Thirty-two feature films in two sections — the Summer Showcase and War & Peace — this August in the capital.
Filmfest DC Summer is the new satellite festival of the Washington, DC International Film Festival. This year's Filmfest DC award winners return to the screen (dates and times to be announced), while twenty-seven nominated features compete for our awards — revealed at the Closing Night ceremony on August 9. The opening ceremony will be held between August 5 and 7.
Voted by audiences and honored by juries at Filmfest DC's 40th anniversary festival — five features that anchor the War & Peace section of our first summer program.
01
Audience Award · Best Feature
A virtuoso violinist in Vivaldi's Venice awakens to the power of her gift as an arranged marriage to a soldier looms. Our Opening Night film.
02
Audience Award · Best Documentary
The revealing portrait of Bowie, Maryland's own Eva Cassidy — free under the stars at The Wharf, date to be announced.
03
Ted Pedas Award
An NGO driver must pay an impossible blood debt in this relentless thriller of sacrifice and restitution across Chad.
04
Arabian Sights Award
Modern Cairo through the eyes of 8-year-old Toha: a tender study of the quiet class conflicts running through a household and a city.
05
Justice Matters Award
A Glasgow neighborhood stands down an immigration raid in this Sundance award-winning documentary. Our Closing Night film.
Twelve nominated features from 2024–2025 join the five Filmfest DC winners to complete the War & Peace section — the 2026 Official Selection, competing for awards announced on Closing Night, August 9.
No theme, no thesis — fifteen nominated features from the past two years of American and international cinema, in competition for the festival's awards. Nine from the United States, six from abroad.
The Essence of Eva & Primavera at Transit Pier — dates & times to be announced. No tickets, just show up.
After closing night, all five award winners travel to historic independent cinemas across the mid-Atlantic.
July 1, 2026
The Summer Showcase joins War & Peace — the Filmfest DC winners plus twenty-seven nominated features in competition.
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June 12, 2026
After its 40th anniversary edition, the DC International Film Festival announces an August satellite festival.
Read the announcement →
July 8, 2026
From the Avalon in DC to the Naro in Norfolk — the five winners hit the road, August 14 to September 6.
Read the announcement →
