The 29th BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL is here!

Brooklyn’s favorite independent film festival is back, and this year the theme is “The Invitation”

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WHEN: MAY 29 TO JUNE 7, 2026
WHERE: Catch them in person at BRIC Arts Media House in Fort Greene, 100 Sutton Studios in Greenpoint, and the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, or stream the entire lineup online 24/7 from May 30 through June 7.
TICKETS: Single Program tickets are $25. A Full Festival Pass covering all 36 programs including Opening Night is $150. Prefer to watch from your couch? The complete festival is available to stream online from May 30 through June 7.

The 29th Brooklyn Film Festival brings 130 films from 30 countries to three of Brooklyn’s best venues. We’ve got 26 world premieres, 14 U.S. debuts, and 22 East Coast first screenings packed into ten days of the kind of independent cinema you simply won’t find anywhere else. Whether you’re a lifelong film lover or just looking for something genuinely surprising to do this spring, there’s never been a better time to show up. Tickets are on sale now!

We kick things off Friday, May 29, with the New York premiere of A Mosquito in the Ear, directed by Nicola Rinciari and starring Jake Lacy, Nazanin Boniadi, and Ruhi Pal. The film follows a couple who travel all the way to Goa, India to bring home their newly adopted daughter, only to discover she has absolutely no interest in leaving. Warm, chaotic, and completely charming, it’s a perfect Opening Night film. Tickets ($40) include the screening plus a party with DJ, appetizers, and drinks. Trust us, you want to be there.

The rest of the narrative feature lineup is just as exciting. If I Go Will They Miss Me (Walter Thompson-Hernandez, USA) follows twelve-year-old Lil Ant as he transforms his working-class Los Angeles neighborhood into living mythology, searching for connection with a larger-than-life father. The Polish co-production Glorious Summer (Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak) looks like a sun-soaked childhood idyll right up until it doesn’t, as years of buried feelings finally bubble to the surface. And Crystal Cross (Richie James Follin, USA) puts a troubled Christian singer and a man who looks suspiciously like Jesus together on a road trip across America. It’s as wild as it sounds.

Also very much worth your time: Valentina (Tatti Ribeiro, USA) is a hybrid comedy-documentary set at the busiest border crossing in the United States, starring the irresistible Keyla Monterroso Mejia as a young woman trying to fight a stack of parking tickets and somehow getting pulled into 48 hours of bureaucracy, family chaos, and West Texas absurdity. It’s hilarious and surprisingly moving. From the Netherlands, Nuclear Boy (Joren Molter) introduces us to Aike, a 17-year-old chemistry obsessive so desperate to be noticed that he attempts to build a nuclear reactor in his mother’s shed. Spoiler: it does not go smoothly. And the Canadian road trip film The Mechanics of Borders (Hubert Caron-Guay) is a quieter pleasure, following a reserved young man who heads south across the U.S. to track down his free-spirited older sister and convince her to come home.

Spotlight: Documentary Features

Seven documentary features are in competition this year, covering everything from intimate character portraits to sweeping investigations of the world around us. There is also a curated program of documentary shorts presented with VICE Sports. If you think you already know what documentary filmmaking looks like, this lineup will happily prove you wrong.

And that is just the features! The full program includes 50 narrative shorts, 17 documentary shorts, 24 animated films, and 21 experimental works across 36 two-hour screening blocks.

Every single one of the 130 films is in the running for 30 awards, including the coveted Grand Chameleon. Any film can win it. Come see what does.

The BFF Exchange returns June 3 and 4 at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with filmmaker panels, industry tabling, and a short film pitch contest for both narrative and documentary filmmakers. There are also special partner events including an Artists’ Cinema evening with E-Flux on June 1 and a curated queer film program at Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturdays on June 6. And if you need somewhere to wind down between screenings, head to Round Table Brewery at 245 S. 1st St. in Williamsburg. Both badge holders and ticket holders are welcome throughout the festival run, and if you have a Full Festival Pass, you also get 20% off your tab. Either way, it’s a great spot to swap opinions on what you just watched.

Saturday, June 6, 5–10 pm | Brooklyn Museum | First Saturday Brooklyn Pride
Queer Shorts with Brooklyn Film Festival
Honor three decades of Brooklyn Pride with an evening spotlighting LGBTQ+ artists who are shaping the culture of the borough and beyond. Round out the night with films, talks, readings, art-making, dancing, and so much more. Register for free.

Filmmaker badge pick-up is available on opening night, 5:45–10 PM, outside BRIC, where festival staff will be waiting to hand over your badge and tote bag!

If you can’t make it, no worries — any unclaimed badges and filmmaker bags can also be collected at:

📍 Wythe Hotel — Saturday & Sunday (4- 8 PM)

📍 100 Sutton St — Monday through Friday (4:30 8:30 PM)

About BFF

The organizers of the Brooklyn Film Festival have been staging international, competitive film events since 1998. BFF’s mission is to provide a public forum in Brooklyn to advance public interest in films and the indie production of films; to encourage the rights of Brooklyn residents to experience the power of independent filmmaking; to promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure. BFF, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

For more info about the festival, visit here. For BFF press inquiries and interview requests with Executive Director Brandon Harrison and Festival Programmers, contact: Falco Ink at brooklyn@falcoink.com. For Festival Press Accreditation, visit here. Follow Brooklyn Film Festival @brooklynfilmfestival.

Copyright (C) 2026 Brooklyn Film Festival. All rights reserved.