VIFF has unveiled the full program for its 2026 edition, returning to Vancouver from Oct. 1 to 11 with 162 feature films representing 76 countries, alongside 91 shorts, two episodic series and the festival’s biggest VIFF Live program to date.

Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, will open the festival, while Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, featuring John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi, closes things out. Elsewhere, the lineup includes new films from heavyweights including Pedro Almodóvar, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Lee Chang-dong, Andrew Haigh and Kore-eda Hirokazu.

For RANGE readers, however, some of the most exciting programming happens where the screen meets the stage.

VIFF Live has significantly expanded for 2026, with DEVO founder and prolific film composer Mark Mothersbaugh (pictured above) performing selections from his scores with an ensemble; Xiu Xiu descending on the Rio Theatre for a live reimagining of David Lynch’s Eraserhead; and the North American premiere of The KLF: 23 Seconds to Eternity, collecting the famously anarchic electronic group’s films and music videos alongside a live AV performance by Vancouver’s CHXMERAS.

Also on deck are performances from Kelly Moran, Los Thuthanaka and Bahar Khazei, a MUTEK collaboration featuring Dopplereffekt, Honeydrip and MIIIA, and a full-orchestra celebration of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s scores for Denis Villeneuve.

Music also spills into the film program itself, with Turtle Island Rap, Fugs Film!, Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty and RADIOHEART: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole among the titles immediately catching our eye.

Meanwhile, VIFF Amp returns October 3 to 8, bringing musicians, composers and music supervisors together to explore the increasingly porous space between music and moving images.

VIFF 2026 runs Oct. 1–11. Tickets go on sale to the public August 27 at noon PT. For more info visit viff.org.