41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival Reveals Lineup, Opens with Nicola Rinciari’s ‘A Mosquito in the Ear’

Nicola Rinciari’s A Mosquito in the Ear, starring Jake Lacy, Nazanin Boniadi, and Ruhi Pal, will open the 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which runs from February 4 to 14, 2026.

Closing night will feature the premiere of Laundry (Uhlanjululo), written and directed by Zamo Mkhwanazi and starring Ntobeko Sishi and Tracy September.

The lineup will feature 46 world premieres and 80 U.S. premieres representing 50 countries. A highlight this year is a retrospective honoring filmmaker Julian Schnabel and the U.S. premiere of his latest film, In the Hand of Dante, starring Oscar Isaac, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Gal Gadot, and Martin Scorsese. The festival will also screen Schnabel’s films, including Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and At Eternity’s Gate.

Feature Films

“#VIRAL (#拡散)” — King Bai (U.S. Premiere; Japan)
“Ablaze (Les Braises)” — Thomas Kruithof (U.S. Premiere; France)
“Abril” — Hernan Jimenez (U.S. Premiere; Costa Rica)
“Adam’s Sake (L’intérêt d’Adam)” — Laura Wandel (U.S. Premiere; Belgium, France)
“Aki” — Darlene Naponse (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“All of the Above” — Allison Walsh (World Premiere; United States)
“American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” — David Alvarado (United States)
“The Art of Adventure” — Alison Reid (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Artists in Residence” — Katie Jacobs (United States)
“ASCO: Without Permission” — Travis Gutiérrez Senger (United States)
“The Big Cheese” — Sara Joe Wolansky (United States)
“Blood Lines” — Gail Maurice (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Bookends” — Mike Doyle (World Premiere; United States)
“Broken Voices (Sbormistr)” — Ondřej Provazník (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
“California Scenario” — James Takata (World Premiere; United States)
“The Cost of Heaven” — Mathieu Denis (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“A Cowboy in London” — Jared L. Christopher (World Premiere; United States)
“Cuba & Alaska” — Yegor Troyanovsky (U.S. Premiere; Ukraine, France, Belgium)
“Dear Lara” — Lara St. John (World Premiere; Canada, United States)
“Death and Life Madalena (Morte e Vida Madalena)” — Guto Parente (U.S. Premiere; Brazil, Portugal)
“Diya” — Achille Ronaimou (Chad)
“Don’t Call Me Mama (Se meg)” — Nina Knag (U.S. Premiere; Norway)
“Eternal Stoke” — Joshua Pomer (World Premiere; United States)
“The Eyes of Ghana” — Ben Proudfoot (United States)
“Father’s Day (La Fête des Pères)” — Ayana O’Shun (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“The Fisherman” — Zoey Martinson (Ghana)
“The Gas Station Attendant” — Karla Murthy (United States)
“Gaslit” — Katie Camosy (World Premiere; United States)
“The Heart Is a Muscle” — Imran Hamdulay (U.S. Premiere; South Africa, Saudi Arabia)
“Holy Days” — Nathalie Boltt (World Premiere; Canada, New Zealand)
“I Swear” — Kirk Jones (United Kingdom)
“If These Walls Could Rock” — Tyler Measom & Craig A. Williams (United States)
“Imbalance” — Dale Griffiths Stamos (World Premiere; United States)
“In the Hand of Dante” — Julian Schnabel (U.S. Premiere; United States, Italy)
“In the Land of Arto (Le Pays d’Arto)” — Tamara Stepanyan (U.S. Premiere; France, Armenia)
“In the Room” — Brishkay Ahmed (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“The Incredible Snow Woman (L’Incroyable femme des neiges)” — Sébastien Betbeder (U.S. Premiere; France)
“Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream (Irkalla Hulm Jijiljamish)” — Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji (U.S. Premiere; Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, France, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia)
“Kim Novak’s Vertigo” — Alexandre O. Philippe (United States)
“The Last Picture Shows” — Rustin Thompson (World Premiere; United States)
“Laundry (Uhlanjululo)” — Zamo Mkhwanazi (U.S. Premiere; South Africa)
“Let Me Paint My World for You (Ich male dir meine Welt)” — Andrea Christina Furrer (World Premiere; Germany, Switzerland)
“Life After Siham (La Vie après Siham)” — Namir Abdel Messeeh (U.S. Premiere; France, Egypt)
“A Life Illuminated” — Tasha Van Zandt (United States)
“Little Lorraine” — Andy Hines (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Los Tigres” — Alberto Rodríguez (U.S. Premiere; Spain)
“Lost Land (Harà Watan)” — Akio Fujimoto (U.S. Premiere; Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany)
“Lovely Day (Mille secrets mille dangers)” — Philippe Falardeau (Canada)
“The Luminous Life (A Vida Luminosa)” — João Rosas (U.S. Premiere; Portugal, France)
“Maturity (L’Âge mûr)” — Jean-Benoît Ugeux (U.S. Premiere; Belgium)
“Maysoon” — Nancy Biniadaki (U.S. Premiere; Germany, Greece)
“Mockbuster” — Anthony Frith (U.S. Premiere; Australia, United States)
“Mortician” — Abdolreza Kahani (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“A Mosquito in the Ear” — Nicola Rinciari (World Premiere; India, Italy, United States)
“No Mercy” — Isa Willinger (Germany, Austria)
“No Ordinary Heist” — Colin McIvor (World Premiere; Ireland)
“Nomad Shadow (Thal Badaoui)” — Eimi Imanishi (U.S. Premiere; United States, Spain, France)
“Not Made for Politics (Süsteemist väljas)” — Volia Chajkouskaya (U.S. Premiere; Estonia)
“Notes of a True Criminal (Zapiski nastoyashego prestupnika)” — Alexander Rodnyansky & Andriy Alferov (U.S. Premiere; Ukraine, United States)
“Occupational Hazard: The First Coral Reefers” — John H. Cunningham (World Premiere; United States)
“On the End” — Ari Selinger (United States)
“The Ozu Diaries” — Daniel Raim (United States)
“A Pale View of Hills (遠い山なみの光)” — Kei Ishikawa (U.S. Premiere; Japan, United Kingdom, Poland)
“Perla” — Alexandra Makarová (U.S. Premiere; Austria, Slovakia)
“Peter Asher: Everywhere Man” — Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller (United States)
“Relatively Normal” — Amy Wendel (World Premiere; United States)
“Rising Through the Fray” — Courtney Montour (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Saipan” — Lisa Barros D’Sa & Glenn Leyburn (Ireland)
“Sanatorium” — Gar O’Rourke (U.S. Premiere; Ireland, Ukraine)
“Saving Etting Street” — Dena Fisher & Amy Scott (United States)
“Sell Your House” — Eric Foss & Brandon Pickering (World Premiere; United States)
“Shakti” — Nani Sahra Walker (United States, Nepal)
“Silent Rebellion (À bras-le-corps)” — Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (Switzerland, Belgium, France)
“Silent Struggle (En silencio. La resiliencia de Isco Alarcón)” — Sara Sálamo (U.S. Premiere; Spain)
“Sophia” — Dhafer L’Abidine (U.S. Premiere; Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom)
“Space Cadet” — Kid Koala (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Stand By, Mother” — Kerrilee Gore (World Premiere; United States)
“Steal Away” — Clement Virgo (U.S. Premiere; Canada, Belgium)
“Steal This Story, Please!” — Tia Lessin & Carl Deal (United States)
“Sunshine Express” — Amirali Navaee (U.S. Premiere; Iran, Sweden)
“Sweet Störy” — Sarah Justine Kerruish & Matt Maude (Sweden, United States)
“Tenor – My Name Is Pati” — Rebecca Tansley (World Premiere; New Zealand)
“The Six Billion Dollar Man” — Eugene Jarecki (United States)
“There Are No Words” — Min Sook Lee (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“This Is Not a Drill” — Oren Jacoby (United States)
“Toitū: Visual Sovereignty” — Chelsea Winstanley (U.S. Premiere; New Zealand)
“Tough Old Broads” — Stacey Tenenbaum (World Premiere; Canada)
“Tow” — Stephanie Laing (United States)
“Tropical Paradise (Paraíso Tropical)” — Abner Benaim (World Premiere; Panama)
“Two Ugly People” — Peter Skinner (U.S. Premiere; Australia)
“Untethered: A Wildly Different Normal” — Aymie Majerski (World Premiere; United States)
“The Vanished Girl (Sauvage)” — Camille Ponsin (U.S. Premiere; France)
“Vanishing Goats (Élise sous emprise)” — Marie Rémond (U.S. Premiere; France)
“Versailles” — Andrés Clariond Rangel (U.S. Premiere; Mexico)
“Wasteman” — Cal McMau (U.S. Premiere; United Kingdom)
“What We Carry” — Jessie Anthony (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“A Woman’s Work” — A.R. Ephraim (World Premiere; United States)
“Wrong Husband (Uiksaringitara)” — Zacharias Kunuk (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“The Yellow Tie” — Serge Ioan Celebidachi (U.S. Premiere; Romania)
“You Had to Be There” — Nick Davis (U.S. Premiere; United States)

Short Films

“Abel” — Brian Zahm (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“Agnes” — Leah Vlemmiks (United Kingdom)
“Agnès” — Nora Arnezeder (World Premiere; France)
“Ali’s Story” — Benito Sinclair (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“All Heart” — Michael Govier & Will McCormack (United States)
“Amazeze (Fleas)” — Jordy Sank (U.S. Premiere; South Africa)
“Astronauta” — Giorgio Giampà (U.S. Premiere; Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, France)
“At Night” — Pooya Afzali (Iran)
“The Baddest Speechwriter of All” — Ben Proudfoot & Stephen Curry (United States)
“Barbara” — Jillian Moray (World Premiere; United States)
“The Bear Beneath” — Olivia Hille (World Premiere; United States)
“Behind the Mask” — Catherine Andre (World Premiere; United States)
“Beyond Silence” — Marnie Blok (Netherlands)
“Bimo” — Oumnia Hanader (U.S. Premiere; France)
“California Is Burning” — Bennett Curran (World Premiere; United States)
“Candy Bar” — Nash Edgerton (Australia)
“Change Makers” — Casey Beck (United States, Greece)
“Committee Animal” — Robert Redfield (United States)
“Coyotes” — Said Zagha (France, Palestine, United Kingdom, Jordan)
“The Crash Out” — Emelie Claxton (World Premiere; United States)
“Daddy’s Little Meatball” — Yael Grunseit (U.S. Premiere; Australia, United States)
“Dark Skin Bruises Differently” — Susan Wokoma (United Kingdom)
“The Divine Feminine” — Ivana Todorovic (U.S. Premiere; Serbia)
“Dongmei (冬梅)” — Rubing Zhang (World Premiere; China)
“Earworm” — Patrik Eklund (Sweden)
“Egg Timer” — Rosie May Bird Smith (United Kingdom)
“Fil-Am” — Ralph Torrefranca (World Premiere; United States)
“The Finger Wife” — Taryn Stickrath-Hutt & Dan Lund (United States)
“Fly on the Wall (La Mosca en la Pared)” — Mar Novo (Mexico)
“Get Her Back” — Leah Winkler (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“The Gift of Darkness (El Regalo de Oscuridad)” — Lauren David (World Premiere; United States)
“The Green Truck” — Nicole Noren (World Premiere; United States)
“Habbal et al.” — Sean Paulsen & Brad Wickham (United States)
“Habibi” — Alexey Evstigneev (U.S. Premiere; France)
“The Halfway Between All This” — Heather Greer & Alison Cornyn (United States)
“Halifax Pier” — Matthew Daniel Herst (World Premiere; Canada)
“A Hand to Hold” — Philip Clyde-Smith (United Kingdom)
“His House, Home” — Aisling O’Regan Sargent (U.S. Premiere; Ireland)
“I Am Li Yangqiao (我叫李杨桥)” — Qianai Lin, Yiqian Ma, Xihan Yin, Zhiyan Chen, Junqi Long & Ruizhe Pan (World Premiere; China)
“Impact” — Aidan Largey (United Kingdom)
“Invisible Dragons” — Victoria Boult (New Zealand)
“Jeanne & Jean Jean” — Thanys Martin (U.S. Premiere; France)
“Keelhaul” — Edgar Cortés Campoy (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“The Last Puestero (El último puestero)” — Belle Casares (U.S. Premiere; Argentina, United States)
“The Lifeline (La ligne de vie)” — Hugo Becker (France)
“Like Other People” — Luisa Nöllke & Leo Dzhyshyashvili (U.S. Premiere; Germany)
“Listen, Then Repeat” — Jasper Martin (U.S. Premiere; Australia)
“Living with a Visionary” — Stephen P. Neary (United States)
“The Lonely Life of Lint” — Sarah Sklar (United States)
“The Long Spring” — Olly Ginelli (U.S. Premiere; United Kingdom)
“Mandatory Call (Toque Reglamentario)” — Ana Cecilia Sandoval (U.S. Premiere; Mexico)
“Mary Is Missing” — Aisling Byrne (U.S. Premiere; Ireland)
“Memory Experiment” — Kerrilee Gore (United States)
“Moths” — Pema Baldwin (World Premiere; United States)
“My Boyfriend Follows You on Instagram” — Caroline Falls (World Premiere; United States)
“My Type” — Daniela Ruah (World Premiere; United States)
“Night Whispers” — Adrián Ramírez León (United Kingdom)
“Not Dead (Morto Não)” — Alex Reis (Brazil)
“Nuns with Guns” — Rhys Zemeckis (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“Olive” — Tom Koch (United States)
“The Other Roe” — Wendy Eley Jackson (World Premiere; United States)
“Papillon” — Florence Miailhe (France)
“Pick-Me-Up (Nattmat)” — Guro Ekornholmen (U.S. Premiere; Norway)
“Poster Boy” — India Opzoomer (Canada, United States)
“Purebred” — Caleb J. Roberts (Ireland, United Kingdom)
“Rag Dolls” — Amy Adler (World Premiere; United States)
“Rusty” — Desirae Moore (World Premiere; United States)
“Sauna Sickness” — Malin Barr (Sweden)
“Sea Star” — Tyler McKenzie Evans (U.S. Premiere; Canada)
“Selection (Zhu Ri)” — Yaoyuan Zhang (U.S. Premiere; China, Japan)
“Sense of Emergency” — Madeline Down (United States)
“She Chose War (ВОНА ОБРАЛА ВІЙНУ)” — Sarah Moshman (World Premiere; United States, Ukraine)
“A Short Documentary About a Giant Pencil” — Daniel Straub (World Premiere; United States)
“A Sisyphean Task” — Gus Flind-Henry & George Malcher (United Kingdom)
“Skin” — Urvashi Pathania (United States)
“Small Kindness” — Matthew Palmer (World Premiere; United States)
“The Sound of Things Ablaze” — Hayat Najm (Canada)
“The Spectacle” — Bálint Kenyeres (U.S. Premiere; Hungary, France)
“Spray Me” — Christopher Chuky (U.S. Premiere; United Kingdom)
“A Sunday on the Moon” — Trevor Silverstein (U.S. Premiere; United States)
“Sweetwater” — Michael Keaton Douglas (World Premiere; United States)
“That Night” — Hoda Sobhani (United States, Iran)
“The Rise and Fall of Zara Zilverstein” — Brian Kazez (Argentina, France, Spain, United States)
“To My 14 Year Old Self” — Cody Westheimer (World Premiere; United States)
“Tormenta” — Ethan Maniquis (U.S. Premiere; Puerto Rico, United States)
“Two Lie Together” — Adam Byrnes (World Premiere; United States)
“Una Notte” — Rob Harris (U.S. Premiere; United Kingdom)
“Under the Wave off Little Dragon” — Luo Jian (U.S. Premiere; United Kingdom)
“Watching Walter” — Mitch Yapko (United States)
“When the Walls Came Down” — Ondi Timoner (United States)
“Who Is Charlie?” — Gabriel Bravo (U.S. Premiere; Mexico)
“Wonders of the Wolf” — Angie Ruiz (United States)
“Xolo” — Matthew Serrano (United States)