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Published by Newsletter
Aug 15, 2026
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The Festival Beat N°1176 Locarno in focus


THE FESTIVAL BEAT MAKER ! SHARING MOTION AND EMOTION SINCE 1995 - FINALIZING OUR NEW SITE - BEST OF LUCK ON THE CIRCUIT  

We are working hard fine tuning the new version of our platform to better serve our community. Filmfestivals.com was established in 1995 before google even existed, turned into a social network in 2006 with a blog platform welcoming festivals and film professionals with over 120 000 articles and counting. We take our pride in helping filmmakers and Fest organizers offering unique visibility, legitimacy and promotion in our dailies so they can match and grow. 
 

EMAIL US FOR PROMOTION AND FESTIVAL MARKETING HELP : Bruno Chatelin

 

We cover over 15 000 festivals worldwide and proudly share our knowledge of the Festival circuit with our community, we trust our audience will ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE even  better on our new platform : stay tuned for new features coming out soon!. In case you missed any of these 1100+ newsletters ... you can find them all here.

 

 

festivals

FESTIVALS IN FOCUS    

American Film Market® announced the launch of The AFM House, an expansion of the Market and the new home of AFM's Innovation Hub for 2026 

 

AMERICAN FILM MARKET EXPANDS WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE AFM HOUSE, The AFM House Will Host the Innovation Hub in Collaboration with Cannes Next, the Marché du Film's Innovation Program, Spotlighting Leading AI & Technology Companies and The Cinemas Club


 

 

Poster revealed for #21DocsMX  

 TRANSIT TO TRANSCENDTurning 21 placed us face to face with the future. It made us pause and ask ourselves: Where do we want to go? Along the way, we understood that moving forward is not just about...


 

Netflix is returning as Opening Night sponsor of the 19th Bushwick Film Festival, taking place Oct. 7–11 in Brooklyn. 

 

Opening Night on Oct. 7 will spotlight this year’s selected filmmakers and kick off five days of programming, including nearly 100 independent films, industry conversations, screenplay readings, comedy, live music, and an awards celebration.


 

San Diego Intl Film Festival celebrating 25th anniversary  

 

The San Diego International Film Festival returns October 13–18 for our biggest celebration yet. For 25 years, we've celebrated the power of film by bringing filmmakers, film lovers and...


 

FULL LINEUP ANNOUNCED FOR 44th REELING: THE CHICAGO LGBTQ+ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 

 

Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival today announced the full slate of screenings and programs for the 44th edition of the second-longest running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world. This year’s Festival runs September 17 - 27, 2026 with screenings at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave.), Landmark Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark St.), and Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema (1326 W. Hollywood Ave.). The slate boasts 36 feature films and 59 short films, organized into ten shorts programs. This year’s selections hail from 22 countries around the world including South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Spain, Canada, and Mexico.


 

THE KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA HITS SYDNEY FROM 20 AUGUST  

 

 The Korean Film Festival in Australia (KOFFIA) returns to Sydney next week, running from 20–25 August 2026 with a program of ten films, including nine Australian premieres, showcasing some of the...


 

Spanish films at 74th San Sebastian Film Festival  

Spanish films at 74th San Sebastian Film FestivalWe are now just over a month away from settling in San Sebastián to enjoy the 74th edition of its International Film Festival,...

 


Partner festivals calling this coming August 

 

Partner Festivals callingThe Bulletin BoardANNOUNCEMENTS / CALL FOR ENTRIES recommended by filmfestivals.com:Dear filmmakers friends do not miss these Festivals in Focus.Bruno Chatelin and the...

 


Julien Dubuque International Film Festival April 17 - 24, 2027 Call for entry opening now!  

 

The JDIFF Video Channel: ambiance and interviewsEmail I  467 Bluff Street Dubuque, IA 52001 United States I Website I Profile on filmfestivals.com I Facebook I Twitter I SUBMITPhotos  by Bruno...


 

Revealing the poster for the 48th edition of Cinemed  

 

Black and white has a magical power: it makes the moment timeless, ensuring it is not consigned to the past and allowing us to relive it once more in the present. It is not lost time we are seeking,...


 

AMERICAN FILM MARKET SETS FIRST-EVER THEME FOR THE 2026 EDITION: THE NEW GLOBAL SCREEN ECONOMY  

The American Film Market® (AFM®) today announced its first-ever unifying theme, “The New Global Screen Economy,” positioning the 2026 market around the shifts redefining how content is financed, produced, distributed, and brought to audiences worldwide. AFM’s 47th edition will take place November 10–15, 2026, in Los Angeles, with headquarters at the Fairmont Century Plaza and screenings held at AMC Century City 15....

 

film

 Batwara 1947, Review: Religion divides, humanity unites  

 Poster of Batwara 1947

Batwara 1947, Review: Religion divides, humanity unitesSyed Asghar Wajahat Rizvi was one year-old when the Partition (Batwara) took place, creating India and Pakistan as two countries. It is not...


 Ohh My Dog, Overview: Chase to the cut  

Still from Ohh My Dog

 Ohh My Dog, Overview: Chase to the cutAn anadrome. No, nothing to do with an aerodrome. An anadrome is a word that still means something when it is spelt backwards. Like wolf and flow. This film is...


3D returns to Festival of Cinema NYC  

 

Today we screen our first ever 3D film!LEDA2021 Audience Choice Award Winner Join us this afternoon for another Special Matinee screening - this time the 2021 Festival of Cinema NYC Audience Choice...


Defending Christopher Nolan: How to Watch The Odyssey?  

 Blog image

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Let’s start at the top, shall we, in our defense of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey? Released on July 17, the movie stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne...


 

San Sebastian retrospective to José Giovanni will include 20 films directed or written by him  

 

A total of 20 feature films released between 1960 and 2001 will make up the retrospective dedicated to French director, screenwriter and novelist José Giovanni, an indisputable figure of the golden...

 

 

 

 
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"THE BEST FOR FESTS :

ONES TO WATCH FOR FESTIVAL CONSIDERATION  carefully curated by Bruno Chatelin 

Coming Home from ShadowLand to SpiritWorld

USA April 2026 85 minutes documentary film by J.Mitchell Johnson & Daniel Golding (Quechan Indian tribe) 

Coming Home: From Shadowland to Spiritworld is the story of a California native tribe’s surprisingly successful recovery of sacred land and their unique quest for reunification with descendants of tribal women taken to Russia at the end of that country’s brief colonial enterprise on the California coast.

 

Shot over a period of 14 years beginning in 2012 in a cinéma vérité style, Coming Home: From
Shadowland to Spiritworld follows the story of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians as they undertake an extraordinary effort to reclaim their ancestral lands on the Sonoma Coast after 170 years of displacement. Interweaving the little-known history of Russian colonization in California with a modern story of negotiation, diplomacy, and ceremony, the film shows how land repatriation becomes a powerful act of cultural renewal. The Kashia tell their own story without a third-party narrator as they confront the legacy of historical trauma—including generational loss and the ongoing impacts of colonialism—the return to their sacred places like Metini and Danaka reveals how restoring land can help restore identity, resilience, and community.

 

After sacred land goes up for sale following 170 years of dispossession brought-on by

the California genocide of native peoples, Kashia Pomo tribal-elder (OTIS PARRISH) mentors a pair of young tribal members (MARTINA MORGAN and JERRY PINOLA) on a journey seeking coastal land return and self-recovery that inspires healing, spiritual revival, and a search for the truth about those tribal members gone missing and murdered.   

Watch the trailer

 

Profile on filmfestivals.comTrailerSynopsisAbout the filmmakers I Website I IMDB

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 STAKEOUT by Riker Lynch USA 90 minutes April 26

 

Suspicious of his new girlfriend, Jon enlists his wannabe-detective best friend for a DIY stakeout - only to stumble on a dangerous secret that puts them in way over their heads. 

 

Action, comedy romantic thriller by Riker Lynch Writer, Director, Producer

Produced by Billy Gould, Ross Lynch, Gordy De St. Jeor and Riker Lynch

Casting: Riker Lynch, Titus Makin, Bella Martinez, Samuel Del Real, Curt Mega, Sammy Ferrenbach,Bobby UKey, Kayden Muller-Janssen

Riker’s band is ready to perform in sync with festival screenings.

 

 

Profile on filmfestivals.comTrailerSynopsisDirector's statementCrewIMDB

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IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY Documentary by Susan Kucera 

1 hour 21 minutes 
USA, December 2025
 

The American West is a mythos known around the world — a landscape of freedom, rugged individualism, boundless possibility, and the collision of human ambition with ecological reality. This film explores the truth beneath it, revealing how wolves — and the domesticated animals traveling in their wake — shaped our ideas, our folklore, and our sense of nationhood, altering the course of American history as profoundly as any human hand.

Academy-Award winner, JEFF BRIDGES narrates this stunning journey, following wolves as co-travelers through American history — from the shores of England to the birth of the New Republic and ultimately the colonization of the vast, contested landscapes of the modern American West. A place where the ensemble doesn’t merely walk through history; they trot, lope, stampede, and migrate across it reminding us that the connection between the wild and the domesticated have always reflected a deeper story of who we are as a nation — and who we might yet become. 

Susan Kucera and Academy Award winner, Jeff Bridges, team up for their 3rd Documentary Film together, In the Company of Wolves; An American Journey. This is Susan's 8th documentary film following award winning films such as, Living in the Future's Past, Hot Money, 12th Hour, For the Love of Tango, Wild Genius, Breath of Life and Trading on Thin Air. She spent her youth filming on the ice fields of the Athabasca Glacier and has a deep love of nature, cinematography, animals and the great outdoors. 

Watch the Trailer  

Profile on filmfestivals.comTrailerSynopsisDirector's statementStillsWebsiteIMDB
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"Lala my readhead" script by Nellie K. and Deniz Nala

Lala_poster.jpg 

'LALA, MY REDHEAD'

Feature film by Nellie K. and Deniz Nala

in development stage, with a finalised script

Looking for support: partners and financiers.

 

Love and poverty, betrayal and wealth - centuries of traditions put to the test! A compelling story intricately woven into a comprehensive exploration of women’s status against the backdrop of the Roma culture. From the director of an award-winning film in Cannes 2023.

Read more »

 

Profile on filmfestivals.comSynopsisAwards

 

awards

profile

Locarno79: The Pardo d’Oro goes to You Don't Belong Here by Florin Șerban  

 Davide Padovan © Locarno Film Festival

For eleven days and eleven nights, cinemas around Locarno filled once more with audiences delighted by encounters with some of the most prominent names in world cinema and the global industry. The programme drew to a close with the Romanian film You Don’t Belong Here winning the Festival’s top prize, the Pardo d’Oro (Golden Leopard).


 

JOHN CARPENTER, COLMAN DOMINGO, AND CHARLIZE THERON  TO BE HONORED AT SIXTH ANNUAL ACADEMY MUSEUM GALA ON OCTOBER 17, 2026  

 Photo Credit: John Carpenter, photo by Sophie Gransard; Colman Domingo, photo by Raul Romo; Charlize Theron, photo by Marc Piasecki.Robert Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg, and Kate Capshaw to serve as...


 

India’s FFI flags off the Oscarrace 

 The Oscar statuette

India’s FFI flags off the OscarraceThe most coveted award in international cinema, the Oscar, is in its 99th year, and the Academy, as it does every year, invites entries from countries around the...


The director Luca Guadagnino to receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker 2026 Award / His new documentary Joie de vivre (435’) to premiere at the Venice Film Festival  

 La Biennale di Venezia and Cartier are pleased to announce that the Italian director and producer Luca Guadagnino (After the Hunt, Challengers, Bones and All) is the recipient of the Cartier Glory...


 

LILIANA CAVANI TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE 2026 LUCCA FILM FESTIVAL 22nd edition  

The acclaimed Italian filmmaker and screenwriter will be honoured at the festival, which will also screen two of her films on Saint Francis as part of a special programme marking the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. The official poster for the 2026 Lucca Film Festival has been created by artist Matteo Berton.


 

Special Awards at Locarno Film Festival 

 

 Every year celebrate the personalities who are writing the history of cinema, electing them as symbols of dialogue between the films of yesterday and the films of today.Excellence AwardLearn...


 

 

 

Mansour Jahani in Die Welt: Jafar Panahi returned to Iran via the Bazargan border during the war 

 Blog image

Mansour Jahani, an independent journalist and Iranian film critic, reported in the German newspaper “Die Welt” that highly acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi returned to Tehran via the Bazargan...

 


“A Hero” case resolved in favor of Asghar Farhadi; appellate court rejects claim for damages 

 Blog image

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international film journalist, Asghar Farhadi, a renowned Iranian director a two-time international Oscar winner for Best Foreign...


The Plein(s) Écran(s) Festival unveils the selection committee for its 11th edition February 10 to 20, 2027! 

The Plein(s) Écran(s) Festival unveils the selection committee for its 11th edition, which will take place from February 10 to 20, 2027! The 11th edition of the Plein(s) Écran(s) Festival will run from February 10 to 20, 2027.


 

Werner Herzog to receive a Donostia Award at the San Sebastián Festival

  Director, writer, producer and actor Werner Herzog will receive a Donostia Award in recognition of his career during the opening gala of the San Sebastián Festival, which will take place from 18 to...


“A Hero” case resolved in favor of Asghar Farhadi; appellate court rejects claim for damages  

 Placeholder Image

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international film journalist, Asghar Farhadi, a renowned Iranian director a two-time international Oscar winner for Best Foreign...


Ellen Burstyn to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 

 

The American actress Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Interstellar) will be awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83rd Venice International Film...

 


 

 

Locarno Open Doors dévoile son palmarès pour 2026 

 

Open Doors, plateforme de coproduction et d’accompagnement de talents du Locarno Film Festival destinée aux cinéastes issu·es de communautés en quête d’équité et de régions du monde où l’expression artistique est menacée, a annoncé son palmarès 2026. Cette édition marque la deuxième étape d’un cycle de quatre éditions consacré à 42 pays d’Afrique.


 

Un parterre de stars et de cinéastes de premier plan à Locarno79  

Entre les premières de la Piazza Grande, les films en lice et les remises de prix à des figures majeures du cinéma, la 79e édition du Locarno Film Festival accueillera de nombreux talents internationaux. Voici un tour d’horizon des grands noms attendus cette année au Festival.


 

Locarno79 lève le voile sur ses jurys 

Voici la composition des jurys. Cinéastes, comédien·nes, producteur·ices, programmateur·ices et personnalités du monde culturel de renommée internationale réunis à Locarno pour décerner le Pardo...


 

16e Festival des Ecrans de Chine: A vos agendas  

 

Cher.es ami.es, che.res sinologues, cher.es amateurs du cinéma documentaire d’exception, Vous pourrez découvrir très prochainement, comme tous les ans après l’été, six, peut-être sept nouveaux films...


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