The Sundance Film Festival has revealed the projects set to premiere in 2026. This January will be Sundance’s final year in Utah before the festival relocates to Boulder, Colorado, beginning in 2027, a major shift for the storied institution that has called Park City home for four decades.
But if Sundance is preparing for a move, it’s certainly not slowing down.
This year’s slate is rich with underrepresented voices, a collection of projects that reflect the complexity of the world and the growing urgency for stories that push culture forward.
From Lagos to Harlem, from Nairobi land disputes to Nelson Mandela’s archives, this year’s festival puts marginalized voices and international perspectives at the forefront.
Sundance selected 97 features and episodic projects for its 2026 edition, with many of the most anticipated coming from Black, Brown, and global creators reshaping what independent cinema can look like.
Below, we highlight some of the diverse projects premiering at the festival.
BAIT
Struggling actor Shah Latif auditions for the role of a lifetime, only to see his life spiral out of control over four frenetic days.
Executive Producers: Riz Ahmed, Allie Moore, Ben Karlin
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Guz Khan, Sheeba Chaddha, Sajid Hasan, Aasiya Sha
World Premiere. Fiction. Six-episode season, screening first three episodes in person.
The Brittney Griner Story
Explores the circumstances that led to Brittney Griner playing basketball outside the U.S. despite being one of the best players in the sport, including her harrowing detainment, unwavering determination to secure her freedom, and her advocacy for the release of other wrongful detainees.
Director and Producer: Alexandria Stapleton, Producers: Stacy Scripter, Funmi Akinyode, Megan Goedewaagen, Carolyn Hepburn
World Premiere. Documentary.
Buddy
A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.
Director and Screenwriter: Casper Kelly, Screenwriter: Jamie King, Producers: Tyler Davidson, Drew Sykes, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Tracy Rosenblum
Cast: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon, Patton Oswalt.
World Premiere. Fiction.
Frank & Louis
Frank, serving a life sentence, takes a prison job caring for aging inmates with Alzheimer’s and dementia. What begins as a self-interested bid for parole becomes a profound, transformative bond with fellow inmate Louis, offering Frank a glimpse of redemption in an unforgiving place.
Director and Screenwriter: Petra Biondina Volpe, Screenwriter: Esther Bernstorff, Producers: Reto Schaerli, Lukas Hobi
Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rob Morgan, René Pérez Joglar, Rosalind Eleazar, Indira Varma.
World Premiere. Fiction.
FreeLance
A young filmmaker documents his journey toward his first movie as he moves in with a friend group of ambitious creatives, all trying to support one another’s dreams in an oversaturated market. This inexperienced crew of 20-somethings takes on unorthodox jobs to build their brand and pay rent.
Directors: The Turner Brothers, Executive Producers: Cynthia Turner, Stephen Love Jr., Spence Moore II, Kevin Fredericks
Cast: Spence Moore II, Lou Young, Lou Ratchett, Bernard “B Nard” Clark, René Vaca, Elijah Cooper
World Premiere. Fiction.
The Gallerist
A desperate gallerist conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami.
Director and Screenwriter: Cathy Yan, Screenwriter: James Pedersen, Producers: Ash Sarohia, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Jonathan King, Tom McCarthy, Rae Baron
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Catherine Zeta-Jones
World Premiere. Fiction.
If I Go Will They Miss Me
Twelve-year-old Lil Ant struggles to connect with his father when he begins to see surreal, almost spectral visions of boys drifting around his neighborhood. Their presence reveals a link between father and son, laying bare the threads that bind family, legacy, and place.
Director and Screenwriter: Walter Thompson-Hernández, Producers: Josh Peters, Saba Zerehi, Ben Stillman
Cast: Danielle Brooks, J. Alphonse Nicholson.
World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for public.
In The Blink of An Eye
Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection, and the circle of life.
Director: Andrew Stanton, Screenwriter: Colby Day, Producer: Jared Ian Goldman
Cast: Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs, Jorge Vargas, Tanaya Beatty
World Premiere. Fiction. 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Winner.
I Want Your Sex
When fresh-faced Elliot lands a job with artist and provocateur Erika Tracy, his fantasies come true as she taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey into a world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal, and murder.
Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Gregg Araki, Screenwriter and Producer: Karley Sciortino, Producers: Seth Caplan, Teddy Schwarzman, Michael Heimler, Courtney L. Cunniff
Cast: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Charli xcx
World Premiere. Fiction.
Kikuyu Land
As a Nairobi journalist probes a land battle entangling the local government and a powerful multinational corporation, covered wounds are revealed and family secrets are exposed.
Directors and Producers: Andrew H. Brown, Bea Wangondu, Producers: Moses Bwayo, Mike Morrisroe, Joseph Njenga
World Premiere. Available online for public.
Lady
In the sprawling African metropolis of Lagos, a fiercely independent young cab driver meets a band of radiantly reckless sex workers whose sisterhood pulls her into danger and joy, setting her on a journey toward her own transformation.
Director and Screenwriter: Olive Nwosu, Producer: Alex Polunin
Cast: Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah, Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti, Bucci Franklin
World Premiere. Available online for public.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.
Directors: William Greaves, David Greaves, Producers: Liani Greaves, Anne de Mare
World Premiere. Documentary.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
When a theft goes awry, a veteran pickpocket is sent on a mission through New York to reclaim the stolen goods.
Director and Screenwriter: Noah Segan, Producers: Katie McNeill, Leopold Hughes, Ben LeClair
Cast: John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi
World Premiere. Fiction.
The Screener
An independent film screener leaks from a talent agency.
Directors: Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe, Producers: Michael J. McGarry, Thomas Cross
Cast: Shereen Lani Younes, Jon Rudnitsky, B.K. Cannon, Boni Mata, Shaun Brown, Nicolette Doke.
World Premiere. Fiction. Five-episode series, screening first three episodes in person.
The Shitheads
When two unqualified bozos are hired to transfer a rich teen to rehab, their straightforward gig quickly spirals into dangerous mayhem.
Director and Screenwriter: Macon Blair, Producers: Alex Orr, Brandon James, Nathan Klingher, Mark Fasano, Josh Harris, Ford Corbett
Cast: Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Mason Thames, Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, Peter Dinklage
World Premiere. Fiction.
Soul Patrol
From deep behind enemy lines, a hidden chapter of American military history is uncovered, prompting the question of whether reckoning with the past can bring peace to those who lived it. The Vietnam War’s first Black special operations team reunites to tell their story.
Director and Producer: J.M. Harper, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Danielle Massie, Nasir Jones, Peter Bittenbender
World Premiere. Available online for public.
Troublemaker
The struggle against apartheid is recounted through Nelson Mandela’s own voice, drawn from recordings he made while writing his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.
Director and Producer: Antoine Fuqua, Screenwriter: Michael Toomey Mann, Producers: Mac Maharaj, Arthur Landon, Kevin Mann, Mark Bauch, Thabang Lehobye
World Premiere. Documentary.
When A Witness Recants
In 1983, author Ta-Nehisi Coates learned that a 14-year-old boy was murdered in his Baltimore middle school. Upon revisiting the case, he uncovers the truth: Three innocent teenagers were wrongfully convicted and spent 36 years in prison — creating a lasting impact on the accused, the witnesses, and their community.
Director and Producer: Dawn Porter, Producers: Miriam Weintraub, Jennifer Oko
World Premiere. Documentary.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sundance
