Max Walker-Silverman’s “Rebuilding” and Elena Oxman’s “Outerlands” are among the over 150 films officially selected for the 68th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.
Running from April 17-27, the 11-day festival includes films from more than 50 countries, including 11 world premieres and 10 international premieres. The festival will open with “Rebuilding” starring Josh O’Connor, with this year’s centerpiece presentation being Rachael Abigail’s “Holder’s Love, Brooklyn” starring André Holland and Nicole Beharie with Steven Soderbergh executive producing.
“I am over the moon that we are back with 11 days of screenings, special tributes, awards, free talks, our annual Industry Days Conference, parties, city tours, and much more,” SFFILM’s director of programming Jessie Fairbanks said in a statement. “It has been a delight to curate over 150 films for this year’s festival and we cannot wait to welcome local and international creatives to the city by the Bay.”
Marquee titles this year include Andre Gaines’ “The Dutchman” starring Holland, the apocalyptic drama “40 Acres” starring Danielle Deadwyler, “Hot Milk” with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps and Jason Buxton’s thriller “Sharp Corner” starring Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders. Special tribute awards will be given out to “Harry Potter” filmmaker Chris Columbus and actor Holland, who recently starred in Duke Johnson’s “The Actor” from Neon.
Check out the full festival line-up here.
Tuesday, March 25
Academy Establishes New Partners for Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Program
The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting program hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has established new exclusive partnerships with international universities and film organizations for selecting fellows.
The partners — which include American Film Institute, Toronto International Film Festival and Universidad del Cine — will look through scripts and send them to the Academy to be considered for the fellowship. Public submissions will go through the Black List. Partners can begin submitting scripts for the program starting in late July and ending in late August. The fellows are chosen by spring 2026.
The fellowship program allows participants to be mentored by an Academy members and have access to networking and seminars. In addition, the Gold Alumni Program gives fellows continued career guidance. Fellows work on feature-length screenplays during their time in the program.
“As part of the globalization of the Academy and to deepen our relationship with educational partners around the U.S. and the world, we are excited to evolve the Nicholl Fellowships program to include a stronger connection to universities, screenwriting labs and filmmaker programs and their incredible pool of emerging talent,” Howard Berger, Academy governor and president of the Academy Foundation Board, said in a statement. “Our commitment to discovering and supporting new voices remains stronger than ever, and I’m thankful to my fellow Academy members for dedicating their time and expertise to support this mission.”
The other 2025 partners are: Australian Film Television and Radio School, Bangkok University, Berlin International Film Festival, California Institute of the Arts, California State University, Los Angeles, CAPE, Chapman University, Columbia University, Edinburgh Napier University, Gold House, Howard University, IFFR Pro, Latino Film Institute, London Film School, Loyola Marymount University, New York University, Northwestern University, RMIT University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Sundance Institute, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Arts London, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Cape Town, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Oxford, University of Texas at Austin, Urbanworld Festival and Victoria University of Wellington.
