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Hidden Gems from Slamdance 2026: 6 Films to Watch

Slamdance returned to Los Angeles in 2026 to celebrate it’s second edition in the city of angels after moving from Park City , Utah (just ahead of Sundance’s own departure from the city). This grassroots festival was established by a group of filmmakers rejected by Sundance in the 1990s to provide an alternative to the mainstream festival circuit.

Whilst I wasn’t able to attend this year’s festival in-person due to a last-minute call up for jury duty, the Slamdance team made the event incredibly easy to cover for virtual attendees by providing advance screener access to the full lineup. This helped me to stay on top of the festival and stopped me from spilling the tea about the case I served on.

The 2026 festival featured 141 films, including 50 world premieres, selected from more than 10,000 submissions. The programmers maintained a strong commitment to diversity across the slate: 50% of the films were directed by female, trans, or non-binary filmmakers, and 41% by BIPOC directors. We love to see it!

Our coverage focused on international titles from outside the United States and Anglophone world. We’ve highlighted our standout feature films and short films from this year’s slate below.

Top Feature Films from Slamdance 2026

Whilst the Slamdance programmers place a lot of importance on local Los Angeles and U.S. filmmakers, the slate also included a wide selection of films from around the world. Here are our top three feature films from Slamdance 2026.

1. Zumeca (Dominican Republic)

Zumeca is a true epic. It draws from pre-colonial dramas such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Zama, as well as the cross-cultural romances of Dances with Wolves, to create a unique love story.

While it plays with the white-savior trope, it is not a white savior movie. Instead, it confronts the real brutality of the conquistador colonizers as Indigenous culture is dismantled by religion, weapons, and disease.

It’s carefully shot black and white cinematography, with a constantly moving camera reminiscent of Terrence Malick, gives the film the feeling of a modern classic.

2. Tony Odyssey (Brazil)

Two friends rob their workplace to steal a futuristic drug that sends them on a surreal trip through the underworld in a wild range of Holy Motors-esque scenes, all speaking to the trauma of modern capitalism (and Brazil). Tony Odyssey is far from the perfect film. The scenes don’t flow particularly well, but their originality signals a new cinematic voice to look out for from Brazil.

3. Matapanki (Chile)

If you’re a fan of the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s and 1980s, you’ll find some comfort in Diego Fuentes’ Matapanki. It’s a punk-sploitation movie in which a punk dude discovers that a mine-sweeped cocktail gives him superpowers. This sets him off on a revolutionary quest to take down the Chilean government… and the U.S. president himself. It’s raw, wild fun, and not to be taken seriously.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

It’s also worth your time to check out two of the Jury Prize winners: Whisperings of the Moon (Cambodia) and Silver (Bolivia). Whisperings of the Moon immaculately captures the feeling of falling in love with it’s Past Lives-esque story. Silver portrays the brutal landscape surrounding the Cerro Rico, one of the Spanish Empire’s largest silver mines, which continues to be mined by the Indigenous Bolivians despite the danger.

Top Short Films from Slamdance 2026

There was also a vast range of short films at Slamdance, from your expected animated, live-action, and documentary shorts, to experimental shorts and even video-game experiences! Here are three of our favorites.

1. Lost Wax (Nigeria)

Omorose Osagie’s Lost Wax is one of the most beautiful-looking films of the festival, regardless of format. The shot composition and balance of black-and-white is truly awesome. The story bounces between different perspectives, creating an intriguing narrative that leaves much to the imagination through a mix of live-action and animation. I’m excited to see how Osagie continues to develop her storytelling in future projects.

2. We Used to Take the Long Way Home (Vietnam)

I’m a sucker for road trip movies, so We Used to Take the Long Way Home really struck a chord with me. It follows a high school road trip reunion, reviving old romances in a similar way to Cambodia’s Whisperings of the Moon (mentioned above). The film leans into high school nostalgia, using playful stickers to separate chapters and a goofy comedic character to inject humor. The 2000s are back!

3. La Mayordomia

Did you know that in the outskirts of Mexico City, and across the country, you can sign up to care for a 16th- or 17th- century baby Jesus doll? La Mayordomia introduces you to the world of these dolls; the people who loan them out, the requirements you must meet to be a candidate parent, and the mandatory handing-over ceremonies. It’s an engrossing glimpse into a unique religious tradition!

Honorable Mentions

If you want more, hunt down two magical-realist shorts: Loquita por ti (Spain) and Levantamuertos: Cumbia for the Dead (Mexico). The former is a romance set against the backdrop of bullfighting, while Levantamuertos follows a mortician who can speak with the dead.

For a diverse range of films from filmmakers you’ve never heard of, but might be the next big thing, the Slamdance Film Festival is one you need to attend. We discovered several filmmakers we’re excited to keep an eye on in the future to see how their work evolves.

Keep an eye on our film festival coverage page for more international films debuting this year.

The Best Movies of 2019 That You Might Have Missed

A lot of films are released every year. There’s always something to write about. However, as some films occupy more attention than others, there’s always a lot of great movies that are overlooked. Here’s 20 of the Best Movies of 2019 that you might have missed and why you might have missed them.

A Recap of AFI Fest 2020 – Film Festival Guide

Los Angeles has a lot of film festivals. Most have a focus: PAFF focuses on Pan African films, Outfest focuses on LGBTQ+ films, and LA Shorts Fest focuses on short films. AFI Fest stands out as the city’s biggest general film festival. Like a TIFF, Berlinale, or London Film Festival, AFI Fest screens exemplary movies from around the world in addition to showcase galas and premieres. AFI Fest 2020 was no exception.

However, 2020 has not been a normal year and because of it, AFI Fest’s 2020 edition was not a normal festival. Instead of taking place in Hollywood, AFI Fest 2020, like many other 2020 film festivals, took place virtually online with the TV and computer screens replacing the big screen. So whilst we can’t give you an overview of the audiences and location like we’ve previously done for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Pan African Film Festival, we can give you an overview of the experience and the films from AFI Fest 2020.

The Experience

One immediate plus of the virtual film festival format was that there was no waiting. Instead of queuing up before each screening and running between theaters to cram in as much as possible, all you had to do was click a few buttons from your couch. You could have watched 5 films a day and still have had enough time to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner, before an early night. The only gripe I had was that the staggered release of the movies over the course of the festival, which meant you still had to create a film schedule to make sure you didn’t miss anything. AFI Fest 2020 could have fully embraced the virtual format by making everything available throughout the festival to fully cater to the audience. That being said, although it was shame these films couldn’t be seen on the big screen, the overall transition to virtual worked perfectly.

The Films

AFI Fest 2020 championed its diversity from the first press release. Of the 124 films included in the festval, 53% were directed by women, 39% by BIPOC, and 17% by LGBTQ+. There was a decent representation of most of the world too. The Americas and Europe were strongly represented, and there was also a good representation from Asia. However, like SBIFF 2020, AFI Fest 2020 contained little from Africa and Australasia, with just 2 feature films and 1 short from Sub-Saharan Africa, and none from Australasia outside of Australia and New Zealand. It’s not that these parts of the world aren’t making films, as the Pan African Film Festival demonstrated. It’s that they’re often overlooked.

The quality of the films at AFI Fest 2020 was high. There weren’t too many premieres, but there were a lot of great films picked from the year’s biggest festivals. I can happily say that all of the 17 films I saw were worth a watch. Here’s how they stacked up.

AFI Fest 2020’s Best: 1

After seeing Mohammad Rasoulof’s A Man of Integrity for the first time earlier this year and seeing him win the Golden Bear, I had high expectations for There is No Evil. Safe to say my expectations weren’t disappointed.

The Runner Up: 2

In a very close second is the immaculate Nasir. It’s a humble day in the life story that is beautifully written, shot, and acted.

The Multiple Perspectives: 3-8

All of these films are very good. 5 out of the 6 follow multiple protagonists to give the movies a more rounded perspective. The only one that doesn’t is The Intruder and it’s much more intriguing and uncertain as a result. I Carry You With Me, Farewell Amor, and Eyimofe are all relationship dramas that center on visa and immigration issues. My Little Sister and Downstream to Kinshasa both focus on grief and trauma – the former a family drama, the latter a protest documentary.

The Originals: 9-10

Both these films are framed around unique concepts which provide a lot of room for analysis. Tragic Jungle uses a Mayan myth whilst Apples uses an epidemic of memory loss.

The Foreigner’s Transformation: 11-12

Should the Wind Drop and Luxor are two warm films that I really liked. Whilst the foreigner’s transformation isn’t my favorite topic, they both worked very well. They both create location well too with one representing Nagorno-Karabakh and the other the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor.

The Artistic: 13-14

Notturno and Piedra Sola are amazingly shot. Between them they probably contain the best images of all the films I saw. The only problem was that these incredible images didn’t necessarily translate into a complete story.

The Rest: 15-17

Rival and She Paradise were both good movies. Rival was just a bit too bleak for me, and She Paradise didn’t hit the expectations I had from the short. New Order also opened well before descending into nihilistic chaos. I’m sure it will have it’s fans just like Todd Phillip’s Joker.

Conclusion

As Los Angeles’ premiere film festival, AFI Fest is unmissable if you’re a film fan living in the city. Whilst other festivals in the city choose a focus, AFI fest screens everything. This means you’ll get to see the best films from around the world, hand selected from the festival circuit. Every film offers something that makes it worth taking the time to watch.

A Quick Review of the International Films at PAFF 2022

Whilst we weren’t able to catch any films in-person at the 30th edition of the Pan African Film Festival, the virtual screenings were almost enough to compensate. Like previous years, the international film slate at PAFF 2022 featured films from countries that other festivals in the U.S. rarely represent. Inspired by Burkina Faso and Africa’s world leading FESPACO film festival, PAFF is the best place to see films from the African diaspora in the U.S. So if you’re looking for films from sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Black directors around the world, you need to add the Pan African Film Festival to your list.

The International Films at PAFF 2022

As per previous years, we focused our coverage on the International films screening at PAFF. The Pan African Film Festival typically offers one of the most diverse film festival slates in the U.S., and this year was no different. 55 countries were featured along with 18 languages, including Papiamento, Swahili, Wolof, and Yoruba. The festival also does it part to foster new talent from around the world with 61 of the feature films coming from first time directors. The only improvement we’d love to see in future editions is equal gender parity in the director’s screened, especially within the international categories. Whilst 40% of the films featured were directed by women, it felt like this was boosted by the U.S. and short films.

Quality-wise, most of the films we saw this year beat the worst films from the 2019 and 2020 editions. Here’s how they ranked.

1. Bantu Mama (Dominican Republic)

Bantu Mama was the most polished movie we saw at this year’s edition. It has art-house production quality, memorable acting and characters, and it tells its story incredibly efficiently (clocking at just 77 minutes long). Plus the soundtrack was on point – sonically representing the meshing cultures in a tribute to their shared African heritage.

Read the full review here.

2. Tug of War (Tanzania)

Like Bantu Mama, Tug of War‘s high production quality and art-house film language has helped it to screen at a few international film festivals already. It sets an anti-colonial romance within the picturesque island of Zanzibar and gives it a lot of Wong Kar-Wai style. World Cinema fans will find plenty to appreciate here.

Read the full review here.

3. The Crossing (Burkina Faso)

We loved the relaxed pacing of The Crossing. There’s rarely a moment where it feels preachy or designed to provoke. Instead, the light comedy and hang-out vibes turn the often traumatic topic of Africa to Europe immigration into an easy and humorous watch.

Read the full review here.

4. Africa & I (Morocco, South Africa)

Africa & I is the perfect viewing experience for anyone who wants (or wanted) to travel across the African continent. Othmane Zolati’s journey from Morocco to South Africa is unique and inspirational even if the narrative structure is fairly unoriginal. He shows you how to travel on a budget whilst deconstructing the tourist misconceptions of Africa.

5. Doutor Gama (Brazil)

Like Bantu Mama, Doutor Gama features another great soundtrack, this time courtesy of Tigana Santana. His voice gives a melancholy calmness to Dr. Gama’s traumatic life. Whilst the biopic is good, it feels a bit short. It jumps from slavery to an established civil rights lawyer in just a flash, when it could have done with covering more of his life in between.

6. Ayinla (Nigeria)

Ayinla‘s plot is a bit undercooked; hitting beats in Ayinla Omowura’s life without piecing them together. However, the music makes up for it, even if the lyrics aren’t always subtitled. For anyone into Nigerian music, or biopic style movies on making it in the music industry, Ayinla is worth a watch. It’s a decent tribute to both Ayinla Omowura and Abeokuta, the colorful city that both the director and the music star share.

Read the full review here.

7. Zepon (Martinique)

If you’re looking for a well made film from Martinique that gives a sample of Martinican culture, watch Zepon. Whilst it falls into some tired World Cinema tropes, there are some brilliant moments in the film that are supported by light humor that carries the film from start to finish.

Read the full review here.

8. Tales of the Accidental City (Kenya)

The Zoom call format of Tales of the Accidental City is a bit limiting, and already feels dated as quarantine restrictions have largely disappeared. However, if you’re simply looking for a quick Kenyan comedy, this film is worth a watch. It playfully makes fun of a few stereotypes of the city, giving the audience a few laughs and a small understanding of Nairobi society.

Read the full review here.

9. With No Land (Ethiopia, Israel)

Israeli history is complicated, as any documentary on its formation and relationship with Palestine and the West can confirm. However, With No Land focuses on an overlooked prejudice – the rejection of the Black Ethiopian Jews into the Israel state despite the Israeli Citizenship Law that grants every Jew in the world the unrestricted right to become an Israeli citizen. However, whilst the topic is interesting and eye-opening, the abundance of talking heads interviewees makes it very dry.

10. Hairareb (Namibia)

Whilst there are some nice shots of the rural/desert landscape, Hairareb failed to live up to the blurb. It’s not about the drought that brought the two main characters together, and it’s not about the newlyweds past lives, or living in rural Namibia. All of the narrative development is sacrificed for the sake of creating domestic melodrama, leaving the film feeling pretty hollow.

Read the full review here.

11. Juwaa (Belgium)

Juwaa is a well produced movie from the African diaspora. However, it’s incredibly bleak. It hits all the genre tropes of misery porn, starting with a traumatic childhood event which destroys the characters later happiness. Whilst there is some sort of resolution at the end, it’s not enough to make up for the depressing time spent watching the rest of the movie.

Visit the Pan African Film Festival 2022 page for all our full reviews from the 30th edition of the festival. Reviews from past editions of PAFF can also be found here: 2020, 2021.

Nollywood in Hollywood – Celebrating New Nigerian Film in Los Angeles

Last weekend, the 5th edition of the Nollywood in Hollywood film festival returned to Los Angeles for another brief showcase of the best Nigerian films from the past year. This year, the festival ran for two nights, screening Gone at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on Friday, before heading over to the West Side for Juju Stories at The Aero. Whilst we were only able to attend Saturday’s screening, we encourage all film fans to look out for Nollywood in Hollywood next year. Not only are the screening’s a brilliant showcase of new Nollywood films in a city that often overlooks the African film industries, but these screenings are free and very well hosted.

In many years of attending film festivals, Nollywood in Hollywood’s screening of Juju Stories was only the second which actually provided regional food to the entire audience ahead of the film. The other was a screening of Mohamed Al Daradji’s The Journey for the BFI Fest for which the Iraqi Embassy supplied Baklava to everyone attending. Whilst free food isn’t necessary to enjoy movies, it does add a memorable touch that will probably make you more open to whatever film you are about to see. From what we saw, the free meat pies, spring rolls, and puff puff excited a few attendants familiar with the foods, and made others more open to socializing to discover what the food was and to learn more about the event in the cinema lobby ahead of the film. It’s a great way to get an unfamiliar audience open to experiencing unfamiliar films.

Whilst ‘Nollywood’ has come to stand for all film production from Nigeria, Nollywood boomed in the late 1980’s/early 1990s with the arrival of the VHS system. VHS made filmmaking cheaper and therefore more accessible, allowing anyone (filmmaker or not) to have a go at making their own films. It also made it easier to distribute films, as VHS opened the home video market, meaning filmmakers didn’t have to have to make deals with theaters to get their films seen. Because VHS made it easier and cheaper to shoot films and get them seen, filmmaking in Nigeria exploded. At certain points in the 2000’s the Nollywood film industry was making an estimated 4 films a day! However, alongside the boom in production, the new face of Nigerian cinema faced a lot of criticism. Opening up the film industry to everyone loosened the standards of filmmaking as well as the themes. Many of the new Nollywood productions focused on witchcraft and juju, giving viewers a skewed view of Nigerian (and African) culture.

Juju Stories is an example of the current state of Nollywood film. As the focus of Nigerian film production has switched back to theatrical releases supported by larger budgets, the production standards have improved. Many Nollywood productions are now screened in cinemas at home or abroad, as well as reaching international film festivals and streaming platforms. Whilst the themes made popular in the Nollywood home-video era remain (such as witchcraft), the films look a lot better. Juju Stories is a great example of this. It includes three different stories shot by three different filmmakers from a Nigerian film collective that all touch on Juju. Each short is very well made, and the comedy fit the big screen environment perfectly. It reminded me of a screening of Argentina’s Wild Tales that I saw a while back in which one man, probably Argentinian, was cracking up throughout the film. Similarly, the audience at the Juju Stories screening was cracking up and shouting out at the characters on screen.

Unlike the Nollywood movies of the home-video era, today’s Nollywood films are at home on the big screen. So do yourself a favor and acquaint yourself with Nollywood at the Nollywood in Hollywood film festival next year to see Modern Nigerian film where it should be seen: on the big screen.

Keep an eye on the Nollywood in Hollywood website for details for next year’s festival.