The Shanghai International Film Festival is making waves with its 2026 competition slate, announcing an all-world-premiere main competition and record-setting submission numbers that underscore the event’s growing clout in the global film world.
Explore the Shanghai Film Festival 2026, featuring an all-world-premiere competition and record-setting submissions.
The festival’s 28th edition, running June 12-21, will feature 12 films competing for the Golden Goblet Awards—all premiering for the first time in Shanghai. It’s a significant achievement that cements SIFF’s status as a crucial launching pad for international cinema, organizers say.
The competition draws from filmmakers across five continents. The lineup includes Zhong Kaifeng’s Atlantic Rhapsody from China, Moroccan director Yassine El Idrissi’s Halima, and Indonesian filmmaker Ismail Basbeth’s My Own Last Supper. Turkish director Reis Çelik, Russian filmmaker Daniil Merkulov, and others round out the roster, alongside the Mainland China-Hong Kong co-production Secret in the Box directed by Frankie Tam Kwong Yuen.
The festival received roughly 4,100 submissions from 125 countries and regions—a record haul. Of those, nearly 3,000 met eligibility standards, with more than 80 percent arriving as world or international premieres, offering organizers an embarrassment of riches when assembling the competition.
The Golden Goblet Awards anchor SIFF’s broader competitive program, which also spotlights Asian new talent, documentaries, animation, and short films. The festival has solidified itself as one of Asia’s most influential cinema events.
Adding prestige to the proceedings, acclaimed Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai will preside over the main jury—a move expected to amplify international interest in the festival and its emerging voices.
