The 31st Stony Brook Film Festival returns to the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University from July 16–25, 2026, with 36 films from 23 countries, filmmaker Q&As, and special events.
The festival opens with the New York premiere of Once Upon My Mother, the inspiring true story of Esther Perez, a Moroccan-Jewish immigrant in France, portraying a mother’s determination to help her son overcome a severe disability against all odds.
Closing this year’s festival is the East Coast premiere of Hello Betty, the story of the woman behind Switzerland’s most beloved culinary icon.
Many films in this year’s lineup explore themes of family and connection through stories from around the world. A Mosquito in the Ear follows an American couple traveling to India to meet the 4-year-old girl they have adopted; and the timely The Sea, which follows a Palestinian father trying to find his son who has decided to journey illegally from the West Bank through Israel to visit the sea; and If I Go Will They Miss Me, in which a 12-year-old tries to connect with his recently incarcerated father.
American independent cinema thrives in Downbeat, a zero-budget kinetic drama about a self-sabotaging, down-on-his-luck drummer trying to eke out a living as a street performer in Boston; plus The Art of Quitting Gracefully, and the meta Bravado, while lighter offerings include the crowd-pleasing It Takes Two to Tango; and the delightfully unpredictable road-trip adventure Crystal Cross, in which a small-town, church-going singer decides to run away from her problems by hitching a ride with a depressed stranger she thinks looks like Jesus.
International selections include Frontier, a WWII epic about small-town residents in a Spanish border town hiding Jewish refugees; HEYSEL 85, a heart-pounding film about the 1985 European Cup; and Hungarian Wedding set against the rich backdrop of Hungary’s vibrant folk traditions.
The Stony Brook Film Festival and Stony Brook Southampton’s Avram Theater will present an encore screening of the award-winning film Westhampton on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at the Avram Theater in Southampton. A reception will precede the event, followed by a post-film Q&A with the filmmakers. Admission is free; RSVP is recommended at StonyBrook.edu/avram.
The complete festival schedule is now available at StonyBrookFilmFestival.com.
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