Premiering in Cannes, the fiction feature debut of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s longtime collaborator is a warm, spiritually infused family road movie in which a Thai family’s pilgrimage across nine Buddhist temples becomes a moving reflection on accepting mortality, faith, and the bonds between generations.

Helen Mirren plays the notorious author Patricia Highsmith in Anton Corbijn's new, both chilling and funny film, and asks the viewers who is truly the killer and who is the victim.

The film Ben'Imana, winner of the Caméra d'Or and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is a candid, uncompromising portrait of a strong-headed mother who does everything she can to give her daughter a better life, while having to confront her own pain and shortcomings.

A mysterious time machine, a Benedictine monk and a trail leading all the way to the Vatican – Kevin Walker and Jack Auen’s witty 16mm mystery dives deep into the hidden corners of the archives. One of the year’s most singular feature debuts.

Amid the devastation of northern Gaza, a former photographer turned war documentarian risks everything to protect his wife and newborn while recording the human cost of war.

A queer New York club promoter's life is thrown into disarray when his ten-year-old son unexpectedly turns up. Jordan Firstman's absurd and unexpectedly tender debut is one of A24's major films of the year.

A love triangle in the Texas wheat fields, with a devastating fire looming in the distance. Director Terrence Malick and his DOP Néstor Almendros conjure a dreamlike idyll with the harsh realities of turn-of-the-century America simmering beneath its surface.

Twenty-five years after La Libertad, Lisandro Alonso returns to Misael’s story as his daily life is unexpectedly transformed when he takes in his sister after her release from a psychiatric care facility, while the director once again explores the limits of personal freedom. The film’s companion piece, La Libertad, is also part of the festival programme. Screening: 10.31 – 15:30

“It seems to be the time to consider bridges.” – James Benning

Following acclaimed screenings at the Berlinale, the New York Film Festival, and TIFF, Nicolás Pereda's Everything Else Is Noise is a finely observed chamber drama that uses a derailed television interview to explore the relationships between three women, delicately balancing family ties, artistic rivalry, and the enduring power of human connection.

An incredibly intense spiritual drama and one of the biggest discoveries at this year's Cannes Film Festival sees a mother, her daughter, and a young boy blamed for a tragic death travel to Tenerife for a surreal family holiday.

Rafael Manuel's film Filipiñana, which won the Special Jury Prize for Creative Vision at the Sundance Film Festival, uses a unique, powerful visual style and satirical dark humor to explore the violence and postcolonial inequalities hidden behind luxury.

Returning home after years abroad, Elsa finds her family on the brink of disintegration as she confronts her enigmatic younger sister and emotionally absent parents. Valentina Maurel's second feature is a vibrant, emotionally layered family drama about motherhood, sisterhood and the ties that endure despite everything.

Lucy (Léa Seydoux), a celebrated concert pianist, moves to the countryside with her family, putting her career aside to support her partner and child. But when the police arrive at their new home one morning, their life begins to unravel. As disturbing details emerge, Lucy is forced to confront how little she may know about the man beside her.

In the wildest film of this year's selection, a murderous ghost in an Indonesian prison begins dramatically claiming victims among the inmates, who must unite at all costs if they hope to survive.

Two strikingly similar young women, separated by decades, set out to find the same family fortune. As Eszter searches for 40 kilos of gold hidden by her grandfather in 1968 and her granddaughter Ági follows the same trail in 2024, a buried family secret sets dangerous interests in motion – and forces them to decide what matters more: gold or blood.

Starring Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, and rising star Mason Reeves, Josephine – which won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival – is a powerful and provocative story about family, courage, and the contradictions of the justice system.

Taika Waititi adapts Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel into a moving science-fiction drama in which an Artificial Friend's (Jenna Ortega) unwavering loyalty helps a grieving family rediscover hope, while asking what it truly means to love and to be human.

The Black Ball, which won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, is a story told through magnificent imagery about the pain of love and shame, spanning across decades. Directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi masterfully blend the performances of young Spanish talents with those of international legends such as Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close.

A compelling story of a high school class trip to Naples, where the awakening of Mount Vesuvius in the background and the fates of teenagers on the threshold of adulthood seem fatefully intertwined in one of the most outstanding directorial debuts of the year.

Lisandro Alonso’s debut feature follows a solitary woodcutter through a single day in the Argentine pampas, where work, nature and isolation shape the rhythm of Misael’s life. The film’s companion piece, Double Freedom, is also part of the festival programme. Screening: 11.01 – 18:00

Maja's music career is taking off when burnout forces her to step away from it all. Back home with her mother and working part-time at a local high school, she finds herself navigating life outside the spotlight for the first time. Starring Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, and Anders Danielsen Lie, this is one of the year's defining Gen Z films about burnout, ambition and finding a way forward.

A muddy, snow-covered mining town, a brothel, and a ruthless corporation. Robert Altman's unconventional Western reinvents the myth of the Wild West through Vilmos Zsigmond's haunting images and Leonard Cohen's songs.

Three settler families lose their way on the road to Oregon, as the women's instincts and clear-eyed judgement increasingly challenge the desperate decisions of the men around them. Kelly Reichardt's unconventional Western replaces the mythology of the frontier with the uncertainty of survival.

Oscar-winning filmmaker László Nemes delivers a tense historical drama centred on the fateful confrontation between Jean Moulin and Klaus Barbie, revisiting a dark chapter of the Second World War and the French Resistance.

Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Berlinale-premiering coming-of-age film follows a shy high school senior who, after the sudden end of the most important friendship of her life, must finally learn to reveal her true self.

Lili Horvát's first English-language film explores the boundaries of love through sci-fi elements. With captivating performances by Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049) and Rupert Friend (Asteroid City), we get a glimpse into the relationship between two lovable yet complicated people who try to choose each other.

Two-time Silver Bear winner Angela Schanelec's latest film explores the strange distance that can emerge between a person and their own life, rendered with her characteristic minimalist precision.

What happens when the boy next door builds a nuclear reactor in his shed? Inspired by true events, Joren Molter's film brings together the vulnerability of adolescence with the spirit of a mad scientist in a space between reality and virtuality.

In Queen at Sea, Oscar winner Juliette Binoche shines as a mother facing delicate moral dilemmas surrounding both her demented mother's sex life and her rebellious teenage daughter's.

Revolutionaries Never Die, which received the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival, is a stunning, stylistically unique work that, like a postcard from the past, connects a liquidated world with the present, while challenging everything we think we know about the Middle East.

When her abusive boyfriend is released from prison, the outspoken Shana must find the strength to stay afloat and the money to survive. Premiering at Cannes, Lila Pinell's feature debut is a sensitive dramedy, infused with self-ironic humour, about female friendship, identity, and survival in a world shaped by men and social conventions.

Chloé Zhao's celebrated debut follows a Lakota brother and sister growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where dreams of leaving collide with the enduring pull of family, home, and community.

With the 2026 BIFF Surprise Film, we pay tribute to the life and work of Béla Tarr. The film being screened is not directed by Béla Tarr. With a runtime of between two and three hours, the film will receive its Hungarian premiere at BIFF.

A cult horror film, an obsessive fan and a mysterious diva collide in Jane Schoenbrun’s blood-soaked psychosexual horror comedy, starring Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) at their wickedly entertaining best.

Mike Leigh's last film is a compassionate tragicomedy about two social workers navigating the emotional demands of caring for others while confronting ageing, family, and the quiet complexities of everyday life.

The latest film by Golden Bear and two-time Silver Bear winner Radu Jude (Aferim!, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) is a moving portrait of a migrant working mother, a humorous social critique, and a satirical snapshot of contemporary Eastern Europe.

After attending a workshop on how to write a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson, creator of HBO’s How To with John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.

The 1986 Argentina–England clash, Maradona's goal and more than two centuries of historical conflict converge in Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco's documentary. Bringing together the absurdity of football and war, the film features first-hand accounts from players who witnessed the legendary match.

The River Train, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, is a magical, adventurous coming-of-age story in which we discover the world of adults, with all its magic and cruelty, through the eyes of a young boy. Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale's intimate and imaginative film poses a difficult question: is it worth continuing our dream, or is it time to face reality?

From Oscar and Palme d’Or-winning screenwriter Arthur Harari comes an uncanny and visually striking body-swap story about alienation and loss, anchored by remarkable performances from Léa Seydoux and Niels Schneider.

A lonely fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) turns to a local wicker weaver to create her the perfect husband, but when he comes to life, the new arrival throws the whole village into chaos. A playful and offbeat love story about marriage, desire and the absurdity of social conventions.

John Malkovich—an Emmy Award winner, two-time Oscar nominee, and recipient of the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival—stars in one of the most memorable roles of his career in Oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh's black comedy Wild Horse Nine, which depicts the lifelong friendship between two CIA agents, alongside fellow Oscar winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), as well as Steve Buscemi (Fargo, The Big Lebowski) and Parker Posey (Party Girl, The White Lotus).

Thirty-four days before reporting to prison, Elizabeth Holmes lets a film crew into her life to document her every move. What unfolds is a singular documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, transforming the portrait of a notorious entrepreneur into an extraordinary three-year journey.