The 28th Annual Sarasota Film Festival takes place April 10-19.
This year's Sarasota Film Festival includes over 200 features, documentaries and short films exploring both local and global issues.
This year’s opening night film is director Renny Harlin’s “Deep Water,” in which a plane en route from Los Angeles to Shanghai is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The festival closes April 18 with “In the Hand of Dante” starring Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese.
The festival also features red carpet premieres, community-wide street festivals, filmmaker Q&A sessions and exclusive industry panels.
Screenings and special events take place at multiple venues throughout downtown Sarasota including Cinebistro, New College, the Sarasota Opera House and the Sarasota Art Museum. Several parking garages and surface lots are located near festival venues.
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This year, the festival will screen 47 feature films, including four world premieres and 17 Florida premieres in a variety of categories, as well 39 short films.
The 2026 festival highlights include special guest appearances by “Deep Water” producer Gene Simmons (KISS founder and filmmaker) and director Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2,” “Cliffhanger,” “Deep Blue Sea”).
Of local interest are films by Ringling College students Zachariah Steele, Alexander Maxwell, Thomas Hall and Finn Zuccarini, Tyler Smith, and Tim Ritter, and “Call It What It Is,” in which local filmmaker by KT Curran (“Surviving Lunch”) joins students, school staff and community experts for a panel discussion on bullying prevention and youth resilience.
Tickets are available at the Sarasota Film Festival Box Office (332 Cocoanut Ave, Sarasota) and online.
The Sarasota Film Festival was founded in 1998 with a mission of celebrating the art of filmmaking and the contribution of independent filmmakers. It has grown into one of the largest regional festivals in the world.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
