The festival will also honor three artists with the 2026 Silver Medallions: A Long Winter director Haigh; Sandra Hüller, who stars in Rose, which is screening at the festival; and John Malkovich, the star of Wild Horse Nine, which is also playing at the festival after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Notably, Telluride will showcase an AI film: Love, Rendered, directed by Liz Garbus, which is inspired by a real-life octogenarian couple. The husband is losing his memory and so, using AI, family photographs, stories from their loved ones, guidance from clinical experts, a team of technologists and filmmakers (including Darren Aronofsky, who produces) attempt to recreate the moment the couple met and fell in love, seven decades ago. “It’s beautiful for me. This is a way that AI is useful,” says Huntsinger. But the fest will also have several films and panels exploring the more concerning aspects of technological advancements, including The Revolution Against Death, Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary about a community—many of them tech bros—who are convinced death is optional.
As for whether projects made with AI will become more prevalent at the festival in the future, Huntsinger says the festival wouldn’t ever put any formal rules in place. (Cannes prohibited any AI-generated films from the main competition this year.) “If something really beautiful is created, cool, we’ll show it,” she says. “But I think logic tells me that it’s really always going to be the stuff that is more artisanal and handmade. Those are the kinds of movies we show.”
This year, Vanity Fair is partnering with the festival and producing exclusive videos for VF‘s social media channels and YouTube page with the festival’s biggest talent.
The main program is below:
● A Long Winter (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2026)
● Act 3 (d. Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Ireland/U.K., 2026)
● Alpha Gang (d. David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, U.S., 2026)
● Avedon (d. Ron Howard, U.S., 2026)
● Bucking Fastard (d. Werner Herzog, Ireland/U.S., 2026)
● Burgundy (d. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, France, 2026)
● Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff (d. Nanette Burstein, U.S., 2026)
● Club Kid (d. Jordan Firstman, U.S., 2026)
● The Debut (d. Jesse Eisenberg, U.S., 2026)
● The Disciple (d. Joanna Natasegara, U.K./U.S./Morocco, 2026)
● Elsinore (d. Simon Stone, U.K., 2026)
● Everest: The Other Side (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S./China/Nepal, 2026)
● Fatherland (d. Paweł Pawlikowski, Poland/France/Germany/Italy, 2026)
● Fjord (d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania/France/Norway/Sweden/Denmark, 2026)
● Gentle Monster (d. Marie Kreutzer, Austria/Germany/France, 2026)
● The Idiot(s) (d. Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert, Poland/Germany, 2026)
● Ink (d. Danny Boyle, U.K./U.S./France, 2026)
● La Bola Negra (d. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo, Spain/France, 2026)
● The Liberation (d. Guy Nattiv, U.S., 2026)
● Making Marie Antoinette (d. Sofia Coppola, Italy/U.S., 2026)
● The Man I Love (d. Ira Sachs, U.S., 2026)
● Minotaur (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, France/Germany/Latvia, 2026)
● My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile (d. Julia Loktev, U.S., 2026)
● Once Upon a Time in Harlem (d. David Greaves, Liani Greaves, U.S., 2026)
● The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (d. Noah Segan, U.S., 2026)
● Pete Townshend: Behind Blue Eyes (d. Frank Marshall, Nigel Sinclair, U.S./U.K., 2026)
● Rehearsals for a Revolution (d. Pegah Ahangarani, Czech Republic/Spain, 2026)
● Rose (d. Markus Schleinzer, Austria/Germany, 2026)
● The Row (d. Bryan Fogel, U.S./Australia/Ireland, 2026)
● The Story of Documentary Film (d. Mark Cousins, Scotland/U.K., 2026)
● Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing (d. Erik Shirai, U.S./Japan/U.K./Denmark, 2026)
● Tender Loving Care (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2026)
● Tenzing (d. Jennifer Peedom, U.S./Australia, 2026)
● The Unknown (d. Arthur Harari, France/Italy, 2026)
● Wild Horse Nine (d. Martin McDonagh, Chile/U.S., 2026)
