Getting Ready for the 2026 SFFILM Festival

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Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton in Olivia Wilde’s INVITE, opening night at the SFFILM Festival. Courtesy of A24.

This year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) opens April 24, and runs through May 4. SFFILM Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas, and this year’s fest is the 69th.

The Opening and Closing nights will return to the Castro Theatre, and Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre will host the Centerpiece night. Other venues include the Premier Theater at One Letterman, the JCCSF, SFMOMA, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Marina in San Francisco and the Berkeley Art Museum and BAMPFA in Berkeley.

The menu at SFFILM Festival includes150 films from 40 countries. Peruse the program and buy tickets at SFFILM.

Greta Lee and Williem Dafoe in Kent Jones’ LATE FAME, opening night at the SFFILM Festival. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Here are some of the more special elements of this year’s SFFILM Festival :

  • A double feature at the Castro on Opening Night, kicking off with with Late Fame, staring Greta Lee and Willem Dafoe.
  • The other Opening Night film will be Olivia Wilde’s Invite, with a SF-based story, and starring Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton, Seth Rogen and Wilde herself. Personal appearance by Olivia Wilde.
  • The already sold out Closing Night program is a screening of Star Wars™: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back, including an onstage conversation between C-3PO himself, Anthony Daniels and Lucasfilm veteran, Howard Roffman.
  • A special screening of Power Ballad, the latest from John Carney, writer-director of Once, Sing Street and Flora and Son.
  • The absurdist psychological thriller Sender, fresh from SXSW, starring Britt Lower (Severance), Rhea Seehorn and Jamie Lee Curtis.
  • A performance by Grammy-winning guitarist Gabriela Quintero of Rodrigo y Gabriela will follow the documentary about her, Mysterious Bird.
  • Movies starring Tilda Swinton, Dustin Hoffman, Chris Pine, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jamie Lee Curtis, Paul Rudd, Danielle Brooks, Peter Mullan, Dale Dickey, Léa Seydoux, Don Cheadle, Rhea Seehorn, Britt Lower, Charlotte Rampling, Demi Moore, Keke Palmer and Nick Jonas.

As usual, I’ll be looking for under-the-radar gems and posting my recommendations just before the fest’s opening. Here’s the festival trailer.