MoMI Reveals Initial 2026 Lineup

      The Museum of the Moving Image has announced its program for the 15th edition of First Look, the museum’s festival showcasing new and creative international cinema, scheduled from April 23 to May 3, 2026. The festival will kick off with James N. Kienitz Wilkins’s The Misconceived and conclude with Isabel Sandoval’s Moonglow. Among the featured films are Rachel Lambert’s Carousel, featuring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate; Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai; and Ramzi Bashour’s Hot Water.

      “In this fifteenth year of First Look, we are thrilled to showcase fresh viewpoints and ideas at the festival. The unique and completely independent filmmakers behind our opening and closing night selections, James N. Kienitz Wilkins and Isabel Sandoval, embody the adventurous spirit of First Look,” stated Michael Koresky, MoMI’s Senior Curator of Film and head programmer of First Look. “It has also been a joy to collaborate with an increased number of programmers, whose insights and voices are reflected in these films, leading to a wonderful and inclusive selection process. This year, we are excited to present titles across various genres, including horror, documentary, romance, and works from a new generation of cult filmmakers.”

      See the lineup below and discover more here.

      Features:

      100 Sunset (Dir. Kunsang Kyirong)

      The Bend in the River (Dir. Robb Moss)

      Carousel (Dir. Rachel Lambert)

      Feels Like Home (Dir. Gabór Holtai)

      Hot Water (Dir. Ramzi Bashour)

      Humboldt USA (Dir. G. Anthony Svatek)

      I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn (Dir. Kenichi Ugana)

      Ideas of Order (Dir. Erin Espelie)

      It Goes That Quick (Dirs. Ashley Connor and Joe Stankus)

      Joybubbles (Dir. Rachael J. Morrison)

      Krakatoa (Dir. Carlos Casas)

      The Misconceived (Dir. James N. Kienitz Wilkins)

      Moonglow (Dir. Isabel Sandoval)

      Morte Cucina (Dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang)

      One in a Million (Dir. Itab Azzam, Jack Macinnes)

      Roqia (Dir. Yanis Koussim)

      Silent Friend (Dir. Ildikó Enyedi)

      To the Victory! (Dir. Valentyn Vasyanovych)

      Tropical Park (Dir. Hansel Porras Garcia)

      We Put the World to Sleep (Dir. Adrian Țofei)

      The Whole World Is a Lie (Dir. Charlie Birns)

      Shorts:

      Afternoon Hearsay (Dir. Peng Zuqiang)

      A Date with Shirley (Dir. Ken Jacobs)

      Dissonance (Dir. Jordan Strafer)

      E-Minor (Dir. Callum Hill)

      El Sistema (Dir. Marco Godoy)

      (for once I dreamed of you) (Dir. Kate Solar)

      Late September (Dir. Lewis Klahr)

      Make Heaven Crowded (Dir. Steve Reinke)

      The More I Zoom in on the Image of These Dogs, The Clearer It Becomes That Old Masters (Dir. Basma Al-Sharif)

      Orpheus (Dir. Lewis Klahr)

      Slideshow (Dir. Janie Geiser)

      Super, Natural (Dir. Kyath Battie)

      They Are Related to the Stars (Dir. Alexandre Koberidze)

      The Tree (A árvore) (Dir. Ana Vaz)

      Veronique (Dir. Friedl vom Gröller)