Announcing the 2026 Ouray International Film Festival Program and Schedule
The program for the 7th Annual Ouray International Film Festival is now live!
With over twenty short films, four features, panels, and parties, the festival program includes world premieres as well as breakout hits from SXSW, Sundance, True/False, and the Berlinale.
In addition to many filmmakers making their debut at OIFF, this year’s program features the return of some longtime Ouray alumni. Ethan Payne will return to the Wright Opera House to screen “We Make,” the third installment in a series of shorts co-directed with B. Brian Foster about Black life in the American South. The film will have its Colorado premiere with Payne attending the festival in person. Festival attendees will also recognize Anna Baumgarten (OIFF 2022), who returns to Ouray with her comedy “Balloon Animals” following a premiere at Sundance earlier this year. Payne and Baumgarten’s movies play in Short Films Block A.
Director Anna Baumgarten returns to Ouray with her newest comedy, Balloon Animals. Baumgarten screen Disfluency at OIFF 2022.
OIFF sustains its tradition of welcoming a very large cohort of filmmakers. This year, over 25 filmmakers will be traveling to Ouray from New York, LA, Austin, Boulder, Santa Fe and beyond. Joining the festival from Mumbai, Pranav Bhasin will close out the four-day event with his award-winning SXSW hit “We Were Here,” a crowd-pleasing dramedy that follows a group of men in an Indian town who “protest machines replacing human jobs by pretending to be household appliances.” “We Were Here” plays in Short Films Block E.
“We’ve never had such a large lineup of artists traveling to the festival,” says OIFF co-director Jared LaCroix. “We’re thrilled for festival attendees to get to meet so many inspiring filmmakers from around the world.”
Shorts Block E | Sunday, June 21 | 7:00 - 8:40 pm
Earlier in the spring, the festival announced The Ross Brothers as the recipients of the 2026 Film in Action Award. Rounding out the festival’s special honorees, the 2026 Director’s Spotlight Award will go to Native filmmaker Erica Tremblay. Featuring Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Tremblay’s debut feature Fancy Dance premiered at Sundance in 2023 to universal acclaim before a theatrical release the following year. The film will screen at OIFF followed by an interview with Tremblay about her career in film and television, including her experience directing AMC’s series Dark Winds.
The program also continues Ouray’s Global Cinema focus with Cinema of the Andes. With a focus on indigenous voices, the program will be curated by Quechua and Aymara filmmaker Sisa Quispe (OIFF 2024 Grand Jury Prize Winner). The program offers short films from Peru as well as other Andean cultures across national borders. Festival attendees can expect to enjoy Peruvian cuisine as well as other surprises that amplify the celebration of diverse Andean cultures.
OIFF 2024 Grand Jury Prize Winner Sisa Quispe returns to Ouray with a curated cinema program focused on the Andes Mountains.
Besides a full slate of emerging voices, the program also features the legendary screenwriter Kiwi Smith, whose writing credits include Legally Blonde, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, She’s the Man, and more. “Kiwi is a writer whose body of work has deeply shaped cinematic culture over many years,” says Jake Abell, festival co-director. “It’s such a gift to have a writer of her caliber, warmth, and heart at our festival.” Festival attendees can hear Smith interviewed by Tim Molloy, Editor-in-Chief of MovieMaker, at the Wright Opera House on the opening day of the festival.
OIFF will announce the 2026 Festival Jury on May 18th.