MedFilm Festival 2026

Established in 1995 to foster connections between the cultures on either side of the Mediterranean Sea through films, events, training and professional cooperation, the MedFilm Festival is the only Italian event dedicated to Euro-Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cinema, and also the longest-running film festival in Rome.

The main venue for the 32nd edition of the festival is The Space Cinema Moderno, alongside the Teatro Palladium, the Casa del Cinema, the Flamigni Archive and the Nuovo Teatro Ateneo at Sapienza Università di Roma. Competitions, premieres, retrospectives, tributes, professional meetings and special events make up the festival program. Alongside the Official Competition (featuring eight films) and the International Short Film Competition (featuring 16 short films), the program includes the non-competitive sections “Atlante” and “Perle” (dedicated to Italian independent cinema), “Sguardi dal futuro”, featuring thirteen short films made by students from leading Italian and international film schools, and “Voci dal carcere”, with works created by inmates. Special events at the 2026 edition include a tribute to MedFilm 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award Tony Gatlif who passed away in September 2026 (with a screening of the film “Korkoro - Liberté”); the retrospective dedicated to the Palestinian actor, director and playwright Mohammad Bakri (who died prematurely in December 2025); and the Lifetime Achievement Award for the director and producer Rashid Masharawi, with whom Bakri shared a significant artistic collaboration.

The festival’s side events will include “Letture dal Mediterraneo” (the festival section dedicated to publishing, which this year explores women’s autonomy and political and cultural engagement), the Masters of Cinema masterclasses in collaboration with Sapienza Università di Roma and the MedMeetings (9-10 November), the MedFilm Festival’s professional platform, which brings together directors, producers, distributors and industry professionals from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East to foster the development of new projects, international collaborations and co-production opportunities.

Further information on the official website.