Prestige, curator-driven festival at Lincoln Center
One of North America's largest film festivals
Major Bay Area awards-season stop
High-profile East Coast fall festival, awards-season adjacent
Asia's leading film festival
UK's flagship festival, major European premieres
Europe's premier genre/horror/fantasy festival
Showcase for innovative and boundary-pushing cinema
Oscar-qualifying; ranked #1 regional festival by USA Today 10Best in 2026
Longest-running nonfiction film festival in North America
Italy's star-studded autumn festival
25th-anniversary edition showcasing international features and shorts
Oldest competitive film festival in North America
Norway's largest film festival
Major Australian festival known for co-financing new work
Belgium's leading film and film-music festival
Major Red Sea coast festival for Arab and international cinema
Largest film event in the Philadelphia region
Oscar-qualifying festival with a growing regional reputation
Large Southern California regional festival
Mexico's premier showcase for national and world cinema
Major European documentary festival
Notable NJ festival with strong industry draw, co-founded by Stephen Colbert
American Film Institute's flagship festival, free to the public
University of Virginia-affiliated festival screening 100+ films
Large Pacific Rim-focused festival; Oahu dates, then neighbor islands through mid-November
Historic (est. 1978) festival screening around 150 titles
Oscar-qualifying major Southern festival
Leading Central European documentary festival
Germany's major documentary and animation festival
Japan's largest internationally accredited film festival
Long-running Italian documentary festival
Latin America's only FIAPF A-list competitive festival
Oscar-qualifying regional showcase
Northern Europe's largest film festival, FIAPF A-list
Top awards and festival event for Chinese-language cinema
Premier festival celebrating cinematography
Croatia's leading international film festival
Oldest film festival in the Middle East and Africa
Sweden's premier film festival
America's largest documentary festival
World's largest documentary film festival
Well-regarded non-competitive indie showcase
Canada's leading documentary festival
Leading festival for Middle Eastern and Gulf cinema
India's premier international film festival
North Africa's leading festival for world cinema
Major Gulf-region festival platforming Arab cinema
Genre festival for Lovecraftian/cosmic horror cinema — dates shown are the Dec 2026 streaming edition; in-person edition returns to Portland, OR each October
Launchpad for American indie cinema and awards-season breakouts — first edition in its new Boulder, CO home
Part of the "Big Three" alongside Cannes and Venice; largest publicly attended festival worldwide
Highly respected hybrid documentary festival
One of the longest continuously running festivals in Florida
Premieres blending film, tech, and music
Boutique wine-country festival celebrating its 30th year
Oldest experimental film festival in North America
One of the top documentary festivals in the US
Major showcase for Ibero-American and world cinema
One of the largest festivals by submission volume
Major Midwest Oscar-qualifying festival, screening over a month-long run
Respected curator-driven regional festival
One of the longest-running major US festivals
Large university-affiliated showcase at UW-Madison
Major classic-film event presented by Turner Classic Movies
Florida regional festival with industry ties
Premier North American genre/horror festival
Oscar-qualifying festival also screening in Greensboro, NC
Major Texas regional festival
One of the largest, longest-running festivals in the country
Oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas
Widely regarded as one of the best regional indie festivals in the US
Part of the "Big Three"; epicenter of the global film sales market
One of the largest film festivals in the United States
Nation's largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian cinema
Major industry event for Black film and TV — relocated from Miami Beach to Los Angeles for its 31st edition
Major NYC festival spanning film, TV, and media
Respected regional festival with notable industry draw
Known for queer cinema and indie premieres
Long-running underground and experimental showcase
Screenwriter-focused festival with strong industry presence
World's longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival
Academy-accredited, one of the longest-running festivals in New England
Respected Southeastern regional indie festival
Respected Pacific Northwest festival at the Whitsell Auditorium
Next edition hasn't announced dates yet — revisit this list periodically.
Major platform for Latin American cinema in the US
The world's leading animation festival
China's major state-backed international festival
Country's largest genre film festival; also runs a Chicago edition (Beyond Chicago) at the Music Box Theatre
Major showcase for films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers
Highly respected documentary-focused festival
World's leading short-film festival and market
Major international documentary festival
Cannes sidebar for first and second features
Indie festival spotlighting films with no name-brand casts
Europe's premier showcase for American cinema
Independent Cannes sidebar for bold new voices
Prominent Asian documentary festival
Spain's leading documentary festival
Germany's largest documentary festival
Africa's longest-running film festival
World's oldest continually running film festival
Major festival for ambitious, arthouse cinema
Premier North American genre/fantastic-film festival
America's largest genre/horror film festival
Major North German international festival
Spotlight on African, Asian, and Latin American cinema
France's top genre/fantastic-film festival
UK's second-largest film festival
Caucasus region's leading international festival
Scandinavia's largest film festival
Mexico's most important film-industry gathering
Asia's longest-running film festival
North America's largest documentary festival
Respected regional indie festival for South Carolina
Hub for experimental and arthouse cinema
Turkey's oldest and most prominent film festival
Independent and experimental Asian cinema
Israel's leading film festival
Central and Eastern Europe's most prestigious festival
One of the oldest documentary/short festivals in Europe
Champions auteur and experimental cinema
Premier showcase for Asian Pacific American and international cinema
Australia's major documentary showcase
Australia's premier film festival
One of the most-attended regional festivals in the US
One of the oldest competitive festivals in the US
Showcase for emerging filmmakers' first and second features
Showcase for Oscar-contending foreign-language films
One of the largest LGBTQ+ film festivals in the US
Iceland's leading film festival
Spain's top-tier international competitive festival
Major awards-season circuit stop
Leading festival for Southeast European cinema
China's only FIAPF A-list competitive festival
UK's premier documentary festival
Southeast Asia's leading festival for regional cinema
Scrappy counterpart to Sundance for ultra-indie work
Australia's oldest continuously running film festival
Secretive, influential early awards-season launch
Southeast Europe's leading documentary festival
Italy's leading festival for independent and first-time directors
North America's biggest awards-season launchpad
Romania's largest and most prestigious film festival
Spotlight on Central and Eastern European cinema
Influential nonfiction/documentary showcase
Venice's critics' week for debut features
Independent sidebar running parallel to Venice
World's oldest film festival; part of the "Big Three"
Leading short-film festival in Central Europe
Leading European documentary festival
Poland's major FIAPF-accredited competitive festival
Major Swiss festival blending arthouse and star premieres