The 2026 TCM Classic Film Festival will open with a tribute to Jane Fonda’s late co-star Robert Redford ahead of the opening night gala screening of her 1967 film Barefoot in the Park, the festival announced Tuesday.
Fonda will introduce the rom-com, written by Neil Simon and directed by Gene Sacks, to be screened on April 30 as part of TCL Chinese Nights, which will “recognize both the film’s enduring appeal and Redford’s remarkable career as an actor, filmmaker and cultural influence,” according to a statement.
This year’s festival also announced special honorees: Barbara Hershey, songwriter Paul Williams, and Bruce Goldstein, founding artistic director of New York’s Film Forum and founder of classic film distribution company Rialto Pictures.
Hershey will appear at screenings of two of her films from the late 1980s, “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “A World Apart.” Williams will speak at a screening of “The Muppet Movie,” which features the Oscar-nominated “Rainbow Connection” and Elaine May’s “Ishtar.” Mr. Goldstein will receive the annual Robert Osborne Award before screening Federico Fellini’s “Nights of Cabiria,” which he chose to screen at the ceremony.
“Opening night sets the tone for the entire festival, and having Jane Fonda come to us to honor her friend and co-star Robert Redford makes this year especially meaningful,” Ben Mankiewicz, the festival’s official organizer, said in a statement. “‘Barefoot in the Park’ represents a pivotal moment in Hollywood’s history and is a fitting way to begin our celebration. From presenting the Robert Osborne Award to honoring remarkable artists from across generations, the festival connects today’s audiences to Hollywood’s enduring legacy. This year’s theme, ‘The World Comes to Hollywood,’ reflects the global creativity and ambition that built the film capital of the world and continues to shape it today.”
Fonda, Hershey, Williams and Goldstein are the first guests announced for the 2026 festival, which will run from April 30 to May 3. A significant portion of the film program, which will take place at TCL Chinese and nearby Hollywood theaters, is already available on the festival’s website.
Movies announced so far:
ace in the hole
Alice in Wonderland (75th Anniversary World Premiere Restoration)
anastasia
arabesque
Auntie Mame
barefoot in the park
best years of our lives
blonde venus
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
cabin in the sky
camille
Confession of a Nazi spy
The Day the Earth Stood Still (75th Anniversary Presentation)
days of heaven
faces in the crowd
gas lamp
Magnificent Seven
manhunt
Modern Times (90th anniversary presentation)
mouthpiece
Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
on the town
get out of the past
pal joey
phantom menace
A Place in the Sun (75th Anniversary Presentation)
rope
Shane
stranger on the third floor
towering inferno
vanishing point
