The 19th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) is scheduled to be held from June 15 to 21, 2026, in Mumbai. The biennial festival for non-feature films received an overwhelming response with 1,459 film entries from across the world. The Competition Section comprises 144 films (52 international and 92 national entries) from filmmakers representing 13 countries. The non-competition section will feature 202 films (106 international and 96 national titles) from 46 participating countries, collectively presenting over 83 hours of screenings organized across 24 curated segments including Mosaic, Best of Fest, Busan Next Wave, Oscar Winners, Raimund Krumme Retrospective, NFDC Showcase, Echoes from North East, and Marathi Films.
The festival will open with screenings across three formats: the animated work 'Good Luck to You All' from Canada, the short fiction 'Agapito' from the Philippines, and the documentary 'Time and Water' from the United States and Iceland. The Mid-Fest lineup on June 18 will include the animated film 'Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!' from Czech Republic and Slovakia, the short fiction 'Hyena' from the United States, and the documentary 'I Love You, I Leave You' from Switzerland.
The festival will confer 18 awards across international and national competition categories with a total prize money of ₹45 lakh along with trophies and certificates. The opening ceremony will feature the presentation of the prestigious V. Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award, coinciding with the 125th birth anniversary year of the legendary filmmaker. Master filmmaker David Attenborough will be honored with the screening of his two films under 'Centenary Tribute'.
MIFF 2026 will feature 10 masterclasses led by renowned film practitioners covering filmmaking, storytelling, acting, screenwriting, and cinematography. The Indian Documentary Producers' Association (IDPA) will organize five open forum discussions alongside film screenings. Screenings will take place at NFDC complex, Ravindra Natya Mandir at Dadar, and two colleges: SVKM's UshaPravin Gandhi College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Ville Parle, and St Paul's Institute of Communication Education, Bandra West.
New curated sections include 'Marathi Films' and 'Echoes from Northeast' aimed at showcasing regional cinematic voices and celebrating India's cultural diversity. The Waves Doc Bazar section will showcase 155 entries, alongside 5 projects in the Work in Progress (WIP) Lab and 12 films under Film Bazaar Recommends. The Viewing Room will host all 155 films for industry access and evaluation. The section will facilitate B2B networking opportunities with leading platforms and broadcasters including Netflix, Zee, Sony, Stage OTT, and Waves OTT confirmed for meetings.
For the first time, MIFF will host an AI Cinema Hackathon titled 'Mumbai Through a Thousand Eyes', a 48-hour global filmmaking challenge exploring AI-driven storytelling. Student registrations have been kept free of charge. A dedicated media microsite hosted by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) at https://www.pib.gov.in/MIFF/2026 will serve as a comprehensive digital repository for MIFF content.