The Mill Valley Film Festival has revealed the full lineup for its 49th edition, taking place October 1–11, 2026.
This year’s lineup includes 94 features and 80 short films from 45 countries, with 61% of projects being made by women and nonbinary filmmakers.
The festival kicks off on Opening Night with the dark comedy-meets-action-thriller Wild Horse Nine, the latest collaboration between Academy Award winners Martin McDonagh and Sam Rockwell, which sees CIA officers Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell) dispatched to Easter Island just before the 1973 Chilean coup.
This year’s Centerpiece film is Peter Farrelly’s biographical drama, I Play Rocky, which sees Anthony Ippolito in a star-making turn as he portrays Sylvester Stallone’s struggle to make the now-iconic Rocky on his own terms.
The festival concludes with The Debut, the latest directorial effort from Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg, which sees award-winning actors Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti going toe-to-toe as a shy woman who’s unexpectedly cast in a local production and the strong-willed director who casts a spell over her.
Mark Fishkin, Founder/Director of MVFF, commented, “Every year I’m struck by how much passion and craft goes into the films our team discovers, and MVFF49 is no exception. As we head toward our 50th anniversary, this lineup is a reminder of why we started this festival: to bring the world’s best storytelling to Marin and beyond, and Marin’s love of film out into the wider world.”
MVFF49 honors a dynamic range of talent with its Spotlight Programs and Tributes, with celebrated guests including actor Sam Rockwell (Wild Horse Nine, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), who will also receive a special tribute the day after Opening Night; director Lee Chang-dong (Possible Love); actor/producer Andrew Scott (Elsinore); actor Virginie Efira (All of a Sudden); directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (La Bola Negra); director Marie Kreutzer and actor Lea Seydoux (Gentle Monster); director James Gray (Paper Tiger); director Beth dé Araújo and actor Gemma Chan (Josephine); director Peter Farrelly and actor Anthony Ippolito (I Play Rocky); actor Rosalind Eleazar (Misty Green); director Kelly O’Sullivan and actor Sophie Okonedo (Mouse); and director Jesse Eisenberg (The Debut). There will also be a tribute, with a live performance, to prolific songwriter, record producer, and musician Linda Perry.
The documentary slate features new projects from Dawn Porter (When A Witness Recants), Barbara Kopple (Union Town), Alex Gibney (Musk), and Julia Loktev, whose highly acclaimed return with My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile continues her vital chronicle of free speech. They are joined by award-winning collaborative teams Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Everest: The Other Side) and Gregory Kershaw and Michael Dweck (Burgundy).
The lineup also includes acclaimed artists transitioning to the medium with their first feature films, including Alessandra Sanguinetti (The Illusion of An Everlasting Summer) and Sean Ono Lennon (threeasFOUR: Full Circle).
The Bay Area is strongly represented among the many local films and filmmakers, such as narrative Spotlight Josephine by Beth dé Araújo, which was shot in San Francisco, and several crucial documentaries, including The Unrooted Bloom, co-directed by local poet and activist Amber Allen-Peirson; The A-Word: The Future of Aging by Greg Kohs, which centers on several Bay Area biotech scientists; Miss Representation: Rise Up by Jennifer Siegel Newsom; and Sonoma County filmmaker Alexandra Lexton’s This Bright Light.
This year, the festival adds two new Sections to its slate — New Directors and Animation.
Titles in the inaugural New Directors section include Árru by Elle Sofe Sara, Bedford Park by Stephanie Ahn, Brian by Will Ropp, Clarissa by Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, Elephants in the Fog by Abinash Bikram Shah, Extra Geography by Molly Manners, Hold Onto Me by Myrsini Aristidou, La Gradiva by Marine Atlan, Lady by Olive Nwosu, The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli, Mouse by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, A Prayer for the Dying by Dara Van Dusen, Sad Girlz by Fernanda Tovar, and Wicker by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer.
Titles in the Animation section include Brave Cat by Gabriel Osorio, In Waves by Phuong Mai Nguyen, Iron Boy by Louis Clichy, and Tangles by Leah Nelson.
For 11 years, the Mill Valley Film Festival has emphasized its gender equity initiative by celebrating the bold work of women and nonbinary filmmakers. This year’s Mind The Gap program highlights works and artists, both established and emerging, including Gentle Monster by Marie Kreutzer, who will receive a Mind the Gap Award, and Mouse, co-directed by Kelly O’Sullivan.
From the annual CAFILM Pride film series in June to the MVFF slate, CAFILM consistently spotlights LGBTQ+ films and filmmakers who are creating must-see works about queer stories. This year, the Festival lineup features some of the year’s boldest and best LGBTQ+ films, including A Long Winter by Andrew Haigh; Bitter Christmas by Pedro Almodóvar; Clarissa by Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri; Coward by Lukas Dhont; Elephants in the Fog by Abinash Bikram Shah; Elsinore by Simon Stone; Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski; La Bola Negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossio; Lady by Olive Nwosu; La Gradiva by Marine Atlan; The Man I Love by Ira Sachs; Mouse by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson; Rose by Markus Schleinzer; and Tangles by Leah Nelson, as well as the following short films: Swing Swish Sway by TT Takemoto; Careless by Grace Capooth; 2392 Miles by Kai Ho; and Italiano by Mehdi Davachi.
For 13 years, ¡Viva el Cine! has celebrated the richness of Ibero-American cinema, featuring films in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as Latinx and Latin American stories from around the world. Highlights include Bitter Christmas by Pedro Almodóvar, Brave Cat by Gabriel Osorio Vargas, Bunker by Florian Zeller, Flies by Fernando Eimbcke, The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer by Alesssandra Sanguinetti, Isabel by Gabe Klinger, La Bola Negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossio, Mamalonacitas by Isis Meija-Duarte, The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli, Miriam by Karla Condado, On Behalf of My Son by Gabriel Martins, Querida Fátima by Lorena Gutierrez, her husband Jesús Quintana, Su Kim, Rodrigo Reyes, and Dawn Valadez, Sad Girlz by Fernanda Tovar, Superspice by Adriana Lopes Escalante, To Be Loved by Amarise Deefranco, and Where the Silence is Heard by Gabriela Pena and Picho García.
MVFF Panels & Talks series, will feature Mind the Gap Summit: a full day celebrating women and nonbinary filmmakers with inspiring talks, networking, and special presentations, including a Mind the Gap Luncheon featuring special keynote speaker Cheryl Boone Isaacs; along with Conversations with Kane Parsons (Backrooms), David Thomson and AO Scott.
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