Vancouver International Film Festival 2026 to open with Oscar buzz film

Julianne Moore stars in The Debut. The film from writer and director Jesse Eisenberg is the official opening film for the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival. The festival runs Oct. 1-11. Photo by Matt Infante /Courtesy of VIFF

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The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) has announced its 2026 programming.

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Running Oct. 1-11, VIFF’s 45th edition will present 162 features, including 12 world premieres and 49 Canadian premieres, and 91 short films and two episodic series from 76 different nations.

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General ticket sales begin at noon on Aug. 27 at viff.org.

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The opening film for the festival is the much talked about The Debut from writer/director/actor Jesse Eisenberg (When You Finish Saving the World, A Real Pain). The opening gala is Oct. 1 at 5:45 p.m. at Vancouver Playhouse.

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Getting early awards season buzz, the musical comedy tells the story of a shy suburban housewife (Julianne Moore) who transforms into a full-blown method actor after landing a small role in a community theatre production and coming under the tutelage of a domineering director played by Paul Giamatti.

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“This is a comedy, a satire about the theatre world, looking at kind of the self-importance that can happen in that space. It is also showing the opportunity for self-actualization as well,” said VIFF’s director of programming Curtis Woloschuk. “It’s a really warm satire that’s spot-on in what it pokes fun at and yet is also filled with genuine affection for its characters.”

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Bookending The Debut is the official closing film Wild Nine Horses from British/Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Banshees of Inisherin).

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The film is set in 1973 shortly before the Chilean Coup and sees CIA operatives played by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island.

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Once there, the partners must face both intricate conspiracies and their complicated pasts.

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The film also stars Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey.

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“It’s a real master class of not only screenwriting but the performances as well. I think it’s Malkovich’s best role in a long time, and he really, really leans into it beautifully,” said Woloschuk adding Rockwell is also very much on point.

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“It’s a film that, while it’s set in the early ’70s in Chile leading up to the coup, it is timely in the fact that it reminds us that these are kind of the bumbling individuals who sometimes dictate history and the forces of change in the world.

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Sam Rockwell (l) and John Malkovich star as CIA agents in Martin McDonagah’s 1973 set Wild Horse Nine. The film is the official closer for VIFF which runs Oct. 1-11. Photo by Diego Araya Corvalán /Searchlight Pictures

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“There’s a kind of an eerie relevance amidst all the black humour in it as well.”

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