Palm Springs Film Fest Opens With Calle Malaga, Closes With Glenrothan

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The Palm Springs International Film Festival is gearing up for its 37th edition, setting Maryam Touzani’s Calle Malaga to open and Brian Cox’s Glenrothan to close the fest, which runs Jan. 2-12.

The fest rolled out its full lineup Tuesday, revealing that it will screen 168 films from 72 countries and territories, a tally that includes 53 premieres and 44 films in Oscar contention for best international feature. Calle Malaga stars Carmen Maura as an aging Spanish woman in Tangier who is fighting to keep her home and sense of self as her daughter seeks to sell her home. Cox’s Glenrothan stars the veteran actor opposite Alan Cumming as two estranged brothers who reunite in their idyllic Scottish hometown, bound by the traditions of their family’s whiskey distillery. Shirley Henderson, Alexandra Shipp, Joanne Thompson and Nicole Ansari-Cox also star.

A slew of high-profile filmmakers and talent are expected to make the trek to the desert next month in support of their films including King Hamlet with actor Oscar Isaac and director Elvira Lind; Kim Novak’s Vertigo with the actress and director Alexandre O. Philippe; The Housemaid with director Paul Feig; She Dances with actress Audrey Zahn, actor Steve Zahn, director Rick Gomez and actress Mackenzie Ziegler; Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story with the songwriter; All That’s Left of You with director, writer and star Cherien Dabis; Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die with director Gore Verbinski; It Would Be Night in Caracas with actor and producer Edgar Ramirez; Steal This Story, Please! with subject and journalist Amy Goodman; Palestine 36 with director Annemarie Jacir; and The Last Viking with director and writer Anders Thomas Jensen.

More highlights: a new series called Gateway Films designed to celebrate titles “that sparked a lifelong love of cinema” curated by Diane Kruger, critic Leonard Malton, Feig, programmer Therese Hayes and the late actor Udo Kier; a new edition of Close-Ups in collaboration with Dave Karger; an in depth panel discussion with some of the filmmakers who are still in Oscar contention for best international feature moderated and hosted by The Hollywood Reporter; an After Dark section featuring “sharp, strange and pulse-pounding genre films;” American Indies section spotlighting rising U.S. auteurs; and Close-Ups, a a documentary films section dedicated to exploring the lives and creative worlds of filmmakers and stories behind the camera.

“Our 2026 lineup is a celebration of the stories that move us, challenge us, and remind us why we love movies,” said Lili Rodriguez, artistic director of the Palm Springs International Film Society. “From family fun to bold new voices, from international masters to exciting first-time filmmakers, this year’s selections reflect the range of energy of world cinema today. At Palm Springs, the joy comes not just from the films, but from the conversations and shared moments that bring people together year after year. We can’t wait for audiences to feel that spark that only cinema brings.”

The complete lineup can be found here. In addition to the festival lineup, Hollywood will be in Palm Springs en masse for the fest’s starry Film Awards, set to take place Jan. 3 and feature honorees including Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan, Adam Sandler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chloé Zhao, Hamnet cast members Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal and the cast of Sentimental Value, among others.