Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival is set to return for its fourth annual edition, with the lineup including feature films from Steven Soderbergh and Gus Van Sant, joined by star performances from Angelina Jolie, Al Pacino, Bill Skarsgard and more.
The 2026 festival will be held June 21-28 in the capital city of Valletta and showcase more than 35 films, including eight movies in its newly launched Big Screen Competition; eight in a uniquely focused Mediterrane Competition, and a host of additional Out of Competition films presented under the banner of New World Cinema. Five new films will also compete in its environment-themed Mare Nostrum section.
The winners will be unveiled at the annual Golden Bee Awards on June 28, presented alongside the Festival’s Rising Star, Lifetime Achievement and Local Legend prizes and live entertainment.
The Big Screen Competition celebrates the best of mainstream films, featuring filmmaking talent, both established and new, from around the globe. 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,” with Pacino, Skarsgard and Colman Domingo; Charli XCX’s mockumentary “The Moment;” and Mark Jenkin’s acclaimed drama “Rose of Nevada,” set in a tiny Cornish fishing village.
The ensemble cast of Callum Turner, Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell, Riley Keough and Pamela Anderson will appear in “Rosebush Pruning;” “Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day” with Haley Bennett, Jack Whitehall, Lily Allen, Jennifer Saunders and Timothy Spall; and Olivier Assayas’ “The Wizard of the Kremlin” starring Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen, Jeffrey Wright and Jude Law will also be screened.
The Mediterrane Competition will showcase new films from the broad Mediterranean region including “Calle Malaga;” French-Tunisian “In a Whisper;” “La Gioia;” Cyprus period piece “Motherwitch;””A Survivor’s Tale;” Cairo-set “Complaint No 713317 ;” Maltese psychological drama “Vanitas;” and the animated “A Magnificent Life.”
The New World Cinema selection includes Australia’s “Beast of War;” “Fuori;” “The Last Viking,” starring Mads Mikkelsen; Ben Wheatley’s “Normal,” starring Bob Odenkirk; “The Good Boy;” Macau-set “The Shadow’s Edge;” “Moss & Freud ;” and “Broken English,” starring Tilda Swinton as rock singer Marianne Faithfull.
Mare Nostrum curates films with an environmental message and Malta Focus offers visiting guest the chance to view homegrown films that display local talent.
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