It’s that time of year again, when the major fall film festivals start unveiling which Oscar hopefuls (and just, all-around great movies) will make their world premieres. Venice, known for hosting almost exclusively world premieres, sets the tone early. Telluride, on the other hand, keeps its lineup secret until just a day before the festival begins, which is always very exciting (and a little stressful). Meanwhile, the first wave of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announcements often hints at whether a film will debut at Venice, Telluride, or TIFF itself, depending on its listed premiere status. We’ve already heard about a few world premieres taking place at this year’s festival. And the New York Film Festival has become a “best of” festival in many respects, selecting the most acclaimed films of the year from Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, and the other three major festivals, while featuring a world premiere or two.
With this year’s slate of upcoming films, we at Next Best Picture are already buzzing with excitement for the upcoming fall film season. I decided to dive in and predict where each film might land across the four major fall festivals, based on the filmmakers’ and studios’ past strategies, histories, and, of course, gut feeling. Here’s what I came up with…
Venice
The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher)
After (Lars Von Trier)
A Good Little Soldier (Stéphane Brizé)
Alpha Gang (Zellner Bros.)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
A World Of Their Own (Carmen Córdoba González)
Bad Lieutenant (Takashi Miike)
The Basics Of Philosophy (Paul Schrader)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Bunker (Florian Zeller)
Burning Rainbow Farm (Justin Kurzel)
Cábula (Lila Avilés)
Circles (Michel Franco)
Cry To Heaven (Tom Ford)
Da Tenere Bene In Mente (Roberto De Paolis)
The Echo Chamber (Andrea Pallaoro)
Here Comes the Flood (Fernando Meirelles)
It Will Happen Tonight (Nanni Moretti)
Let Love In (Felix Van Groeningen)
Look Back (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
The Lost Children of Tuam (Frank Berry)
Mimesis (Kaouther Ben-Hania)
Musk (Alex Gibney)
Nessun dolore (Gianni Amelio)
Possible Love (Lee Chang-dong)
Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)
Scherzetto (Mario Martone)
The Social Reckoning (Aaron Sorkin)
Sense & Sensibility (Georgia Oakley)
The Statement (Tom McCarthy)
A Talent For Murder (Anton Corbijn)
Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh)
The Uprising (Paul Greengrass)
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh)
Telluride
All Of A Sudden (Ryusuki Hamaguchi)
American Doctor (Poh Si Teng)
Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)
Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)
Coward (Lukas Dhont)
The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg)
Elsinore (Simon Stone)
Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)
Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
Iron Boy (Louis Clichy)
Jospehine (Beth de Araújo)
La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)
La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Mouse (Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)
The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)
Paper Tiger (James Grey)
Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)
Rehearsals for a Revolution (Pegah Ahangarani)
Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
Saturn Return (Greg Kwedar)
The Unknown (Arthur Harari)
Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)
TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival)
After (Lars Von Trier)
A Good Little Soldier (Stéphane Brizé)
All Of A Sudden (Ryusuki Hamaguchi)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)
Animals (Ben Affleck)
Another Day (Jeanne Herry)
Ashes (Diego Luna)
The Assassin(s) (Hur Jin-ho)
Atonement (Reed Van Dyk)
Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
Being Heumann (Siân Heder)
The Beloved (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
Ben’Imana (Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo)
The Billion Dollar Spy (Amma Asante)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
Brides (Chloe Okuno)
Bunker (Florian Zeller)
Burning Rainbow Farm (Justin Kurzel)
Cábula (Lila Avilés)
Circles (Michel Franco)
Clarissa (Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri)
Close Personal Friends (Jason Orley)
Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)
Congo Boy (Rafiki Fariala)
Coward (Lukas Dhont)
The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg)
Dennis (Emil Mortimer)
Diamond (Andy Garcia)
The Diary Of A Chambermaid (Radu Jude)
Double Freedom (Lisandro Alonso)
The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
The Echo Chamber (Andrea Pallaoro)
The Edge Of Normal (Carlota Pereda)
Elephants In The Fog (Abinash Bikram Shah)
Elsinore (Simon Stone)
Everybody Wants To Fck Me (Jonathan Schey)
Everytime (Sandra Wollner)
Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)
Fight for 84 (Andrés Baiz)
Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
Forgotten Island (Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado)
Forever Your Maternal Animal (Valentina Maurel)
Four Seasons in Java (Kamila Andini)
Gentle Monster (Marie Kreutzer)
Ha-Chan-Shake Your Booty! (Josef Kubota Wladyka)
Harmonia (Guy Native)
Heartland (Shane Feste)
Here Comes the Flood (Fernando Meirelles)
In Waves (Phuong Mai Nguyen)
I Play Rocky (Peter Farrelly)
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning (Clio Barnard)
It Will Happen Tonight (Nanni Moretti)
Jospehine (Beth de Araújo)
Karma (Guillaume Canet)
Klara And The Sun (Taika Waititi)
La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)
La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)
Let Love In (Felix Van Groeningen)
Look Back (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
The Lost Children of Tuam (Frank Berry)
Love Is Not The Answer (Michael Cera)
Low Expectations (Eivind Landsvik)
Manhunt (Wayne Wapeemukwa)
A Man Of His Time (Emmanuel Marre)
The Meltdown (Manuela Martelli)
Mimesis (Kaouther Ben-Hania)
Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Misty Green (Chris Rock)
The Mosquito Bowl (Peter Berg)
Moulin (László Nemes)
Musk (Alex Gibney)
Nagi Notes (Koji Fukada)
Nuisance Bear (Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman)
Nobody’s Violence (Denis Côté)
October (Jeremy Saulnier)
The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)
Place To Be (Kornél Mundruczó)
Possible Love (Lee Chang-dong)
Prima Facie (Susanna White)
Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)
Red Rocks (Bruno Dumont)
Rehearsals for a Revolution (Pegah Ahangarani)
Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
Sacred Creatures (Frieda Luk)
Saturn Return (Greg Kwedar)
Sense & Sensibility (Georgia Oakley)
Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building (Bruno SantamarÃa Razo)
The Social Reckoning (Aaron Sorkin)
The Statement (Tom McCarthy)
The Steel Harp (Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)
Stranger in Town (Melanie Oates)
Strawberries (Laïla Marrakchi)
The Stunt Driver (Michael Dowse)
A Talent For Murder (Anton Corbijn)
Tangles (Leah Nelson)
Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh)
Tenzing (Jennifer Peedom)
The Unknown (Arthur Harari)
Verity (Michael Showalter)
Wake of Umbra (Carlos Reygadas)
Wicker (Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson)
Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh)
Wildwood (Travis Knight)
A Woman’s Life (Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet)
Woman, Unknown (May el-Toukhy)
Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)
Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep (Rakan Mayasi)
Young Stalin (Géla Babluani)
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (Bassam Tariq)
NYFF (New York Film Festival)
The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher)
After (Lars Von Trier)
Alpha Gang (Zellner Bros.)
Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)
The Basics Of Philosophy (Paul Schrader)
Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
Ben’Imana (Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)
Cábula (Lila Avilés)
Coward (Lukas Dhont)
Cry To Heaven (Tom Ford)
The Day She Returns (Hong Sang-soo)
The Diary Of A Chambermaid (Radu Jude)
Double Freedom (Lisandro Alonso)
The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)
Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
Gentle Monster (Marie Kreutzer)
Jack of Spades (Joel Coen)
La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)
La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)
The Man I Love (Ira Sachs)
A Man Of His Time (Emmanuel Marre)
The Meltdown (Manuela Martelli)
Mimesis (Kaouther Ben-Hania)
Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Nagi Notes (Koji Fukada)
Nowhere to Lay My Eyes (Hong Sang-soo)
Once Upon A Time In Harlem (William Greaves and David Greaves)
The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)
Paper Tiger (James Grey)
Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
Tender Loving Care (Mike Leigh)
The Unknown (Arthur Harari)
Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)
Zi (Kogonada)
Of course, much of this is bound to change, and I’m sure there are films I’ve missed that will pop up as complete surprises. Either way, this is simply a fun predictive exercise to give everyone an idea of what to expect and get excited about as announcements start rolling in next week from NYFF and TIFF. We’ll have the full lineup for the 2026 Venice International Film Festival on July 23rd. NYFF announcements begin tomorrow, and from there, it’s off to the races. What do you think? Which festivals or films are you most looking forward to? Is there anything you feel I overlooked? Please let us know in the comments section below or over on our X account, and be sure to check out our latest Oscar predictions here. Thank you!
