Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Artificial’ to Receive SF Honors Award at Bay Area Premiere

Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield, will receive the 2026 SF Honors Award at the film’s Bay Area Premiere.

With Guadagnino and stars Garfield, Yura Borisov, and Monica Barbaro in attendance, the premiere takes place on Tuesday, November 17, at 7 pm in the Kanbar Hall theater at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

Described as a darkly funny and incisive commentary, Artificial follows Silicon Valley’s race towards generative artificial intelligence. Spanning two decades in the rise of Sam Altman and OpenAI, the film chronicles the power that comes with a technological theory becoming a humanity-altering reality.

Artificial stars Garfield alongside fellow Academy Award® nominees Yura Borisov and Monica Barbaro, with Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Ike Barinholtz, and Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance.

Distributed by Neon, Artificial opens in select theaters Christmas Day and everywhere January 8.

“When SF Honors launched in 2016, the goal was to give Bay Area audiences a front-row seat to the boldest filmmaking of the year,” said SFFILM Board President Todd Traina. “A decade later, I’m thrilled that SF Honors will continue for another five years, and there’s no better film to celebrate that commitment than Artificial. This is a story San Francisco is living through in real time, and Luca Guadagnino’s unique vision and style, together with his impeccable cast, give hometown audiences a new way to see it.”

“Ten years ago, SF Honors set out to celebrate innovation and audacity in cinema, and it has delivered on that promise every year,” said SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai. “From La La Land to Artificial, our honorees have won both audience and critical acclaim, earning 25 Academy Award® nominations and 12 wins, including Best Picture for Siân Heder’s CODA and Best Animated Feature for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. None of that happens without the vision and generosity of Todd Traina and Diane B. Wilsey, and we’re deeply grateful for their continued commitment to this program.”