The 26th Sopot International Film Festival will take place from July 4–12. Over the course of nine festival days, audiences will enjoy dozens of film screenings and accompanying events held in cinemas, theatres, galleries, and outdoor venues. Special screenings will also be presented on Sopot Beach and at the Sopot Hippodrome.

The Sopot festival showcases the very best of ambitious world cinema, featuring competition screenings, premieres, meetings with filmmakers and guests, concerts, and a variety of special events.

The festival’s key sections include the “1-2-3 GO!” Main Competition, presenting outstanding arthouse cinema from around the globe; DOK.PL, the competition for feature-length Polish documentary films; and competitions dedicated to short fiction and animated films.

The programme will also feature a showcase of Scandinavian cinema, including the first extensive Polish retrospective of Joachim Trier, director of Sentimental Value. Audiences will also have the opportunity to explore the works of Agnieszka Smoczyńska, who will attend the festival in person, as part of the 50 for 51 programme organized in cooperation with the Gdynia Film Festival. Additional thematic strands include “Without Taboo” and “Phenomena.”

As always, the Sopot festival offers a unique opportunity to catch up on some of the most acclaimed films of the season—titles that may have had only limited theatrical releases, never reached cinemas, or are yet to be released. The Spectrum and Spectrum Doc sections will present award-winning productions showcased at prestigious international festivals, alongside exclusive preview screenings.

Among the highlights will be Andrey Zvyagintsev’s acclaimed Minotaur, arriving directly from this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it received the Grand Prix. Selected screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers and special guests. Festival attendees will include, among others, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Wojtek Smarzowski, Emi Buchwald, and Korek Bojanowski.



The Film Music Concert will once again be presented in an intimate format. On July 5, artists will perform a symphonic programme at the Chamber Stage of the Wybrzeże Theatre, inspired by the atmosphere of candlelight concerts.

The repertoire will feature compositions by Hans Zimmer, Max Richter, Ennio Morricone, and other renowned film composers, including themes from films such as Oppenheimer, Gladiator, The Da Vinci Code, The Theory of Everything, Amélie, Hamnet, and Cinema Paradiso. Performed in a chamber setting and immersed in the atmospheric half-light of the stage, the concert promises a unique musical experience.

The programme will be performed by Aaron Piano Trio:

They will be joined on selected pieces by Klaudia Rucińska (percussion, Polish Sinfonia Baltica Philharmonic). Special guest performances will also include original lyrical arrangements by Krystyna Gedzik (vocals, piano) and William Malcolm (synthesizers, Moog).

The Sopot festival extends far beyond cinema screens. Popular film walks tracing locations used in films and television productions shot in Sopot over the decades will return to the programme. The Sopot Hippodrome will once again host outdoor screenings of cult classics, while a special beach screening of The Big Blue will take place with the sea as its natural backdrop.

Festival Venues

This year’s festival venues include: Centrum Promenada (former Multikino cinema complex – two screening halls), Chamber Stage of the Wybrzeże Theatre, Teatr Boto, Goyki 3 Art Inkubator, Various outdoor locations throughout Sopot.

For more information, visit www.sff.pl.