The festival’s official opening, at the National Palace of Culture, will feature the Bulgarian premiere of It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi. The Iranian director will come to Sofia to receive the prestigious FIPRESCI Platinum Award. The Sofia Award of the Municipality of Sofia for contribution to the art of cinema will be presented to two iconic figures of Bulgarian cinema: actor and director Ivaylo Hristov, and cinematographer Emil Hristov.
A special gala will be dedicated to legendary Polish actor Jan Englert, well known to Bulgarian audiences as Father Heredia from the emblematic film Osadenidushi (1975) directed by Valo Radev. Englert will arrive in Sofia to present his latest film The Crossroads directed by Dominika Montean.
The Special Award of Sofia Film Fest in 2026 will be presented to three outstanding filmmakers: Hungarian director Gyorgy Palfi, chair of the International Jury, who will present his newest film Hen; British director David Mackenzie, a longtime friend of the festival, who will present his latest films Relay and Fuze; and French director Arnaud Desplechin, who together with co-writer Kamen Velkovsky will present his newest film Two Pianos to Bulgarian audiences.
Ivaylo Hristov, Emil Hristov, Jan Englert, György Pálfi, David Mackenzie, and Arnaud Desplechin will also give special masterclasses during the festival.
Bulgarian feature films Lust by Ralitza Petrova and Women Out of Order by Alexander Kossev have been selected for the Main International Competition. Bulgarian film Made in EU directed by Stephan Komandarev will participate in the Balkan Competition.
The festival will also host the 23rd edition of the industry event Sofia Meetings from 18 to 22 March 2026.
As the main festival is taking place mainly in Sofia, additional screenings will be held in Burgas 19 – 27 March, Plovdiv 20 March 20 - 5 April, and Varna 20 – 22 and 28–29 March.
The Sofia International Film Festival is organised by Art Fest in partnership with Atlantida Studio, under the patronage of Sofia Municipality, as part of the project “Capital of Culture – The Pulse of Sofia”, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The festival also receives support from the Ministry of Culture, the National Film Center, and Creative Europe MEDIA.
International Competition:
Lust (Bulgarian, Denmark, Sweden)
Directed by Ralitza Petrova
Produced by Aporia Filmworks, Screening Emotions
Coproduced by Snowglobe, Silver Films
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages – Council of Europe, the Danish Film Institute, Film i Väst, Doli Media Studio
Nina Rosa (Canada, Italy, Bulgaria, Belgium)
Directed by Geneviève Dulude-de Celles
Produced by Colonelle films
Coproduced by Umi Films, Ginger Light, Premier Studio, Echo Bravo
Supported by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages, the Harold Greenberg Fund, CALQ, Radio Canada
The Condor Daughter (Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay)
Directed by Álvaro Olmos Torrico
Broken Voices / Sbormistr (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Directed by Ondřej Provazník
Produced by endorfilm
Coproduced by Punkchart films, Czech Television, Innogy, Barrandov Studio
Supported by the Czech Audiovisual Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Cinema Jazireh (Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria, Romania)
Directed by Gözde Kural
Produced by Toz Film Production, Koskos Film
Coproduced by Seven Springs Pictures, Avva Films, Front Film
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Creative Europe MEDIA
Life in a Beat (Greece, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Montenegro)
Directed by Amerissa Basta
Produced by Soul Productions
Coproduced by Krug Film Production, Breaking Wave Production LTD, Videa Production, Authorwave
Supported by the Greek Film Centre, the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, the North Macedonia Film Agency, Ert SA
A Safe Place / Un loc sigur (Romania)
Directed by Cecilia Stefanescu
Produced by Point Film
Coproduced by Libra Film Productions, Avanpost Media
Trail of Hein (Germany)
Directed by Kai Stänicke
Hold onto Me (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece)
Directed by Myrsini Aristidou
Produced by One Six One Films, Filmblades
Coproduced by Fredo Pictures, Graal S.A
Supported by the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, ERT (Greek TV Channel), the Danish Film Institute, the Greek Film Center, the Black Family Grant of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Pleasant Bay Pictures, the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab - Emerging Filmmaker Award, Mango Productions
Women Out of Order (Bulgaria)
Directed by Alexander Kossev
Produced by Auris Film, BOF Pictures
Dump of Untitled Pieces (Turkey)
Directed by Melik Kuru
Nomad Shadow (USA, Spain, France)
Directed by Eimi Imanishi
Produced by Dialectic
Balkan Competition:
3 Days in September / 3 zile in septembrie (Romania)
Directed by Tudor Giurgiu
Produced by Point Film
Coproducedby StaySharp Film, Libra Film Productions, Arome 22
God Will Not Help / Bog neće pomoći (Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, Slovenia)
Directed by Hana Jušić
Produced by Kinorama
Coproduced by Nightswim, microFILM, Horsefly Films, Maneki Films, Perfo Production, ERT S.A.
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages, the Italian Ministry of Culture (MIC), the Romanian Film Centre, the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece | Co- Production Window, European Union – NextGenerationEU, Aide aux Cinémas du Monde – Centre national du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée – Institut français, the Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, ERT S.A., HRT, Re-Act
Whites Wash at Ninety / Belo se pere na devetdeset (Slovenia, Croatia, Italia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro)
Directed by Marko Naberšnik
Produced by Perfo Production
Coproduced by Biberche, Black Cat Production, Kinorama, Protos Film, Quasar
Supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Pro plus, FS Viba Film, Film Center Serbia, the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Film Commission Friuli Venezia Gulia (FVG), Eurimages
Otter / Vidra (Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Kosovo)
Directed by Srđan Vuletić
Produced Artikulacija film
Coproduced by Redibis film, Izazov 365, Realstage, Buka production
Supported by the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Ministry of Culture of Italy, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Sarajevo Canton, the Sarajevo Film Foundation, the Kosovo Cinematography Center
How Come It’s All Green Out There? / Kako je ovde tako zeleno? (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria)
Directed by Nikola Ležaić
Produced by Qče
Coproduced by Nukleus Film, PremierStudio, Forgrade Studio
Supported by Film Center Serbia, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Bulgarian National Film Center
Receptions (Bulgaria, Greece)
Directed by Filippos Tsitos
Produced by View Master Films,
Coproduced by Premier Studio, Hellenic Film
Supported by Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece, ERT SA, the Bulgarian National Film Center
Mother / Majka (North Macedonia, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, India)
Directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska
Lensed by Virginie Saint-Martin
Produced by Sisters and Brother Mitevski
Coproduced by Entre Chien et Loup, Rainy Days, Frau Film, Raging Film
Supported by the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Swedish Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles, Film i Väst
Yugo Florida (Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria)
Directed by Vladimir Tagić
Produced by Sense Production
Coproduced by Adriatic Western, Eclectica, Contrast Films
Supported by Film Center Serbia, the Film Centre of Montenegro, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages, Creative Europe MEDIA
Made in EU (Bulgaria, Germany, Czech Republic, Turkey)
Directed by Stephan Komandarev
Produced by Argo Film
Coproduced by 42film, Negativ, Ikinciyeni Film, Istos Film
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung, the Czech Audiovisual Fund, ZDF/Arte, the Bulgarian National Television, TRT Sinema
Milk Teeth / Dinti de lapte (Romania, France, Denmark, Greece, Bulgaria)
Directed by Mihai Mincan
Produced by deFilm
Coproduced by Remora Films, Ström Pictures, StudioBauhaus, Screening Emotions
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, the Romanian Office for Film and Cultural Investments (OFIC), the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (France), the Danish Film Institute, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Hellenic Film &Audiovisual Center - Creative Greece / National Recovery & Resilience Plan - Greece 2.0 - Co-productionWindow, ARTE Kino, Media Investment Communication, Creative Europe MEDIA, ERT SA, TorinoFilmLab Production Award & Green Filming Award, Cinema City, the Romanian Television, Avanpost, Radio Romania
Diversion (Cyprus, Greece)
Directed by Marinos Kartikkis
Produced by A.B. Seahorse Film Productions Ltd.
Supported by the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture in partnership with Cyprus Cinema Advisory Committee
Early Winter (Turkey)
Directed by Özcan Alper
Documentary Competition:
Ancestral Visions of the Future (France, Lesotho, Germany, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia)
Directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Child of Dust (Poland, Czech Republic, Qatar, Sweden, Vietnam)
Directed by Weronika Mliczewska
Truth or Dare (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria)
Directed by Tonislav Hristov
Crocodile (New Zealand, Nigeria)
Directed by Pietra Brettkelly
Cuba & Alaska (Ukraine, France, Belgium)
Directed by Yegor Troyanovsky
A Fox under a Pink Moon (Iran, France, Norway, Italy)
Directed by Mehrdad Oskouei, Soraya Akhalaghi
London (Austria)
Directed by Sebastian Brameshuber
Past Future Continuous (Iran, Norway, Italy)
Directed by Firouzeh Khosrovani, Morteza Ahmadvan
Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk (France, Palestine, Iran)
Directed by Sepideh Farsi
Super Nature (UK)
Directed by Ed Sayers
Trillion (Norway, USA)
Directed by Victor Kossakovsky
Khartoum (Germany, UK, Sudan, Qatar)
Directed by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, Philip Cox
Teen Competition:
The Atlas of the Universe / Atlasul universului (Romania, Bulgaria)
Directed by Paul Negoescu
Produced by deFilm
Coproduced by Screening Emotions
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), OFIC, Eurimages, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Magic Lab, Cinema City, Magic Shop, the Romanian Public Television (TVR), UPFAR ARGOA
Broken Voices / Sbormistr (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Directed by Ondřej Provazník
If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile (Austria)
Directed by Marie Luise Lehner
Becaària (Switzerland)
Directed by Erik Bernasconi
Hold Onto Me (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece)
Directed by Myrsini Aristidou
The Last Slap / L'Ultimo schiaffo (Italy, Slovenia)
Directed by Matteo Oleotto
Produced by Staragara I.T. Productions, SPOK Films
Coproduced by Rai Cinema, RTV Slovenija
Supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, FS Viba, the Italian Ministry for Culture, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission
Siblings (Italy)
Directed by Greta Scarano
