Los Angeles Festival of Movies Reveals 2026 Lineup

Los Angeles Festival of Movies is reeling in a full program for its 2026 edition.

The newish festival, co-founded by Micah Gottlieb and Sarah Winshall in 2024, is set to take place April 9-12. It will open with John Early’s directorial debut, Maddie’s Secret, and close with Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron. Co-presented by Kino Film Collection and Mezzanine, LAFM will roll out a program of more than 25 films, including two world premieres, three U.S. premieres and six West Coast premieres along with featured artist talks that are still being finalized.

Magnolia Pictures’ Maddie’s Secret, which will screen at Vidiots’ Eagle Theatre on April 9, stars Early opposite Kate Berlant, Vanessa Bayer and Conner O’Malley. Early, who wrote and directed, also stars as the title character, Maddie Ralph, a food influencer who is secretly struggling with the return of an adolescent eating disorder. The LAFM showing follows a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Janus Films’ Blue Heron will close the festival at Vidiots’ Eagle Theatre on April 12. Romvari’s film, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where she received the Swatch first feature award and the junior jury award, follows a Hungarian family as they immigrate to Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. The journey is complicated by the erratic behavior of their teenage son.

LAFM’s 2026 lineup also includes such official selections as Christine Haroutounian’s After Dreaming co-presented by the Armenian Film Society, Jack Auen and Kevin Walker’s Chronovisor, Avalon Fast and Jillian Frank’s Drinking and Driving, Tucker Bennett’s In the Glow of Darkness, Frédéric Da’s Isaiah’s Phone, Anouk Moyaux’s Selegna Sol, and Kamal Aljafari’s With Hasan in Gaza. Restoration screenings include Aarin Burch’s Dreams of Passion, Lino Brocka’s influential gay drama Macho Dancer and Mary Stephen’s Shades of Silk. More on the lineup, including short film selections and the full schedule thus far, can be found here.

“We’re so happy to be back with a fresh and exciting lineup that exemplifies the height of independent filmmaking,” Winshall said. “We’re particularly thrilled this year to be including John Early’s singular and oddly moving satire, Maddie’s Secret, and to close with Sophy Romvari’s unexpected, elliptical personal portrait, Blue Heron, both highly original films that are best seen on a big screen with a large audience.”

Added Gottlieb: “Serving a thriving community of young, diverse cinephiles is what the festival is all about. We’re also continuing to introduce audiences to restored arthouse gems, including Lino Brocka’s long-out-of-print queer cult classic Macho Dancer, while also screening more new features and shorts by local L.A. filmmakers, which provide an askance and beautifully intimate portrait of life in the city.”

LAFM has linked up with Vidiots in Eagle Rock, interdisciplinary space 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown and independent theater Now Instant Image Hall in Chinatown as screening venues. LAFM conversations will take place at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz. LAFM passes are on sale now with individual tickets set to go on sale the week of March 23.