Today, the American Film Institute unveiled the full lineup of 161 films screening at this year’s AFI FEST presented by Canva, taking place in Los Angeles from October 22nd-26th. Passes are now available at FEST.AFI.com. 10-ticket bundles are also on sale, with ticket selection opening Friday, October 3rd. Individual tickets will be available starting Monday, October 6th.
This year’s festival lineup includes 7 Red Carpet Premieres, 12 Special Screenings, 14 Luminaries selections, 15 Discovery films, 20 World Cinema selections, 15 Documentaries, 6 After Dark titles, 44 films in the Short Film Competition, and 23 films from the AFI Conservatory Showcase presented by AMC Networks. There are 5 World Premieres, 5 North American Premieres and 5 U.S. Premieres. Of the official selections, 39% are directed by women and 29% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Rounding out the impressive slate of already announced titles are highlights such as Jim Jarmusch’s Venice Golden Lion Winner “Father Mother Sister Brother“; Kaouther Ben-Hania’s Venice Silver Lion Jury Prize winner “The Voice of Hind Rajab“; Werner Herzog’s “Ghosts Elephants”; Charlie Kaufman’s highly anticipated short film “How to Shoot a Ghost,” starring Oscar-nominee Jessie Buckley; Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia“; Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling“; Charlie Polinger’s (AFI Class of 2017) “The Plague,” starring Joel Edgerton; Ildikó Enyedi’s “Silent Friend“; Shih-Ching Tsou’s “Left-Handed Girl,” co-produced, co-written and edited by Sean Baker; plus the World Premieres of William Means’ (AFI Class of 2021) feature debut “Junkie,” executive produced by Patty Jenkins (AFI Class of 2000), and Joan Bofill Amargós’ documentary “The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld,” a portrait of film producer Stuart Cornfeld (AFI Class of 2000) featuring close friends and collaborators, including Jack Black, Mel Brooks, David Cronenberg, Guillermo del Toro, David Lynch, Steven Soderbergh and Ben Stiller.
Additional highlights include several highly anticipated international titles making their U.S. or North American Premieres, including Singaporean filmmaker Siyou Tan’s (AFI DWW+ Class of 2019) Toronto-premiered debut feature “Amoeba”; Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari’s Venice-debuted “Divine Comedy“; Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s San Sebastián-premiered “Morte Cucina”; Armenian filmmaker Tamara Stepanyan’s “My Armenian Phantoms,” Armenia’s Best International Feature Oscar submission; Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke’s Berlin-debuted “Olmo,” produced by Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Eréndira Núñez Larios; Oscar-nominated documentarian Daniel Raim’s (AFI Class of 1999) Venice-premiered “The Ozu Diaries”; German filmmaker Julian Radlmaier’s Locarno-premiered “Phantoms of July”; UK filmmaker Oscar Hudson’s Venice Critics’ Week Award Winner “Straight Circle”; and French filmmaker Stéphane Demoustier’s Cannes-debuted “The Great Arch,” starring Claes Bang, Xavier Dolan and Swann Arlaud.
This year’s edition will also include new works from top auteurs like Fatih Akin (“Amrum“), Cherien Dabis (“All That’s Left of You“), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“Young Mothers“), Lav Diaz (“Magellan“), Annemarie Jacir (“Palestine 36“), Radu Jude (“Kontinental ‘25“), Nadav Lapid (“Yes“), Sergei Loznitsa (“Two Prosecutors“), László Nemes (“Orphan“), François Ozon (“The Stranger“), Amanda Kramer (“By Design“), Hylnur Pálmason (“The Love That Remains“), Christian Petzold (“Miroirs No. 3”), Ira Sachs (“Peter Hujar’s Day“), Lee Sang-il (“Kokuho”), Hong Sang-soo (“What Does That Nature Say to You”), Erige Sehiri (“Promised Sky“) and Carla Simón (“Romería“).
Among the other high-profile documentary selections screening at this year’s festival are Clay Tweel’s “Andy Kaufman is Me“; Gianfranco Rosi’s “Below the Clouds“; Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus “Cover-Up“; Ben Proudfoot’s “The Eyes of Ghana”; Brandon Kramer’s “Holding Liat“; Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard’s “I Was Born This Way”; Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Love+War“; Tamara Kotevska’s “The Tale of Silyan”; plus Brittany Shyne’s “Seeds” and Isabel Castro’s “Selena Y Los Dinos,” both Sundance award winners.
This year’s program represents 56 countries and includes 19 Best International Feature Oscar submissions, including “All That’s Left of You” (Jordan), “Eagles of the Republic” (Sweden), “Fiume or Death!” (Croatia), “Happy Birthday” (Egypt), “Kokuho” (Japan), “Left-Handed Girl” (Taiwan), “The Love That Remains” (Iceland), “Magellan” (Philippines), “My Armenian Phantoms” (Armenia), “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” (Chile), “Orphan” (Hungary), “Palestine 36” (Palestine), “A Poet” (Colombia), “The President’s Cake” (Iraq), “Sound of Falling” (Germany), “The Tale of Silyan” (North Macedonia), “A Useful Ghost” (Thailand), “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia), and “Young Mothers” (Belgium).
“With more than 90 features and nearly 70 shorts, AFI FEST 2025 will be our biggest program in recent memory,” said Todd Hitchcock, Director of AFI FEST and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. “But more importantly, this year’s selection reflects a diversity of viewpoints, artistry and daring from filmmakers across the globe.”
“AFI FEST’s unique mix of red carpet premieres, major works from established auteurs and impressive debuts from new talents makes for an action-packed five days of great cinema, which will spark conversation and stir imagination,” said Abbie Algar, Director of Programming, AFI FEST and AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. “We look forward to welcoming the film lovers of Los Angeles back to the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre, as well as, this year, The Egyptian Theatre.”
Are you excited for this announcement? Are you looking to attend the AFI Film Festival this year? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
