Malta’s Mediterranean Film Festival is set to return for its fourth edition, with a lineup of feature films from Steven Soderbergh and Gus Van Sant, as well as performances from stars such as Angelina Jolie, Al Pacino and Bill Skarsgård.
The 2026 festival will be held in the capital Valletta from June 21 to 28 and will feature more than 35 films, including eight films from the newly launched Big Screen Competition. Eight films will be entered in the uniquely focused Mediterranean competition, as well as a number of out-of-competition films screened under the banner of New World Cinema. Five new films will also be competing in the environmentally themed Mare Nostrum category.
Winners will be announced at the annual Golden Bee Awards on June 28 and will be presented along with the festival’s Rising Star Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Local Legend Award and live entertainment.
The Big Screen Competition recognizes the best in mainstream cinema, featuring well-known films and new filmmaking talent from around the world. Highlights include Soderbergh’s art-forgery drama “The Christophers,” starring Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning and James Corden. Alice Winocour’s fashion drama “Couture” featuring Jolie; Gus Van Sant’s hostage thriller “Dead Man’s Wire,” co-starring Pacino, Skarsgard, and Coleman Domingo. Charli XCX’s mockumentary “The Moment” and Mark Jenkin’s acclaimed drama “The Rose of Nevada,” set in a small Cornish fishing village.
An ensemble cast of Callum Turner, Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Riley Keogh and Pamela Anderson star in Rosebush Pruning. “Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day” Starring Haley Bennett, Jack Whitehall, Lily Allen, Jennifer Saunders, and Timothy Spall. Olivier Assayas’s The Kremlin, starring Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Will Keene, Jeffrey Wright, and Jude Law, will also be screened.
The Mediterranean Competition will screen new films from the wider Mediterranean region, including “Málaga Street.” French-Tunisian “In a Whisper” “La Gioia”, Cyprus historical drama “Mother Witch”, “Survivor’s Story”, Cairo set “Complaint No. 713317;”, Maltese psychological drama “Vanitas”, and animation “A Wonderful Life”.
New World Cinema’s selection includes Australia’s Beasts of War; “The Last Viking” starring “Fuori” Mads Mikkelsen. “Normal,” directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Bob Odenkirk. “You’re a good girl” Macau set “Shadow’s Edge”;” “Moss and Freud” and “Broken English,” starring Tilda Swinton as rock singer Marianne Faithfull.
Mare Nostrum carefully selects films with an environmental message, while Malta Focus offers visiting guests the opportunity to watch domestic films featuring local talent.
