The Coronado Island Film Festival returns Nov. 4–8 with more than 140 films, including award-season contenders, premieres, independent films, documentaries, and shorts. Now in its 11th year, the festival also features special programming, industry panels, and tributes celebrating the art of filmmaking.
The Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala will kick off the festival on Wednesday evening, Nov. 4, at the Hotel del Coronado. A hosted champagne reception and red carpet will be followed by dinner and the awards presentation, and dancing at the after-party.
“This year reflects everything CIFF stands for: San Diego premieres of the season’s biggest awards contenders, bold work from independent filmmakers, a slate that puts women’s voices front and center, and panels that bring the industry’s best into direct conversation with our audience,” said Merridee Book, CEO & Artistic Director of the Coronado Island Film Festival. “CIFF is where the conversations that matter to this industry begin, and where the films we share become the conversation. We build a bridge between the magic of classic Hollywood and the future of storytelling. The way we watch movies may evolve, but the feeling of discovering them together in a theater never will. That’s why festivals like ours matter more than ever.”
The festival opens Thursday, Nov. 5, with I Play Rocky, directed by Peter Farrelly, about Sylvester Stallone’s determination to play the lead role in the film he wrote. The closing-night selection on Sunday, Nov. 8, is Paper Tiger, a crime thriller directed by James Gray and starring Miles Teller, Adam Driver, and Scarlett Johansson.
Centerpiece screenings include Ink (Netflix), directed by Danny Boyle, and The Debut (A24), directed by Jesse Eisenberg. Spotlight selections include Behemoth! (Searchlight Pictures), Clarissa (NEON), Killing Castro (Lionsgate), Minotaur (Mubi), Ray Gunn (Netflix), Jimmy (Fathom), Josephine (Sumerian Pictures) and Tangles (Independent Film Company). Several films will make their San Diego premieres, while Williston, directed by Adam Seidel and Jonathan Lipniki, will have its world premiere.
Female filmmakers also have a strong presence, with the annual Women on the Move panel and networking reception, the premiere of Womanhood: The Series Season 2 (STEM: Part II), and selections produced and directed by women, including All That Glisters, All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane and Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart.
Festival events include HAROLD!, a tribute to silent-film star Harold Lloyd featuring his granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd, film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, and a fully restored Lloyd masterpiece. The Conservation & Science of Possibilities program, presented with the Salk Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Wild Hope series, includes The Right Whale: Tales of Resilience and Hope. The Culinary Cinema Series features Top of the World, about Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the World Trade Center, alongside short films exploring food, wine, and culture.
An extensive panel series covers a wide range of film industry topics including AI and streaming, screenwriting, casting, women in entertainment, film financing, and SAG-AFTRA. The annual Jury Awards presentation takes place Saturday, Nov. 7, with $20,000 in cash prizes for filmmakers and screenwriters.
Additional festival programming includes ShortsFest, featuring 15 curated short-film tracks spanning animation, documentary, emerging filmmakers and more.
The festival’s full schedule, screening information, and tickets are on sale at festival.coronadofilmfest.com.
Visit the website for the full schedule
OPENING NIGHT FILM — Thursday, Nov. 5
“I Play Rocky” — Directed by Peter Farrelly | Amazon MGM
CENTERPIECE & SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS
- “All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane,” dir. Louise Alston
- “All That Glisters,” dir. Trilby Glover
- “Behemoth!” (Searchlight Pictures), dir. Tony Gilroy — San Diego Premiere
- “Clarissa” (NEON), dir. Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri — San Diego Premiere
- “The Debut” (A24), dir. Jesse Eisenberg
- “Hustler,” dirs. Fedor Kravchuk, Nikita Kravchuk
- “Ink” (Netflix), dir. Danny Boyle — San Diego Premiere
- “In Waves” (Netflix), dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen
- “Jimmy” (Fathom), dir. Aaron Burns
- “Josephine” (Sumerian Pictures), dir. Beth de Araújo — San Diego Premiere
- “Killing Castro” (Lionsgate), dir. Eif Rivera — San Diego Premiere
- “Line Cooks,” dir. John Mossman — San Diego Premiere
- “Minotaur” (Mubi), dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev — San Diego Premiere
- “Mouse” (Independent Film Company), dirs. Kelly O’Sullivan, Alex Thompson
- “Ray Gunn” (Netflix), dir. Brad Bird — San Diego Premiere
- “Tangles” (Independent Film Company), dir. Leah Nelson — San Diego Premiere
- “Williston,” dirs. Adam Seidel, Jonathan Lipniki— World Premiere
ADDITIONAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (in alphabetical order):
- “Arthur Elgort: Models & Muses” (dir. Warren Elgort)
- “Carl Sagan” (dir. Nanette Burstein)
- “The Choice” (dir. John Coles)
- “Class of Her Own” (dir. Boaz Dvir)
- “The Cosmic Trigger” (dirs. Larry L. Sheffield, Trent J. Di Giulio)
- “Dream Touch Believe” (dir. Jenna Naranjo Winters)
- “Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart” (dir. Dori Berinstein)
- “The Last Spy” (dir. Katharina Otto-Bernstein)
- “Poverty Trap” (dir. Michael Matheson Miller)
- “Radioheart: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole” (dirs. Peter Hilgendorf, Andrew Franks)
- “The Right Whale: Tales of Resilience and Hope” (dirs. Nick Dean, Cheryl Holmen Dean)
- “The Gymnast of Fisherman Colony” (dir. Habiba Nosheen)
- “Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story” (dir. Dan Egan)
- “The Via Francigena” (dir. Robert David Nelson)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM — Sunday, Nov. 8
“Paper Tiger” — Directed by James Gray | NEON
