The 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival took place from January 2 to 12, 2026, in Palm Springs, California, United States. The festival opened with Maryam Touzani's Spanish drama film Calle Malaga. This edition of the festival presented 168 films from 72 countries, including 53 premieres and 44 Oscar Submissions.
In the FIPRESCI jury awards announced on January 11, FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film was awarded to Sirāt by Oliver Laxe and Best International First Feature Film was awarded to Happy Birthday by Sarah Goher. The festival closed with Brian Cox's British drama film Glenrothan.
Festival venues The following are festival venues for screening films:
Annenberg Theater The Plaza Theatre, South Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California ARCO Theatre (Palm Canyon Theatre) Festival Theaters Palm Springs Cultural Center (Camelot Theatre) Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School Mary Pickford is D'Place Cinemark Century La Quinta and XD
Juries The juries consists of the following members:
FIPRESCI International Film Jury Davide Abbatescianni, Italian film critic and journalist Pat Mullen, Canadian film critic and publisher Fran Romero, Chilean film critic and sociologist
Ibero-American Jury Javier Fuentes-León, Peruvian director Sabrina Avilés, founder and executive director of CineFest Latino Boston Mariana Mijares, Mexican journalist
Documentary Jury Will Sloan, Canadian film critic and writer Sky Sitney, cofounder and festival director of DC/DOX James Woolley, executive director of Miami Film Festival
New Voices New Visions Justin Decluoux, Canadian writer, podcaster and filmmaker Gabor Grainer, Head of Acquisitions at Films Boutique Abbey White, American journalist
Official selection
This edition will showcase 168 films from 72 countries.
Opening and closing films The opening and closing films of the festival are:
English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Opening filmCalle Málaga Maryam Touzani Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, BelgiumClosing film Glenrothan Brian Cox United Kingdom
Awards Buzz – Best International Feature Films The following section consists of submissions for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards: Highlighted title indicates the section winner. English title Original title Director(s) Submission countrie(s)100 Litres of Gold Teemu Nikki Finland2000 Meters to AndriivkaMstyslav ChernovUkraine All That's Left of Youاللي باقي منكCherien Dabis Jordan Belén Dolores Fonzi Argentina Beloved TropicQuerido trópico Ana Endara Panama Eagles of the Republic Tarik SalehSwedenFamiliaFrancesco CostabileItalyFatherOtecTereza NvotováSlovakia Franz Agnieszka Holland Poland Happy Birthday هابي بيرث داي Sarah Goher Egypt HijraهجریShahad AmeenSaudi ArabiaHomeboundNeeraj GhaywanIndia It Was Just an Accident Jafar Panahi France Kokuho Lee Sang-il Japan The Last Dance 破．地獄 Anselm Chan Mou Yin Hong Kong Late Shift Heldin Petra Volpe Switzerland Left-Handed Girl Shih-Ching Tsou Taiwan Little Trouble Girls Kaj ti je deklica Urška Djukić SloveniaThe Love That RemainsHlynur PálmasonIcelandMagellanLav Diaz PhilippinesMr. Nobody Against PutinDavid BorensteinDenmark My Father's Shadow Akinola Davies Jr.United Kingdom The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo Diego Céspedes ChileNo Other Choice어쩔수가없다Park Chan-wookSouth KoreaOrphanÁrvaLászló NemesHungary Palestine 36 Annemarie Jacir PalestineA PoetSimón Mesa SotoColombia The President's Cake Hasan Hadi IraqReedland Sven BresserNetherlandsA Sad and Beautiful Worldنجوم الأمل و الألمCyril ArisLebanonThe Sea היםShai Carmeli-PollakIsrael The Secret Agent Kleber Mendonça FilhoBrazil Sirāt Oliver LaxeSpainSound of Falling Mascha Schilinski GermanyThe Tale of SilyanСилјанTamara KotevskaNorth MacedoniaThe Things You KillAlireza KhatamiCanada The Tower of Strength Obraz Nikola Vukčević Montenegro Traffic Reostat Teodora Ana Mihai RomaniaUnder the Flags, the SunBajo las banderas, el solJuanjo PereiraParaguayA Useful Ghost Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke ThailandThe Voice of Hind Rajabصوت هند رجبKaouther Ben HaniaTunisia Young Mothers Jean-Pierre and Luc DardenneBelgium
After Dark English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)The Book of Sijjin & Illiyyin Hadrah Daeng Ratu IndonesiaGood Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Gore Verbinski United States, Germany, South Africa Mārama Taratoa Stappard New ZealandThe Plague Charlie PolingerRomania, United States
American Indies The following films were selected to be screened as part of the American Indies section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Burt Joe Burke United StatesFantasy LifeMatthew Shear Honeyjoon Lilian T. Mehrel United States, PortugalIdiotkaNastasya Popov United StatesShe Dances Rick GomezTow Stephanie Laing
Close-Ups The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Close-Ups section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Boorman and the DevilDavid KittredgeUnited StatesCoroner to Stars Ben Hethcoat, Keita Ideno The Eyes of Ghana Ben Proudfoot United StatesKim Novak's VertigoAlexandre O. PhilippeUnited StatesThird ActTadashi Nakamura
Country Focus The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Country Focus section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Amrum Fatih AkinGermany A Land Within Zweitland Michael Kofler Germany, Italy, Austria IslandsJan-Ole Gerster Germany Miroirs No. 3 Christian PetzoldSilent FriendStille FreundinIldikó EnyediGermany, France, Hungary Stars SterneKonrad Wolf East Germany, Bulgaria What Marielle Knows Was Marielle weiß Frédéric Hambalek Germany
Family Day The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Family Day section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Arco Ugo BienvenuFranceKPop Demon Hunters Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans United StatesZootopia 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard United States
Gateway Cinema The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Gateway Cinema section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Bringing Up Baby Howard Hawks United StatesCasablanca Michael Curtiz United States Fire Deepa Mehta IndiaIn the Mood for Love 花樣年華Wong Kar-waiHong Kong, FranceMedea Lars von Trier Denmark
Local Spotlight The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Local Spotlight section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Ramona and the Ballad of Juan Diego Jason Sklaver United States
Modern Masters The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Modern Masters section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Below the CloudsSotto le nuvoleGianfranco Rosi Italy The Captive El cautivo Alejandro Amenábar Spain, ItalyCover-UpLaura Poitras and Mark ObenhausUnited StatesDreams Michel Franco Mexico, United States Hen Kota György Pálfi Germany, Greece, HungaryThe Last VikingDen Sidste VikingAnders Thomas JensenDenmark, Sweden A Magnificent Life Sylvain ChometFrance, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, United States Orwell: 2+2=5 Raoul PeckFrance, United States The Soundman Frank Van Passel Belgium,Netherlands, Denmark Two ProsecutorsSergei LoznitsaLatvia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, LithuaniaYes כן! Nadav Lapid Israel, France, Germany, Cyprus, United Kingdom
New Voices New Visions The following films were selected to be screened as part of the New Voices New Visions competition: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Broken Voices Sbormistr Ondřej Provazník Czech Republic, SlovakiaDeafSordaEva LibertadSpain God Will Not Help Bog Neće Pomoći Hana Jušić Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, SloveniaLucky Lu Lloyd Lee Choi United States, CanadaMad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)Joel Alfonso VargasUnited States The Nature of Invisible Things A natureza das coisas invisíveis Rafaela Camelo Brazil, ChileThe Negotiator Alessandro Tonda ItalyOn the Sea Helen Walsh United Kingdom Silent Rebellion À bras-le-corps Marie-Elsa Sgualdo Switzerland, Belgium, France
Queer Cinema Today & The Gayla The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Queer Cinema Today section and The Gayla: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)3670 Park Joon-ho South Korea Dope Queens Grafton Doyle United States Drunken Noodles Lucio Castro United States, ArgentinaJimpaSophie HydeAustralia, Netherlands, Finland The Little Sister Hafsia HerziFrance, Germany Manok Lee Yu-jin South Korea Maspalomas , Aitor Arregi SpainState of Firsts Chase Joynt United StatesWe Are Pat Ro Haber United States
Special Presentations The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Special Presentations section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Dead Man's WireGus Van SantUnited StatesHamletAneil KariaUnited States, United Kingdom The Housemaid Paul Feig United States I Swear Kirk Jones ScotlandVertigo Alfred Hitchcock United States
Talking Pictures The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Talking Pictures section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s)Blue Moon Richard Linklater United States, Ireland FrankensteinGuillermo del ToroUnited StatesHamnetChloé ZhaoUnited Kingdom, United States King HamletElvira LindUnited States, DenmarkThe LibrariansKim A. Snyder United States Nuremberg James Vanderbilt United StatesOne Battle After Another Paul Thomas Anderson United States Sentimental Value Joachim TrierNorway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, United KingdomThe Testament of Ann Lee Mona Fastvold United Kingdom, United StatesTrain Dreams Clint Bentley United StatesWicked: For Good Jon M. Chu United States
True Stories The following films were selected to be screened as part of the True Stories section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Adaptation to Darkness הסתגלות לאפלהShay FogelmanIsrael ASCO: Without PermissionTravis Gutiérrez SengerUnited States, United Kingdom Ask E. JeanIvy MeeropolUnited StatesThe Gas Station Attendant Karla Murthy United States Modern Whore Nicole Bazuin CanadaNatchez Suzannah HerbertUnited States SpeakJennifer Tiexiera, Guy Mossman United States Steal This Story, Please! Tia Lessin and Carl Deal United States Whistle Christopher Nelius Australia Yanuni Richard Ladkani Austria, Brazil, USA, Canada, Germany
World Cinema Now The following films were selected to be screened as part of the World Cinema Now section: