Programmers' Picks: Dan Doody on SIFF 2026

Beat the Lotto

For anyone who has plopped down a couple of dollars for a lottery ticket and thought, “Can I actually win?” Shortly after Ireland established its National Lottery, a mathematician came up with a plan to beat the odds, and then that plan went public.

Boorman and the Devil

I love filmmaking docs, and Boorman and the Devil is one of my favorites! Exorcist II: The Heretic was one of Hollywood’s all time biggest misfires (or was it?). Director John Boorman revisits its production in lengthy candid and honest interviews, the passage of 50 years providing a new clarity.

Bucks Harbor

Exploring the lives of Maine lobsterman, Bucks Harbor is one of the most beautiful and touching documentary films I’ve ever seen, vividly capturing the inner lives, quiet wisdom, and profound sympathies of its subjects—this is humanist filmmaking of the highest order.

The Furious

I don’t think I had more fun watching a SIFF screener this year than when I watched The Furious. A mute fighting master and a cop team up to rescue the former’s daughter from a nefarious ring of child traffickers in this frenzied frenetic Hong Kong martial arts extravaganza.

Gaua

Basque filmmaker Paul Urkijo Alijo returns to SIFF with what might be my favorite film of his so far. Set in the 17th Century, the film follows housewife Kattalin who flees from her domineering husband into the deep, dark forest. There she meets three weird sisters whose village gossip turns sinister, weaving a web of dark fables.

Lady

If a mash-up of “Real Housewives,” Sunset Boulevard, and peak “Ab Fab” sounds up your alley, then get in line now for this one. Sian Clifford, who played Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s sister in “Fleabag,” stars as the absurdly entitled Lady Isabella, whose vanity project turns disastrous when something unseen happens.

Prisioneros de la tierra

One of Argentina’s greatest films, Prisioneros de la tierra is a powder keg of economic exploitation, revenge thriller, and top tier Latin American melodrama, all rendered in a shadowy expressionist style that anticipates film noir. 

Queen Kelly

Remember in Sunset Boulevard when Norma Desmond was watching herself on-screen? She was watching Queen Kelly, one of the silent era’s most ambitious productions. This glorious new restoration uses von Stroheim’s original shooting script and ingeniously incorporates previously unseen material to recreate the film’s original ending.

WTF! Nightmare Fuel

A mash-up of our annual WTF! and horror-themed short film packages, the films here take you on a progression from the disturbing to the chilling to the disgusting—Enjoy!