Skip to content
Screenshot

The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF), presented annually by the California Film Institute (CAFILM), has revealed the full lineup for its 49th edition, taking place October 1–11, 2026.

Hot off its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and stop at Telluride Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine will open the festival, and stars Oscar nominee John Malkovich and Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, who will receive the MVFF Actor Tribute; Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, about actor/director Sylvester Stallone’s creation of the Rocky character and turning it into a Best Picture-winning film, will be the festival Centerpiece; and actor/director Jesse Eisenberg will close the festival with his love letter to local musical theater, The Debut, starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti.

Said Mark Fishkin, Founder/Director of MVFF, “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.”

“What excites me about this year’s festival is the sheer range of ways filmmakers are making sense of a complicated world,” said Rose Kuo, Artistic Director of MVFF. “There is real urgency in these films, but also courage and heart, and a willingness to find humanity where it might be easier to see only division. That combination of creativity and humanity feels especially vital right now.”

Screenings and events will be held across the Bay Area, with 11 days of programming at the Sequoia Cinema in Mill Valley and the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. The festival also returns to the Lark Theater in Larkspur and the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) for a selection of exclusive screenings. This year’s diverse lineup includes 94 features and 80 short films from 45 countries, with 61% of projects being made by women and nonbinary filmmakers.

This year, the festival adds two new Sections to its slate — New Directors and Animation, both spotlighting crucial aspects of the filmmaking landscape.

Opening Night (October 1): MVFF kicks off 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. 

Centerpiece (October 7): 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.

Closing Night (October 11): The festival concludes with the highly anticipated 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.

Festival highlights include 2026 Cannes winner All of a Sudden, Bitter Christmas, Clarissa, 2026 Cannes winner Coward, Elsinore, 2026 Cannes winner Fatherland, 2026 Cannes winner Fjord, Gentle Monster, In Waves, 2026 Sundance winner Josephine, 2026 Cannes winner La Bola Negra, The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedds, A Long Winter, The Man I Love, 2026 Cannes winner Minotaur, Misty Green, Mouse, Musk, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,, Paper Tiger, Possible Love, 2026 Berlin winner Rose, Tangles, Union Town, When a Witness Recants, and Wicker.

MVFF49 will honor a dynamic range of talent with its Spotlight Programs and Tributes, with guests to include 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, who will receive the MVFF Screen Artistry Award for her Cannes Best Actress-winning work in 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 formidable new projects from veteran masters 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). Crucially, the lineup balances these cinematic icons with 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). Championing urgent themes of free expression, these wide-ranging stories navigate everything from defending freedom of speech and mobilizing collective action to celebrating historical icons across film, art, and fashion.

The Bay Area is strongly represented among the many local films and filmmakers to be celebrated during MVFF49, such as narrative Spotlight Josephine by Beth dé Araújo, which was shot in San Francisco, and several 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.

New Directors

This section showcases films by first-time and emerging filmmakers, giving a platform to the next generation of artists shaping contemporary cinema. 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. 

Animation

The Animation section at MVFF49 showcases works that reiterate and expand upon the power of their medium. Titles include Brave Cat by Gabriel Osorio, In Waves by ​​Phuong Mai Nguyen, Iron Boy by Louis Clichy, and Tangles by Leah Nelson. Additionally, one of MVFF49’s panels will focus on animation, featuring festival filmmakers and talent from local animation studios.

Festival’s Special Focuses

The Mill Valley Film Festival continues to highlight its signature focuses, each designed to spark dialogue, promote inclusion, and celebrate artistic achievement.

Mind The Gap (MTG) For 11 years, the Mill Valley Film Festival has emphasized its gender equity initiative by celebrating the bold work of women and nonbinary filmmakers. The audacious, compelling films selected for Mind The Gap empower us to expand the frame of inclusion as we fight our way forward, despite political headwinds. This year’s program highlights exceptional 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.

LGBTQ+ Programming 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.

¡Viva el cine! 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. This initiative curates films that resonate with these communities, offering a space where history, culture, and identity come alive. 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, Mamalonacitasby Isis Meija-Duarte, The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli, Miriam by Karla Condado, On Behalf of My Sonby 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

Get closer to the creative heart of cinema with MVFF49’s MVFF Panels & Talks series, bringing together visionary filmmakers, producers, and innovators for a slate of dynamic conversations designed to spark ideas and inspire audiences.

Highlights include:

Mind the Gap SummitA 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.

Conversation with David Thomson and AO Scott

Conversation with Kane Parsons (Backrooms)

Family Films

MVFF49 offers programming for audiences of all ages, including a vibrant lineup of Family Films designed for kids and kids-at-heart who love a great adventure, a little magic, and plenty of laughs. This year’s lineup includes standouts like the US Premiere of Boss Cat by Genevieve Clay-Smith, the North American Premiere of Splish Splash Forever! by Natascha Beller, and a College Animation Showcase curated for the whole family to enjoy.