New York programmes something in every month of the year. Most people can name two of them. There are 8 left this year — here they are in order, then the whole calendar in one table.
Tribeca and the New York Film Festival have the red carpets. Several of the others are better if you actually want to sit in a cinema and be surprised.
On right now
New York Film Festival, 25 Sep – 12 Oct
Its 64th. No competition, no prizes, just a tightly curated main slate. If Tribeca belongs to the industry, this one belongs to the critics.
It has been running since 1963. Screenings are at Alice Tully Hall, the Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, all of them on the Upper West Side. In 2026: Main Slate and Spotlight $35, or $30 for members; Currents, Revivals and Talks $22, or $17; $15 rush tickets go on sale at the box office an hour before select screenings, first come first served, and there is a two-ticket limit per screening.
NY Shorts International Film Festival, 1–31 October
The largest short-film showcase on the East Coast, with close to 300 of them. Dates reported but not confirmed by the organisers themselves — check before booking.
Screenings are at Cinema Village in Greenwich Village.
Contents
- On right now
- October
- November
- December
- What is actually screening this week
- The whole year in one table
- The ones that have already run
- Which one to actually go to
October — 4 at once
October is New York’s busiest month for this, and nobody tells you that. 4 of them overlap.
Bushwick Film Festival, 7–11 October
Brooklyn’s own independent showcase, and the most neighbourhood-rooted entry here.
It runs features, documentaries, shorts, episodic work and screenplay readings, and it is one of the few festivals here founded and led by a woman of colour. It has been running since 2007. Screenings are at Williamsburg Cinemas. In 2026: a single day is $60, the weekend and awards ceremony $150, and an industry badge $250.
Urbanworld Film Festival, 14–18 October
Its 30th. One of the longest-running showcases of Black and multicultural cinema anywhere, and it is accepting AI-generated work this year for the first time. An earlier press release gave November dates; its own site says October, which is what is printed here.
Stacy Spikes founded it, went on to co-found MoviePass, and built one of the largest competitive festivals of its kind, with an innovation summit beside the premieres. It has been running since 1997.
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, 15–22 October
Horror in Brooklyn in the run-up to Halloween, which is about as well-timed as programming gets.
It programmes domestic and international genre cinema, features and shorts, with live events built around them. It has been running since 2016. Screenings are at Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg and Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park in Park Slope.
NewFest, 15–25 October
Its 38th. New York’s LGBTQ+ cinema week, and one of the largest of its kind in the world.
It started in response to the AIDS crisis and is now the city’s largest presenter of LGBTQ+ film, with screenings across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. It has been running since 1988. Screenings are at SVA Theatre in Chelsea, BAM Rose Cinemas in Fort Greene and Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park in Park Slope. NewFest has stopped issuing festival passes; membership through its Storytellers Circle now carries the ticket benefits instead.
November
DOC NYC, 11–19 November
America’s largest documentary event, and the strongest argument that the city’s best week of cinema is not one of the two you have heard of.
It is the largest documentary festival in the country, and an industry conference, DOC NYC PRO, runs alongside it. Screenings are at IFC Center in Greenwich Village, SVA Theatre in Chelsea, The New School in Greenwich Village and Village East by Angelika in the East Village. The All Film Pass covers every in-person screening and the online platform; IFC Center members get discounted pricing once they sign in. The slate is announced in the second week of October. Films stream nationwide through 29 November, most of them from the day after their in-person screening.
December
NYC Horror Film Festival, 3–6 December
Closes the year, and is exactly what it says.
It is the longest-running horror festival on the East Coast, with screenings, parties and guests. Screenings are at Village East by Angelika in the East Village.
What is actually screening this week
Festivals are the peaks. In between, something is on most nights of the week, and this list is rebuilt every morning from the same dated listings the rest of the site runs on — repertory runs, library screenings, and the Parks department’s outdoor series while the weather holds.
- Artificial by Luca Guadagnino — World Premiere at NYFF — Mon 5 Oct, Alice Tully Hall
- NYC in Transit at Film Forum — Tue 6 Oct, Film Forum. $18
- Movies Under the Stars: Shrek (2001) — Thu 8 Oct, Union Square Park. Free
- Back to the Future (1985): Classic Sci-Fi Film Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Outdoors) — Fri 9 Oct, Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens. Free
- Movies Under the Stars: The Nightmare Before Christmas | PG — Fri 9 Oct, Louis Pasteur Park. Free
- Movies Under the Stars: Sister Midnight — Sun 11 Oct, Police Officer Edward Byrne Park. Free
See everything on in New York this week.
The whole year in one table
Names are shortened below — most carry “Film Festival” in full.
| Month | Name | 2026 dates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | New York Jewish | 14–28 January | passed |
| January | Dances With Films | 15–18 January | passed |
| February | NY International Children’s | 27 Feb – 15 Mar | passed |
| March | SR Socially Relevant | 10–15 March | passed |
| April | ReelAbilities | 23–30 April | passed |
| May | Margaret Mead | 1–3 May | passed |
| May | New York African | 6–28 May | passed |
| May | Rooftop Films | 15 May – 21 Aug | passed |
| May | New York Indian | 28–31 May | passed |
| June | Tribeca | 3–14 June | passed |
| July | New York Asian | 10–26 July | passed |
| July | Asian American International | 30 Jul – 9 Aug | passed |
| August | Chain NYC | 7–16 August | passed |
| September | New York Latino | 15–20 September* | passed |
| September | New York Film Festival | 25 Sep – 12 Oct | on now |
| October | NY Shorts International | 1–31 October* | on now |
| October | Bushwick | 7–11 October | still to come |
| October | Urbanworld | 14–18 October | still to come |
| October | Brooklyn Horror | 15–22 October | still to come |
| October | NewFest | 15–25 October | still to come |
| November | DOC NYC | 11–19 November | still to come |
| December | NYC Horror | 3–6 December | still to come |
* Dates reported by third parties but not confirmed by the organisers at the time of writing.
The ones that have already run
14 of them have already been and gone this year. They are here because the useful question in October is not what you missed, it is when the next one comes round.
New York Jewish Film Festival ran 14–28 January this year. One of the oldest of its kind anywhere, and it opens the city’s film year.
Dances With Films: NYC ran 15–18 January this year. Independent to the point of stubbornness: the 2026 edition ran 157 films, including 97 shorts and 21 television and streaming pilots. If you want to see work with no distributor attached, this is the one.
New York International Children’s Film Festival ran 27 Feb – 15 Mar this year. A serious operation that happens to programme for children, rather than a children’s strand bolted onto a cinema. Normally three weekends in late February and March.
SR Socially Relevant Film Festival ran 10–15 March this year. Human-interest and social-issue films, with an online strand. Small, and deliberately so. The 2027 edition is billed for March.
ReelAbilities Film Festival: New York ran 23–30 April this year. The largest programme in the country dedicated to films by and about people with disabilities.
Margaret Mead Film Festival ran 1–3 May this year. Documentary and ethnographic film, screened inside the museum’s halls.
New York African Film Festival ran 6–28 May this year. It runs across three venues in three neighbourhoods rather than one building. Normally three weeks in the spring.
Rooftop Films Summer Series ran 15 May – 21 Aug this year. Outdoor screenings on rooftops, in parks and in car parks across the city, usually with live music and a bar. The best summer cinema experience in New York, and the one most worth planning around. Normally every summer, May to August.
New York Indian Film Festival ran 28–31 May this year. Four days, and it has a habit of landing significant premieres. 2027 dates are already set: 17–20 June.
Tribeca Festival ran 3–14 June this year. The big one, and no longer only film: television, podcasts, games and immersive work all have strands. Expect queues, talks and a great deal of it selling out.
New York Asian Film Festival ran 10–26 July this year. Genre-heavy, well curated, and reliably the most fun week of the summer.
Asian American International Film Festival ran 30 Jul – 9 Aug this year. The longest-running showcase of Asian American cinema in the country — work by Asian American filmmakers, which is a different remit from the New York Asian Film Festival.
Chain NYC Film Festival ran 7–16 August this year. More than 170 films. Small, genuinely independent, and run out of a theatre rather than a cinema chain.
New York Latino Film Festival ran 15–20 September this year. Timed to Hispanic Heritage Month.
Which one to actually go to
DOC NYC — 11–19 November. America’s largest documentary event, and the strongest argument that the city’s best week of cinema is not one of the two you have heard of.
What actually gets shown
The spread is wider than the two famous names suggest. Across the year New York programmes documentary (DOC NYC is the largest of its kind in the country), shorts (NY Shorts runs close to 300 of them), international and world cinema at the African, Asian, Indian and Latino events, independent and undistributed work from emerging filmmakers at Dances With Films and Bushwick, genre at the two horror weeks, and children’s programming at NYICFF, the one to know about if you are after things to do in New York with kids in late winter. Several run world premieres; most run director Q&As.
What you will not find much of is studio product. These programmes exist for work that either has no distributor yet or is being positioned for awards season — which is why the autumn ones, NYFF and DOC NYC especially, are where a lot of the year’s eventual Oscar contenders screen first.
The New York Film Festival, briefly
It is the one with the history. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the backing of Lincoln Center’s president William Schuman, it is the second-oldest film festival in North America and among the oldest anywhere. The first edition opened on 10 September 1963.
Its venues are the Lincoln Center houses on West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam — principally Alice Tully Hall, which seats 1,086 and takes the galas, and the Walter Reade Theater, which takes most of the rest. Both are a short walk from the 1 train at 66th Street, with the rest of the Upper West Side around them for before and after.
Unusually for an event of its stature it runs no competition and gives no prizes. There is a curated Main Slate plus sidebars, and the selection is the point. If Tribeca is the industry’s fest, this is the critic’s: no jury, no winners, just a programme somebody stood behind.
Getting tickets, and what a pass actually buys
The two big ones behave differently from the rest, and the difference is worth knowing before you plan around either.
At NYFF, access is staged. Film at Lincoln Center members and pass holders get a pre-sale window before single tickets reach the general public, and a pass waives the per-ticket fee. Passes are bought online only, are tied to the buyer, and are neither transferable nor giftable. In practice: if there is a specific title you want, the decision is made in the pre-sale week, not the week itself. Tribeca works the same way, with pass and package tiers ahead of single tickets.
Everything else here is gettable, often on the day. DOC NYC, NewFest, Brooklyn Horror, Bushwick and Urbanworld rarely sell out beyond opening and closing nights, and a weekday afternoon screening is usually a walk-up. The audience at the smaller ones is also a different crowd: locals and filmmakers rather than press — the same people you find at the rest of what locals actually go to. The smaller ones are also where the filmmakers actually are — a Q&A at Cinema Village or the Chain Theatre is with the director, not a publicist.
If you miss something, the circuit is not your only chance: most titles that screen here pick up distribution within the following year, and the repertory houses — Film Forum, IFC Center, Metrograph, BAM — run year-round programming built largely from festival alumni.
Two things people ask that have short answers
Sundance is not in New York. It runs in Park City, Utah, each January, and its association with New York is that a lot of the industry flies out from here. There is no Sundance in the five boroughs.
Nor are the “big three”. That phrase means Cannes, Venice and Berlin — the European majors with competitive juries. None is American. New York’s claim is different: not one enormous event, but more of them across more of the year than any other American city.
Looking for something in winter? January is busier here than people expect — the New York Jewish Film Festival and Dances With Films both run in the middle of it, and the Children’s programme opens in late February.
Keeping up with announcements
Lineups drop months ahead and the good screenings move fast. Each announces on its own site first — Film at Lincoln Center runs NYFF plus the Jewish, African and Asian programmes, so one newsletter covers four. Otherwise this page is rebuilt from a dated source file every morning, so the dates above are current as of today rather than whenever it was written — the same way the day’s list of things to do in NYC is.
We’ve also written about New York slang words, the New York bucket list and the best museums in New York City.