the festival's organising body (in post since 2018)
Principal venues: Bonlieu Scène Nationale (principal venue); open-air screenings on the Pâquier lawn beside Lake Annecy; the Cité internationale du cinéma d'animation, opened on the eve of the 2026 festival
Sections: Official Competition for feature films and short films; Contrechamp; Annecy Presents; open-air and special screenings
Top awards: Cristal for a Feature Film (2026 winner: The Violinist); Cristal for a Short Film (2026: Paper Trail); Jury and Audience awards
Scale: Not published in the sources consulted for 2026
Industry market: Mifa — the International Animation Film Market — including the Mifa Pitches for projects in development
Website: annecyfestival.com · Contact: Via annecyfestival.com
The world's leading animation festival. Edition numbering: festival coverage of 2026 styles the edition the 66th; a Filmitalia listing's '50th Edition' appears to conflate the festival's numbering with another count and is not followed. In March 2026 Annecy was announced among the festivals in FIAPF's reformed top-tier accreditation.
34. IDFA — INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM — AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Founded 1988 · 39th edition
2026 edition: 12–22 November 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Artistic Director (her first edition in the role was 2025, succeeding Orwa Nyrabia); Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, Head of IDFA Industry
Principal venues: Royal Theater Tuschinski; EYE Filmmuseum; and venues across Amsterdam — the festival occupies more than 40 locations around the city
Sections: International Competition; Envision Competition; IDFA DocLab (new media); Signed; Paradocs; Best of Fests
Top awards: IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition, with awards across the Envision, DocLab and cross-section competitions
Scale: 253 titles from 80 countries in 2026 (festival figures via Cineuropa). IDFA reports annual attendance in the range of 250,000 to 300,000 visits
Industry market: IDFA Forum, the festival's co-financing and co-production market (15–18 November 2026; 47 projects selected from 859 entries in 2026), and the Docs for Sale market; the IDFA Bertha Fund supports documentary filmmakers internationally
Website: idfa.nl · Contact: Via idfa.nl and festival.idfa.nl
The world's largest documentary film festival and documentary's principal marketplace: the Forum is where much of the year's nonfiction is financed.
35. CPH:DOX — COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL — COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Founded 2003 (see Notes on a 2002 dating) · 23rd edition
2026 edition: 11–22 March 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Niklas Engstrøm, Artistic Director; Katrine Kiilgaard, Managing Director
Principal venues: Kunsthal Charlottenborg (the festival centre since 2017); cinemas across Copenhagen
Sections: Six competitions — DOX:AWARD, F:ACT Award, HUMAN:RIGHTS Award, NEW:VISION, NEXT:WAVE and NORDIC:DOX — within a programme of some 200 films
Top awards: DOX:AWARD (€10,000); the five further competition awards (€5,000 each); Audience Award (€10,000 in 2026)
Scale: In 2025 the festival reported more than 150,000 admissions and more than 2,000 international industry guests, across a programme of some 200 films (festival figures)
Industry market: CPH:FORUM, the festival's financing and co-production event, with CPH:MARKET and the CPH:LAB talent programme
Website: cphdox.dk · Contact: Via cphdox.dk
One of the world's largest documentary festivals, held each March. Founding year: sources differ between 2002 (the founding foundation, Natsværmerfonden) and 2003 (the first festival, and the festival's own dating); the guide prints 2003.
36. HOT DOCS CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL — TORONTO, CANADA
Founded 1993 (by the Documentary Organization of Canada) · 33rd edition
2026 edition: 23 April – 3 May 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Diana Sanchez was Executive Director through the 2026 festival; in a later 2026 announcement the festival elevated her to President and appointed Mara Gourd-Mercado as Executive Director from 19 October 2026. Julie Bristow is Chair of the Board
Principal venues: Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (the festival's own cinema; opening night venue); cinemas across Toronto
Sections: International Spectrum; World Showcase; Canadian Spectrum; short film programmes
Top awards: Juried awards across the international and Canadian competitions, and audience awards
Scale: 2,820 submissions for 2026; 115 documentaries (80 features and 35 shorts) from 51 countries across 173 screenings, with about 1,000 filmmakers, delegates and industry guests (festival figures)
Industry market: Hot Docs Forum (which returned in 2026) and the Deal Maker meetings programme
Website: hotdocs.ca · Contact: Via hotdocs.ca
North America's largest documentary festival, owner of its own year-round cinema in Toronto.
37. SITGES — INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL OF CATALONIA — SITGES, SPAIN
Founded 1968 (as the International Week of Fantasy and Horror Films) · 59th edition
2026 edition: 8–18 October 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Ángel Sala, Artistic Director (in post since 2001); Mònica Garcia i Massagué, General Manager of the festival foundation
Principal venues: Auditori at the Hotel Melià Sitges (1,380 seats; principal venue); Cine El Retiro; Cine Casino Prado; L'Escorxador
Sections: Official Fantàstic Competition, with documentary, new-visions and midnight strands
Top awards: Best Film in the Official Fantàstic Competition (2026 winner: Species / Sanguine, as the title was reported), with awards for direction, performance and screenplay
Scale: Not published in the sources consulted for 2026
Industry market: Industry activities run alongside the public festival; the festival exchanges a project award with Montreal's Frontières genre market
Website: sitgesfilmfestival.com · Contact: festival@sitgesfilmfestival.com (published in the Catalunya Film Festivals listing)
The world's longest-running major genre festival: fantastic and horror cinema in a Mediterranean resort town each October.
38. FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL — MONTREAL, CANADA
Founded 1996 · 30th edition
2026 edition: 16 July – 2 August 2026 · 2027 dates: Not yet announced at press time
Leadership: Mitch Davis, Artistic Director; Annick Mahnert, Executive Director of the Frontières market
Principal venues: Concordia University — the Hall Theatre (SGWU Alumni Auditorium) and the J.A. De Sève Cinema; Cinéma du Musée
Sections: Cheval Noir Competition; an international genre programme across horror, science fiction, action and animation; documentary and short film strands
Top awards: Cheval Noir Award for Best Film; the Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award (2026: Nicolas Winding Refn, presented at the opening ceremony)
Scale: 125 feature films and more than 200 short films in 2026 (festival figures). In 2025 the festival reported nearly 1,500 industry delegates from 49 countries
Industry market: Frontières, the festival's international co-production market for genre films (founded 2012); its new EFM Frontières Focus showcase launched at the Berlinale's European Film Market in 2026
Website: fantasiafestival.com · Contact: Via fantasiafestival.com
North America's leading genre festival. Founded as a showcase for Asian genre cinema, it became fantastic film's discovery engine: its world premieres regularly trigger distribution bidding wars, as A24's acquisition of The Undertone after its 2025 Fantasia premiere showed.
NAMED GAPS
One festival's leadership could not be verified to this guide's standard, and it is named plainly: Mar del Plata. No 2026 festival director or co-directors could be confirmed against the festival's own site or a 2025–26 press source; its entry prints the 2024 co-directors, labelled as such, rather than presenting old names as current. Shanghai publishes no artistic or festival director — its official announcements name only the managing director of the organising centre — and the guide records exactly that. The Karlovy Vary presidency has been vacant since the death of Jiří Bartoška in 2025. Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and the Hamptons were pruned from the candidate list to hold the roster to the defensible world tier; South Asia and the Middle East have no entry verified to standard in this pass, and Africa is represented by Cairo alone. Six festivals — Venice, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Mar del Plata, Annecy and Sitges — publish no attendance or submission figure in the sources consulted, and their entries say "not published" rather than carrying estimates.
Compiled October 2026 from official festival sources and trade press. Discrepancies between sources — among them Busan's rival founding dates and programme counts, Tallinn's closing date, and Annecy's edition numbering — are flagged in the individual entries and collected in the README accompanying the master data file (CSV) in the LIKE® Film Festivals department records.