Festival First Look: First Six Film Experiences Revealed

Thursday, March 26, 2026

2026 Festival First Look

In preparation for the 52nd annual Seattle International Film Festival on May 7-17, six of the features scheduled to screen have been revealed. This first look includes: Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex; Nuisance Bear, which documents a polar bear’s place in a human landscape; the Basque-language folk horror tale Gaua; Sons of the Neon Night, a crime thriller packed with Hong Kong cinema legends; the Goya Award-winning Sundays; and Franz, an exploration of the enigmatic Czech writer Franz Kafka. For maximum cinelation, buy a Festival 6-Pack and get a ticket to each of these unique titles.

The entire program will be announced on April 15. Passes and ticket packages are on sale now at siff.net/passes. Individual tickets will go on sale to SIFF members on April 15, and to the general public on April 16.

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Franz

How do you make sense of Franz Kafka? With fictional interviews with Kafka’s friends and family and thrilling plunges into his fiction, Franz does not explain, but playfully and inventively explores the man and his work. (d: Agnieszka Holland c: Idan Weiss, Peter Kurth, Jenovéfa Boková, Ivan Trojan, Sandra Korzeniak, Czech Republic/Poland/Germany/France/Turkey 2025, 127 min)

Gaua

North American Premiere
Fleeing her husband, Kattalin encounters three old women exchanging idle gossip that soon transmutes into sinister supernatural stories. As each tale is told, Kattalin finds herself becoming intimately entangled within their dark events. (d: Paul Urkijo c: Yune Nogueiras, Ane Gabarain, Elena Irureta, Iñake Irastorza, Xabi "Jabato" Lopez, Spain 2025, 96 min)

I Want Your Sex

When fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. (d: Gregg Araki c: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Charli XCX, USA 2026, 90 min)

Nuisance Bear

A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape. (d: Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, USA/Canada/United Kingdom 2026, 90 min)

Sons of the Neon Night

An elite cast of Hong Kong action legends assemble for this sprawling, mega-budget thriller that hearkens back to the wildly ambitious, hyper-stylized crime cinema that put Hong Kong filmmaking on the international map. (d: Juno Mak c: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Sean Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Louis Koo, Gao Yuan Yuan, Hong Kong/China 2025, 124 min)

Sundays

At 17, Ainara faces a life-changing choice: after high school, she considers becoming a nun. Her decision unsettles her family, especially her aunt Montse, who fears it means losing freedom. The year's Goya Award standout offers a stirring tale about the fragile balance between faith and skepticism. (d: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa c: Blanca Soroa, Patricia López Arnaiz, Miguel Garcés, Juan Minujín, Mabel Rivera, Nagore Aranburu, Spain 2025, 117 min)

Date: March 26, 2026
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