No theme, no thesis — just fifteen of the most rewarding features from the past two years of American and international cinema, chosen purely on merit. Nine from the United States, six from abroad. All fifteen are 2026 Official Selection nominees, in competition for the festival's awards, announced at the Closing Night ceremony on August 1 — the winners will then be brought to Washington screens.
Fifteen nominated features from the past two years of American and international cinema, listed alphabetically — nine from the United States, six from abroad.
An eccentric lottery winner lures his favorite folk duo — long since broken up, musically and romantically — to a private gig on a remote Welsh island. A gentle British comedy about fandom, old songs, and letting go.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2025.
A cantor who has lost his voice and his footing finds an unlikely bat mitzvah student in his grade-school music teacher. Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane spark an anarchic, warm-hearted comedy of faith and second chances.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
In Flushing, Queens, two Chinese immigrant workers find their lives joined by an unexpected loss. A patient, luminous debut about grief, companionship, and the meals shared in between.
Premiered in Critics' Week at Cannes 2024.
In the summer of 2008, a Taiwanese American thirteen-year-old in Fremont, California learns to skate, flirt, and love his mother. A funny, bruising coming-of-age story told in the language of AIM chats and MySpace pages.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
Two New England rec-league baseball teams play one last game before their beloved field is demolished. As afternoon slips into night, this shaggy, elegiac hangout comedy becomes a farewell to a whole way of passing time together.
Premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes 2024 — the definition of a summer film.
A construction worker quietly grieving a family tragedy stumbles into a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet. What begins as an escape becomes a way back to his wife and daughter, in a film of enormous tenderness played by a real-life family.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
On a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills, a teenage girl watches her father and his oldest friend fumble through middle age. A hushed, precisely observed debut in which a single misstep quietly rearranges everything.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
The Belfast rap trio Kneecap play themselves in a riotous, semi-fictional origin story about making music in the Irish language. Anarchic, profane, and unexpectedly moving on what it means to keep a mother tongue alive.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
Grace Pudel, a melancholy hoarder of snails, recounts a life of separations, odd jobs, and one extraordinary friendship with an elderly eccentric named Pinky. Handmade clay animation for grown-ups, equal parts heartbreak and mischief.
Premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2024.
A 70-year-old widow in Tehran decides, one afternoon, to reach for companionship again. What follows is a single evening of cake, wine, and conversation — a gentle, quietly daring romance about choosing joy.
Premiered in Competition at the Berlinale 2024.
Something bad happened to Agnes — but life, somehow, keeps going. Told across several years at a small New England college, Eva Victor's debut balances deadpan comedy and deep hurt with startling control.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2025.
After falling for a phone scam, a 93-year-old grandmother sets out across Los Angeles on a borrowed mobility scooter to get her money back. June Squibb anchors an action-comedy that finds real feeling in questions of aging and independence.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2024.
Two young men meet in a support group for twins who have lost their other half, and an unlikely friendship takes root. A dark comedy about loneliness and identity that keeps pulling the rug out from under its audience.
Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2025.
In a dreamlike Winnipeg where Farsi and French are the twin official languages, children hunt for money frozen in ice and a tour guide leads visitors past the city's beige landmarks. A deadpan comic marvel bridging Canada and Iran.
Premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes 2024.
Over one long midsummer day in Reykjavík, from sunset to sunset, a young art student navigates a sudden loss among friends who don't know her whole story. Compact, tender, and lit by Iceland's endless summer light.
Opened the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes 2024.
All fifteen in competition — winners announced at the Awards Ceremony, Closing Night, August 1.
