LOS ANGELES — The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the final films to complete their Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest, including “Jay Kelly,” “Nuremberg,” “Dead Man’s Wire” and “Christy.”

The Red Carpet Premieres open with “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” on October 22 (in theaters October 24).

See below for the full list.

“Jay Kelly” | October 23

“Jay Kelly,” the new film from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach, follows famous movie actor, Jay Kelly (George Clooney), as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler).

“Nuremberg” | October 24

“Nuremberg” chronicles the true story of the war crimes trials held by the Allies against the defeated Nazi regime. The film centers on American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), who is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their atrocities and finds himself in a complex battle of wits with former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), Hitler’s right-hand man.

“Dead Man’s Wire” | October 25 – Afternoon

Gus Van Sant returns with the incredible true story of an infamous 1977 kidnapping and ransom over a business deal gone bad, with the kidnapper (Bill Skarsgård) demanding restitution and an apology from the mortgage broker whose company ripped him off.

“Christy” | October 25 – Evening

In David Michd’s stirring biopic “Christy,” Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia-until she discovered a knack for knocking people out. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). But while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it-confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death.

“The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants” (world premiere) | October 26 – Afternoon

Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea where no Sponge has gone before. This will be preceded by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey”

“Song Sung Blue” (world premiere) | October 26 – Evening

“Song Sung Blue” stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as down-on-their-luck musicians who form a Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it’s never too late to find love and follow your dreams.

Additionally, “Bad Apples,” “Bugonia,” “The Choral,” “The Chronology of Water,” “Is This Thing On?,” “A Magnificent Life,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Nebraska Live,” “Rebuilding,” “Rental Family,” “The Testament of Ann Lee” and “Train Dreams” will be among the films featured in the Special Screenings section.

Special screenings

BAD APPLES
In this delectably dark satire, an exquisite Saoirse Ronan plays an overworked schoolteacher whose pupils’ studies improve after she removes a foulmouthed and violent student from her classroom – by inadvertently kidnapping and locking him up in her basement.

BUGONIA
Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. SCR Will Tracy. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Alicia Silverstone star.

IS THIS THING ON?
Bradley Cooper’s comedic drama stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern in stand as a New York couple whose separation leads to major midlife self-reckoning and reinvention. When Arnett’s character attempts open-mic standup at a comedy club with confessional, self-deprecating material, a whole new world opens for him.

A MAGNIFICENT LIFE (MARCEL ET MONSIEUR PAGNOL)
In 1955, 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol is a well-known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker. When the editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine commissions a weekly column about Pagnol’s childhood, he sees this as a great opportunity to go back to his artistic roots: writing. Realizing his memory is failing him and deeply affected by the disappointing results of his last two plays, Pagnol starts doubting his ability to pursue his work. That is, until Little Marcel – the young boy he used to be – appears to him as if by magic. Together, they will explore Marcel Pagnol’s incredible life and bring back to life his most cherished encounters and memories.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Spanning three decades, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong friends – writer Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley.

NEBRASKA LIVE
Bruce Springsteen performs the songs from his 1982 album “Nebraska” for the first time ever in its entirety in an intimate soundstage setting.

REBUILDING
Divorced and displaced Colorado rancher Dusty (Josh O’Connor) re-enters the lives of his ex-wife Ruby (Meghann Fahy) and young daughter when he loses his family ranch to a devastating wildfire.

RENTAL FAMILY
Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser plays an American actor in modern-day Tokyo hired by a “rental family” agency to serve as a stand-in for clients. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality.

THE CHORAL
1916. As war rages on the Western Front, the Choral Society in Ramsden, Yorkshire has lost most of its men to the army. The Choral’s ambitious committee, determined to press ahead, decides to recruit local young males to swell their ranks. They must also engage a new chorus master, and despite their suspicions that he has something to hide, their best bet seems to be Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) – driven, uncompromising, and recently returned from a career in Germany.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER
Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut adapts Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of abuse and healing, anchored by a raw and revelatory performance from Imogen Poots.

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
This film follows visionary Shaker leader Ann Lee, played by Amanda Seyfried, as she builds a radical utopian faith in 18th century America.

TRAIN DREAMS
Based on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly changing America of the early 20th Century.

Luminaries

AMRUM
Germany, 1945: a 12-year-old boy on the isolated North Sea Island of Amrum begins to learn the truth about his country, which is on the precipice of total defeat, despite the propaganda fed to him. Fatih Akin directs, from an autobiographical screenplay by Hark Bohm.

FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER
Winner of the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice International Film Festival and starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett, legendary indie auteur Jim Jarmusch’s newest work is a wry gem about the timeworn drift of familial intimacy.

GHOST ELEPHANTS
Part nature detective documentary, part fever dream, Werner Herzog’s latest documentary journeys into Angola’s remote highlands, alongside National Geographic explorer Dr. Steve Boyes, on a quest to document the existence of the mythic “ghost elephant.”

HOW TO SHOOT A GHOST
This impressionistic short film, from visionary director Charlie Kaufman, stars Jessie Buckley as a ghost roaming the streets of Athens in search of the city’s past and present.

KONTINENTAL ’25
Radu Jude won the Best Screenplay award at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival for this black comedy about a guilt-wracked civil servant’s effort to clear her conscience, instead discovering that guilt is only a relative concept in contemporary Romania.

LA GRAZIA
Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino reunites with actor Toni Servillo in this parable-like tale of parliamentary politics and ethical decisions, where Servillo’s aging, depressive president must weigh up and decide on a series of increasingly difficult legal dilemmas.

MAGELLAN (MAGALHÃES)
Gael García Bernal stars as infamous navigator Ferdinand Magellan in Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s monumental story of colonialism and resistance.

MIROIRS NO. 3
The survivor of a car crash is taken in by a nearby family in this drama of mysterious connections from director Christian Petzold and his frequent collaborator, actress Paula Beer.

PETER HUJAR’S DAY
Legendary photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) spends an afternoon with writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall), regaling her with the minute, gossip-filled details of his previous day. Recorded in 1974, the re-discovered transcript serves as the basis for Ira Sach’s luminous ode to a bygone New York.

SILENT FRIEND
This century-spanning drama from Ildikó Enyedi unites the stories of three researchers, from the same university but separated by generations, who study the inner life of plants and expand their sense of time and perception in the process.

THE STRANGER (L’ÉTRANGER)
Franois Ozon brings Albert Camus’ acclaimed 1942 novel to the big screen as a sun-baked, black-and-white neo-noir, a potent blend of psychological thriller and anti-colonial critique.

TWO PROSECUTORS
Set in 1937 at the peak of Josef Stalin’s Great Purge – yet chillingly relevant today – Sergei Loznitsa’s dark parable of tyranny is based on a short story by the dissident writer and scientist Georgy Demidov, who was himself imprisoned for nearly 20 years.

WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU
Tensions arise when a struggling, idealistic poet meets his girlfriend’s family at their idyllic, hillside countryside home in Hong Sang-soo’s latest feature – a quietly profound meditation on the complexities of filial love and familial strife.

YOUNG MOTHERS (JEUNES MÈRES)
In a Liège group home, five teenage mothers navigate abandonment, fractured families, and the steep learning curve of parenthood – finding unexpected strength and solace in each other’s company in this tender, unflinching drama from the Dardenne brothers.

Discovery

A showcase for exciting new voices that push the boundaries of contemporary cinema with cutting-edge themes and original visions.

A POET (UN POETA)
Winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto’s delightfully deadpan sophomore feature is an absurdist tragicomedy about a washed-up poet mentoring a gifted teen writer.

A USEFUL GHOST (PEE CHAI DAI KA)
When Academic Ladyboy calls a repairman to fix his possessed vacuum cleaner, two interconnected stories of reincarnation unearth a heartfelt plea for the remembrance of personal history and a biting proclamation for collective labor dissent in Thai filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s absurdist feature debut.

AMOEBA
At an elite all-girls Chinese school in Singapore, 16-year-old Choo and her gang of misfits challenge the authoritarian faculty and the strict doctrines that bind them in this sharp-witted debut from rising filmmaker Siyou Tan (AFI DWW Class of 2019).

FANTASY LIFE
Recently laid-off Sam Stein is a lifelong neurotic who struggles with panic attacks, but his mental state starts changing for the better when he begins babysitting the grandchildren of his psychiatrist.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Toha – the child maid of an upper-class Cairo family – forges an unlikely bond with her employer’s daughter Nelly and becomes fixated on planning her new friend’s ninth birthday celebration.

HONEYJOON
In the beautiful Azorean Islands, an American woman and her Persian-Kurdish mother reckon with memory, exile and the complicated bond between them. HONEYJOON mixes humor, heartbreak and stunning landscapes to reveal how loss can fracture – and ultimately renew – the ties that hold us together.

JUNKIE
AFI Conservatory alum William Means’ (AFI Class of 2021) spirited debut is an eccentric odyssey through rural America – following meth-addicted, perpetual screwup Stevie (Rocky Shay) on a quest to evade rehab, repay her debts and reconcile with her estranged son.

LUCKY LU
After his e-bike gets stolen, delivery driver Lu goes on a desperate journey across New York’s Chinatown in this visceral social realist drama about the cost of the American Dream.

MY FATHER’S SHADOW
In 1993 Lagos, on the day of the first election in a decade, young brothers Akin and Remi reunite with their absent father on a hasty road trip. History, memory and nostalgia blends into a vividly realized work of autofiction in Nigeria’s first ever Cannes selection.

SILENT REBELLION (A BRAS-LE-CORPS)
Set in neutral Switzerland during World War II, this triumphant debut feature is a feminist coming-of-age drama that weighs the costs of courage on two fronts: the neighboring war and a young woman’s refusal to lead a life she never wanted.

SOUND OF FALLING (IN DIE SONNE SCHAUEN)
Mascha Schilinski’s stunning sophomore feature is a hypnotic, time-traversing portrait of four generations of women living in the same isolated German farmhouse over the course of a century.

THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO (LA MISTERIOSA MIRADA DEL FLAMENCO)
Queer love shines with contradicting exuberance in Diego Céspedes’ audacious Cannes prize-winning debut about a commune of crossdressers set in a reimagined desert town in Chile during the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. DIR Diego Céspedes. SCR Diego Céspedes. CAST Tamara Cortés, Matías Catalán, Paula Dinamarca, Claudia Cabezas, Luis Dubó. Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium

THE PLAGUE
AFI Conservatory Alum Charlie Polinger (AFI Class of 2017) makes his striking feature debut with this toxic story of pre-teen posturing at an all-boys’ water polo camp. Equal parts hilarious and disturbing (puberty in a nutshell), Polinger melds body horror with a razor-sharp insight into the subconscious psyche of adolescence.

THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE (MAMLAKET AL-QASAB)
Set in 1990s Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s authoritarian rule, Hasan Hadi’s Cannes award-winning debut follows a young girl’s perilous quest to bake a cake to mark her school’s mandatory Presidential birthday celebrations.

WE BELIEVE YOU (ON VOUS CROIT)
Family secrets unravel over the course of a crucial day as a mother fights for her children in a tense custody battle in this astutely layered, gripping debut feature.

World Cinema

1001 FRAMES
Actresses in an audition for Scheherazade in “A Thousand and One Nights” endure increasingly confrontational and innuendo-laden questioning from their male director in Iranian American filmmaker Mehrnoush Alia’s provocative debut feature.

ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU
In the Occupied West Bank of the 1980s, a Palestinian teenager is swept into a protest that changes the course of his family’s life. Reeling from its aftermath, his mother, Hanan, shares the story that led them to that fateful moment. Spanning seven decades, this epic drama traces the hopes and heartaches of one uprooted family, revealing not only the scars of displacement, but the unbreakable spirit of survival.

CASE 137 (DOSSIER 137)
A tenacious internal affairs investigator in Paris confronts police brutality, political pressure and personal doubt when she takes on a controversial case involving a protester gravely injured by riot police.

DIVINE COMEDY (KOMEDIE ELAHI)
Notable Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari (TERRESTRIAL VERSES) blurs the lines between fiction and reality in his latest feature, which follows filmmaker Bahram Ark and producer Sadaf Asgari (as thinly veiled versions of themselves) on a mission to screen their banned film for a local audience in Iran.

EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC
Tarik Saleh’s latest political thriller stars Fares Fares as the most famous actor in Egypt, who is offered a role he can’t refuse: portraying current president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as a heroic soldier.

KOKUHO
Sang-il Lee’s epic tells a decades-spanning tale of devotion and sacrifice for the revered craft of Kabuki. Beginning in 1964 Nagasaki and unfolding over the next 50 years, young Kikuo (Soya Kurokawa) is taken under the wing of renowned Kabuki maestro Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe) after his yakuza father was slain.

LEFT-HANDED GIRL
Shih-Ching Tsou’s solo debut, co-written and produced by longtime collaborator Sean Baker, is a vibrant iPhone-shot portrait of Taipei as seen through the eyes of three generations of women navigating family, tradition and independence.

LIVING THE LAND (SHENG XI ZHI DI)
Young director Huo Meng (Best Director, 2025 Berlin Film Festival) confirms his talent with this epic tale of a farm family navigating life-changing events in ’90s rural China, recalling the work of both early Zhang Yimou and Meng’s mentor, Jia Zhangke.

OLMO
In this heartfelt coming-of-age story set in 1979 New Mexico, a teen navigates family duty and first love on his quest to beg, borrow and steal his way to a neighborhood party.

ORPHAN (ÁRVA)
László Nemes, an Oscar winner for 2015’s SON OF SAUL, returns with another trenchant exploration of Hungary’s 20th century history – this time set in 1957, just one year after the USSR brutally suppressed the Hungarian Uprising. Andor (Bojtorján Barabas) longs for the return of his father, missing since the war, but his mother suggests his father may actually be another man.

PALESTINE 36
Annemarie Jacir’s sweeping, timely and deeply affecting historical epic brings to life a pivotal period in Palestinian history in the months leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.

PHANTOMS OF JULY (SEHNSUCHT IN SANGERHAUSEN)
An ethereal, intoxicating comedy, Julian Radlmaier’s fifth feature is as light as a summer breeze, but its simple pleasures hide profound truths about the ghosts of the past and the mysteries of the present in the sleepy East German village of Sangerhausen.

PIN DE FARTIE
Adapting Samuel Beckett’s iconic 1957 play “Endgame” with gleeful, reckless abandon, maverick Argentine filmmaker Alejo Moguillansky discovers moments of magic in the registers and resonances of Beckett’s text as repetitions, refractions, music and dance crescendo into a glittering, literary and formal masterwork.

PROMISED SKY (PROMIS LE CIEL)
In this gorgeously crafted and heartfelt drama from Erige Sehiri, three Ivorian women’s close-knit bonds are tested when the Tunisian government ramps up an immigration crackdown that could target each of them.

ROMERÍA
Orphaned at a young age, Marina arrives in the glittering Galician port city of Vigo ready to meet her father’s family for the first time. Acclaimed Spanish auteur Carla Simón’s return to the fervent ground of her childhood is a deeply personal meditation on memory, identity and familial myth making.

THE CURRENTS (LAS CORRIENTES)
After jumping into a frigid Swiss lake on a work trip, fashion designer Lina returns to Buenos Aires a changed woman. Now deathly afraid of water, she sleepwalks through life unable to explain her malaise. With surreal flourishes and bursts of absurdity, filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler casts a beguiling, dreamlike spell that delicately examines motherhood, class and identity.

THE GREAT ARCH (L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE)
Stéphane Demoustier’s THE GREAT ARCH dramatizes the true story of Danish architect Johan Otto von Spreckelsen (played brilliantly by Claes Bang), whose improbable 1980s design for Paris’s La Défense arch sets off battles over artistic vision and obsession versus French bureaucracy.

THE LOVE THAT REMAINS (ÁSTIN SEM EFTIR ER)
Set against the majestic grandeur of Iceland’s rugged landscape, filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (GODLAND, AFI FEST 2022) pens a surprisingly sensitive and poignant exploration of a crumbling marriage on the brink of ending.

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB
The latest film from filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, and Tunisia’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature, is a bold and inspired drama that blurs the lines between fiction and documentary to recount the heartbreaking story of five-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl murdered during Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.

YES
Financially struggling musician Y has been tasked with composing a new anthem for a nation he morally opposes. Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s latest tour de force is an absurdist, boldly surprising condemnation of his homeland.

Documentary

ANDY KAUFMAN IS ME
Equal parts icon and enigma, comedian Andy Kaufman defied convention – and this illuminating documentary dives deep into the life and art of one of the most ingenious entertainers of our time.

BELOW THE CLOUDS (SOTTO LE NUVOLE)
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, documentary master Gianfrano Rosi (SACRO GRA, FIRE AT SEA) explores the city and surroundings of Naples, Italy, a place where every day, thousands of years of history echo and resonate for its people.

COVER-UP
Oscar winner Laura Poitras and veteran documentarian Mark Obenhaus explore Pulitzer-winning journalist Seymour Hersh’s fearless exposés of U.S. power abuses – from My Lai to Abu Ghraib – blending biography, political thriller and urgent reflection on truth and press freedom.

FIUME O MORTE!
Winner of both the Tiger Award and the FIPRESCI prize at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, Croatian director Igor Bezinovi’s inventive hybrid documentary re-enacts scenes from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s siege and occupation of the Adriatic seaport of Fiume (now Croatia’s Rijeka) in the aftermath of World War I.

HOLDING LIAT
Benjamin Kramer’s profile of an Israeli family seeking the return of their kidnapped loved ones who were abducted during the October 7 Hamas attack won the award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival. Executive produced by AFI Alum Darren Aronofsky.

I WAS BORN THIS WAY
The cultural impact of singer Carl Bean extends far beyond his 1977 gay anthem “I Was Born This Way.” Award-winning filmmaker duo Sam Pollard and Daniel Junge dive into the untold legacy of this uniquely inspirational artist whose outspoken voice and lyrics influenced a generation. Lady Gaga, Billy Porter and Questlove offer commentary.

LOVE+WAR
This gripping portrait of New York Times war photographer Lynsey Addario explores her fearless work – from the frontlines of Ukraine to the Middle East and beyond – and the tension between motherhood and a life spent documenting conflict.

MY ARMENIAN PHANTOMS (MES FANTMES ARMÉNIENS)
Personal memoirs and collective cinematic nostalgia converge in Tamara Stepanyan’s tender love letter to her late father and a faded past of Soviet Armenia.

SEEDS
Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this black-and-white, engrossing and profoundly feature debut from Brittany Shyne explores the lives of a multi-generational family of Black farmers whose agrarian way of life is threatened by historic injustices.

SELENA Y LOS DINOS
The life and legacy of Selena, the “Queen of Tejano Music,” is recounted in this affectionate documentary utilizing never-before-seen archival footage from the family’s extensive personal collection.

THE EYES OF GHANA
Two-time Oscar-winning director Ben Proudfoot reteams with the Obamas’ Higher Grounds Productions for this documentary spotlighting the remarkable yet under-recognized Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse, who captured essential footage – previously thought to be lost – of the African independence movements as a personal cameraman to revolutionary leader Kwame Nkrumah.

THE HANGING OF STUART CORNFELD
Stuart Cornfeld looks back on his colorful career as a creative producer, collaborating with Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks, David Lynch, Steven Soderbergh, David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro and Ben Stiller, among others. Featuring a wealth of interviews, Joan Bonfill’s intimate and insightful documentary portrait delves into the mysterious chemistry of creative collaboration.

THE KING OF COLOR
A compelling tribute to Larry Herbert, the visionary mind behind the Pantone Matching System, which not only standardized color across industries, but rippled out to change commerce, culture and perception itself.

THE OZU DIARIES
Drawing from a treasure trove of archival materials – journals, photographs, interviews and unseen home movies – Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim offers both an intimate biography and revelatory portrait of prolific Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu, one of cinema’s most original and enduring auteurs.

THE TALE OF SILYAN
In a Macedonian village, Nikola, a fledgling middle-aged farmer, is left behind after his family immigrates to Germany, and soon forms a poignant bond with an injured stork.

After Dark

BY DESIGN
Camille (Juliette Lewis) – motivated by deep-seated envy – makes a fateful wish to be just as desirable as an exquisitely expensive wooden chair.

ENDLESS COOKIE
Written and directed by half-brothers Seth and Peter Scriver, one a resident of Toronto, the other a resident of Shamattawa First Nation in the far north of Manitoba, ENDLESS COOKIE is a kooky, ramshackle rumination on collective remembering and family bonds.

F***TOYS
Sex worker A.P. (played by writer/director/producer/star Annapurna Sriram) needs a thousand dollars and a baby lamb to break a curse, setting her on a quest for a few quick paydays and a whole lot of misadventure in Trashtown, USA.

MRAMA
Taratoa Stappard’s haunting and visceral debut feature – a gothic revenge horror filtered through a Mori lens – melds the chills of a haunted house thriller with a stark exploration of Britain’s dark colonial legacy.

MORTE CUCINA
Deliciously tense with sumptuous cinematography by Christopher Doyle, Thai New Wave writer/director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s (LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE) latest feature is an innovative, culinary take on the rape-revenge thriller.

STRAIGHT CIRCLE
Winner of the top prize at Venice Critics’ Week, Oscar Hudson’s debut feature is a surrealist anti-war satire about two soldiers stationed at a fictional desert border who lose their grip on reality.

Guest Artistic Director

Guillermo del Toro selected four of his favorite films to present to AFI FEST audiences:. Films will throughout the festival, with introductions by del Toro.

BARRY LYNDON
Stanley Kubrick’s visually stunning, Academy Award-winning 18th-century epic – which marks its 50th anniversary this year – follows the rise of a reluctant conscript (Ryan O’Neal) through war, romance and intrigue across Europe.

FELLINI’S CASANOVA
Federico Fellini’s infamous 1976 take on Giacomo Casanova’s tale is a visual and sonic spectacle – a lavish, hallucinatory reimagining of the legendary Venetian seducer’s life, starring Donald Sutherland and set to an unforgettable score by Nino Rota.

THE ARCANE SORCERER
A personal favorite of Guillermo del Toro, this richly atmospheric, spiritual horror film follows a disgraced seminary student as he takes refuge with an excommunicated monsignor with a penchant for the occult. Forced to participate in increasingly macabre rituals and tests, Giacomo is consumed by the sinister – as apparitions, ghosts and deadly rumors start to accumulate.

THE DUELLISTS
Ridley Scott’s striking Cannes prize-winning debut feature is a visually arresting tale of honor, obsession and pride chronicling the 16-year feud between two French officers (Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars.

After Dark Shorts

MY WONDERFUL LIFE
Grace Lee, an overworked mom in Singapore, collapses at work. She gets admitted into the hospital where she finds newfound freedom as a patient.

LAST CALL
Claudia, a fast-riding motorcycle rebel, indulges in her worst vices to avoid confrontation with a mysterious serpent woman who taps into her most grotesque fantasies.

THE FISHERMAN
A devout fisherman has his faith tested as a series of supernatural phenomena plague him and his family.

WATER SPORTS
Jelson and Ipe, students deeply in love, undergo trials of the mind and body as they prepare to survive a world devastated by climate change.

MR. OGRE’S CASTLE
A group of teenagers enjoys an illicit stay at a luxurious villa while the mysterious owner is away. Their party gets spoiled when a CCTV camera operator calls to inform the police.

DEMONS TO DIAMONDS
In the cold business district of La Défense, where steel towers pierce a restless sky and CCTV watches every shadow, a wave of suicides exposes the fractures of a crumbling society.

Animation Shorts

OSTRICH
A sparrow sees images of ostriches everywhere. In awe of the ostriches with their long necks, dazzling eyes and muscular legs, the little bird wants to be just like them.

CARCASSONNE-ACAPULCO
As flight 7836 reaches cruising speed above the Atlantic Ocean, the pilot, co-pilot and flight attendant are startled by an unexpected knock at the door – causing chaos and confusion to ensue.

APPLE GATHERERS
APPLE GATHERERS shows the loneliness and dissatisfaction in a labor-intensive world and the brief reprieve we have in moments of real human connection. The moment is fleeting, yet powerful.

SNOW BEAR
Set in a rapidly changing world, SNOW BEAR tells the story of a polar bear in an unforgiving environment on his quest to find a friend.

PETRA AND THE SUN (PETRA Y EL SOL)
During a heavy snowmelt in the Andes, Petra discovers the perfectly preserved corpse of a lost mountaineer – bringing him to her wooden chalet and sparking an unexpected romantic story.

S THE WOLF
A middle-aged man reflects on his tumultuous adolescence through intricate and deeply personal musings all tied to his hair growing or receding. Over time, we accumulate meaning into the larger journey of his life.

DOLLHOUSE ELEPHANT
In a world that demands community participation, individual desires inevitably collide. A group of neighbors, each focused on their own goals, must learn to communicate and consider one another.

9 MILLION COLORS (9 MILION BAREV)
The ocean is paradise for Fran the shrimp. For blind fish Milva, it’s a fight to survive. Fran sees Milva as beautiful and wants her to see the ocean in the same way.

Animation Shorts 2

DORMILÓN
In a quest to become the performer of his dreams, Dormilón, a starry-eyed and middle-aged janitor living in an abandoned theater, must confront his nightmares face-to-face.

DOG ALONE (CÃO SOZINHO)
After the death of its owner and its companions, a dog is left alone. Howls day and night disturbing all the neighborhood. In the house next door, a widowed man’s granddaughter returns from London.

FOREVERGREEN
A joyful adventure featuring an orphaned bear cub and a fatherly tree turns serious when the cub is tempted by the allure of easy food.

MINE!
In the early 20th century Midwest USA, deep underground, a group of coal miners make an incredible discovery.

DESI OON
Through the story of Balu Mama and his revered flock of Deccani sheep, Desi Oon contrasts a rich heritage with the modern neglect of India’s native sheep and wool industry.

AMARELO BANANA
After yet another night of insomnia, a man comes across a strange community living in his building and discovers an elaborate illusion they have created.

ONCE IN A BODY
While dealing with a strange being that lives inside of her, a woman seeks reconciliation with her sister over an incident from their adolescence.

MURMURATION (ZWERMEN)
An elderly man realizes that he’s suddenly turning into a bird.

Documentary Shorts 1

MY MEMORY-WALLS (MES MURS-MÉMOIRE)
Rose G. Lévesque, an almost nonagenarian painter and poet, painted the story of her life on her house’s walls to transform it into a museum.

LOCAL ONE
The Amazon Labor Union launches a nationwide strike during peak holiday shopping season. LOCAL ONE takes us into the first days of the strike at two Amazon warehouses in NYC.

MEMENTO MORI (ZINC)
As rhythmic machines press zinc sheets into coffins, factory workers reflect on their own mortality. Does daily contact with death heighten their awareness of life’s impermanence?

BENEATH WHICH RIVERS FLOW
Ibrahim is tethered to the river, reeds and buffalo he tends, but as the rivers dry and the landscape withers, he faces unrelenting forces threatening the only life he’s ever known.

BIG MONEY: A SPIRITUAL MANIFESTO
Oscar and Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste crafts an album with legendary producer No ID – blending joy, lineage, alchemy and protest into something deeply personal.

WELCOME HOME FRECKLES
After four years apart, a daughter returns home to confront the unresolved family conflicts and violence that plagued her childhood, discovering the generational cycle of abuse only she can break.

Documentary Shorts 2

PAVILHÃO
Set in Rio de Janeiro, Aleksia wanders on a journey through time – unveiling the origins of samba and its emergence from resilience, joy, spirituality and resistance of her Afro-Brazilian community.

CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG
In a struggle of love, legacy and belief, a southwest Chinese family tries to purge an unwanted entity from their queer heir.

LONG LIVE LIVIA
An animator discusses a scene from the TV series, THE SOPRANOS, while meticulously crafting stop-motion recreations of his family’s home movies.

LAB MAN
LAB MAN is a docu-portrait about Arturo Arnold, a master of emulsion who processes all the 8mm and 16mm motion picture film for a busy film lab in North Hollywood.

SHANTI RIDES SHOTGUN
On Manhattan’s jam-packed streets, NYC’s most iconic driving instructor prepares students for the road ahead.

AL BASATEEN (THE ORCHARDS)
In 2015, the Basateen al-Razi district of Damascus was destroyed as punishment for the population’s uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. A decade later, memories are awakened, resisting deliberate erasure.

Live Action Shorts

POSTER BOY
In the cutthroat world of 1990s boy bands, a desperate 16-year-old dancer betrays his best friend and bandmates in a misguided attempt to secure his spot in the limelight.

NERVOUS ENERGY
On the cusp of success/failure, two unhinged female filmmakers decide to break up with their boyfriends and for once, make a bold decision with their lives.

STRANGER, BROTHER
When self-absorbed and lonely millennial Adam wakes to find his estranged half-brother on his doorstep one morning, he must face the family he’s been running from.

COYOTES
A Palestinian surgeon drives home after a long night shift, but little does she know that a commute through a desolate West Bank road will change her forever.

CASI SEPTIEMBRE
Alejandra struggles with the fear of abandonment. Living year-round with her family in a camping resort, a blossoming romance with a tourist brings her latent insecurities to the surface.

Live Action Shorts 2

THE SINGERS
In this film adaptation of a 19th-century short story written by Ivan Turgenev, downtrodden patrons commiserating at a lowly pub connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off.

THE MAN OF S*** (L’HOMME DE MERDE)
Between college and her luxury hotel job, Fernanda wonders if she’ll ever achieve something meaningful in life.

RED EGG & GINGER
Hannah, a half-white, half-Chinese teenager, meets her newborn, 100% Chinese half-sister at a traditional Chinese event, forcing Hannah to question her cultural identity and where she fits in her family.

MAJONEZË
Elyria follows the strict rules imposed by her father, hiding her anger with obedience. A powerful desire for rebellion grows in her day by day that leads to a necessary act of revolution.

MERMAIDS (GORGONES)
Summer holidays in Greece. Under the scorched sun, a flirt pushes two opposite friend groups on a journey of sexual discovery, lust, consent and complete transformation.

CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 1

THE APPLE PICKER’S SON
Afaaq, a Kashmiri boy with supernatural powers, learns his father will be picking apples in a war-torn region of Kashmir. Afaaq must stop him from leaving before the apples ripen and the harvest begins. D

JIA
Jia loves her bestie Nina more than anything, but when Nina tells Jia she wants to attend the school dance with a boy and not with Jia as planned, a choice is made that changes their friendship forever.

PATAKHA
Radha, an 11-year-old girl in rural India, loses her backpack on her first day of work at a factory. She journeys to retrieve the school bag and with it, her dreams for the future.

BEWARE THE WOLVES
During an extended stay, Carlisle and his older sister endure strict treatment from their grandmother and ailing grandfather. When Carlisle witnesses a disturbing violation, he must forge a path for their escape.

CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 2

DOG SEES GOD
When a meteor lands in his backyard, killing his beloved dog, suburban misfit Atticus channels his grief into his garage-punk band as he wrestles with teenage angst, fractured family dynamics and a growing government presence in his neighborhood.

AZUL
Struggling to cope with her sister’s unexpected passing, 17-year-old Azul finds solace in an unexpected place: a lady Lowrider Car Club.

BEHIND THE MASK
After a famous actor’s death, his estranged daughter looks for closure at his house. She discovers a magical theater mask that whisks her back in time to a grand stage where she comes face-to-face with him as a young man.

OLDMAN’S BLUES
Grappling with dementia, eighty-year-old Kang longs to return to China. When a yellow crane appears, memory and reality blur, guiding his spirit home in a final goodbye seen only by his granddaughter.

TEEN MARY
Teen Mary gets pregnant by Nazareth’s biggest player, Gabriel. Facing death, she and her gay BFF Joseph hatch a plan: convince everyone that God is the father, turning scandal into scripture to survive.

CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 3

MARASCHINO
When a former centerfold suffers a breakdown on her partner’s birthday, she must outwit her smart home device on a blood-soaked path to having her own cake and eating it, too.

POOLBOY
Kaspar is a medical tech diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six months to live. Confronting mortality, he quits his job to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a Los Angeles pool boy.

FINDING YIYI
After losing her mother’s cherished dumpling recipe, 65-year-old YiYi embarks on a journey to piece it back together, leading her to reconnect with a childhood friend and explore the relationship they never had.

CLUB RATS
When young golfer Penny wins the club championship on a dubious hole-in-one, her status and reputation are called into question. Leading the charge is Penny’s former lover and fiercest rival, causing her to doubt the truth.

NIGHT FEEDS
An Arab American mother struggles with postpartum as a night nurse unsettles her, and war floods her screens. This psychological horror where nightmare bleeds into reality paints a visceral portrait of motherhood in our time.

CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 4

SONG OF SILENCE
In a war-torn 2071 America, Greta must protect a deadly secret in a hidden village of women, forcing her to choose between her only son’s life and the safety of her community.

THE END IS AT HAND
A reclusive phone repairman discovers a pulsing, slime-covered organism growing inside a mysterious device. When it disappears from his desk, he searches for it – but the more he looks, the more he dreads what he’ll find.

BEST EYES
While commuting between her inner city neighborhood and elite private school, a biracial teen forms a friendship that challenges the version of herself her mother believes will keep her safe – leading her toward self-acceptance.

YOU & ME, CHAZ & RODNEY
Best friends Elisa and Valerie set out on an adventure to Rodney’s house with plans to hook up for the first time. But as the night progresses, the curious 13-year-olds are confronted by their own shifting friendship.

IRON LAKE
On a scouting trip in the 1990s, a volatile teenager expresses secret feelings for another boy. When he’s rejected, he’ll go to dark lengths to keep his secret hidden.

CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 5

JOE HUNT
After his father’s mysterious death, thirteen-year-old William turns to his imaginary hero, Joe Hunt, for guidance. As they search for answers, the line between protector and menace blurs, forcing William to question who he can truly trust.

TA
In a bleak, dystopian modern city, an agent of the underworld intersects with the lives of those lost in despair – guiding them on a surreal, transformative journey into death and beyond.

PAPER BOY
An artist escapes into a fragile paper world. As his imagination grows into vast cities and impossible creatures, fantasy blurs with reality. As it collapses, he must face the truths he’s hidden and the weight they carry.

DANDELION
In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen Margaret gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a social worker tasked with finding her a new home.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of 20th Century Studios and this ABC station.