Films

Sonja, born with Down Syndrome, is a bundle of energy who dreams of dance and demands independence. This inclusively produced family-friendly film is a testament to the power of resilience, creative expression, and love.

Kona is a forest-dwelling cat who lives with her mom and grandma. When her mother disappears, Kona embarks on a quest to find her alongside Colin, an orphaned pup, and Bernard, a runaway circus bear.

Rising star Ben Wang is superb as a teenager given to self-sabotage who decides to run for senior class president in Will Robb’s SXSW breakout hit, an uproarious and heartfelt coming-of-age comedy.

In Molly Manners’ witty and winsome debut about the pains of girlhood, quirky British boarding school besties Flic and Minna decide to become worldly Oxbridge candidates by getting some practice in romance.

A lonely woman, a mischievous nine-year-old, and an unexpected friendship transform an ordinary apartment into a tender, funny world of connection, beautifully captured in Fernando Eimbcke's luminous black-and-white film.

Born in the wake of China’s controversial one-child policy, six-year-old Juan is suddenly uprooted from her family when her mom becomes pregnant in this achingly poignant coming-of-age story from first-time feature director Zou Jing.

Myrsini Aristodou’s award-winning, sensitive debut resonates with deeply felt authenticity and lasting emotional power in its story of the relationship that develops between a troubled, precocious preteen and the father she’s just getting to know.

Filmed over 25 years, this prize-winning documentary casts a tender and fearless eye over the lives of two inseparable cousins, Guillermina and Belinda, as they grow up in the rural Argentine Pampas.

Some things arrive in waves: sunlight, joy, but also grief and loss. Director Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated adaptation of AJ Dungo’s 2019 graphic novel is an indelible story of love between two teenagers and their passion for each other and the sea.

A young boy navigates life from inside an iron corset in Wall-E and Up animator Louis Clichy’s tender, funny rite-of-passage story that honestly confronts the distress that every adolescent endures.

French teenagers take a summer class trip to Naples, Italy, in this marvelous coming-of-age film that is subtle, mysterious, and intelligent. Marine Atlan’s feature debut garnered the Cannes Critics Week Best Picture award.

Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with this drama charting the unlikely friendship of two middle-school girls, complete opposites, who bond over a shared love for drawing manga.

Against the backdrop of Chile’s transition to democracy, a disappearance at a ski resort pulls a nine-year-old girl into the adults’ pact of silence in director Manuela Martelli’s unnerving political allegory.

With their third collaboration, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson continue to caress our humanity through a tender coming-of-age tale. Attuned to the mysterious ebbs and flows of grief with humor and heartbreak, Mouse is a gentle stunner.

While preparing for an upcoming swimming trip to Brazil, best friends La Maestra and Paula see their bright futures upended one fateful night. First-time feature director Fernanda Tovar crafts a moving coming-of-age drama in this Berlinale award winner.

MVFF partners with CalArts, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, California College of the Arts, and CSU Long Beach for a stellar showcase of animated work directed by female and nonbinary filmmakers. This selection features films reflecting family, friendship, life, death, and cultural identity.

“But go easy Step lightly Stay free.” As we grow older, we tend to abandon all inherent free spirit and audacity. This collection of short documentary films brings those feelings flooding back, allowing us to live vicariously through these bold, intrepid, and resilient characters. In THE RIGHT FIT (US 2025, 12 min), Max Mollring and Nicolas Collins introduce the owner of a one-of-a-kind small business in San Rafael. Intimate and observational, Hao Zhou's AT THE STAGE WHEN (China 2026, 15 min) follows a young urban couple experiencing societal pressure around parenthood. Composed of black-and-white 35mm photographs, A TOWN CALLED NEEDVILLE (US/Canada 2026, 5 min) traces filmmaker Audrey Lane's inpatient stay at an all-women’s mental health facility in Texas. A collaboration between Ukrainian painter Alla Hurenko and directors Natalie Shirinian and Elizabeth Baudouin, ROOM OF THE ABSOLUTE (US, Ukraine 2026, 18 min) is a time capsule and portrait of resilience in the face of relentless destruction in Ukraine. It is 1980 in Yuba City, California, in Reaa Puri’s HARVEST PARTY AT CAMP TWO (US 2026, 16 min), and a group of Young Punjabi Sikh farmworkers throw the biggest party their small town has ever seen. —Diana Sánchez Maciel

When the local pool closes, pre-teen Pola leads the charge to save it in this upbeat and inspiring story of activism, kid-style, and the enduring power of friendship, awash in wildly creative costumes, musical dance numbers, and fabulous young talent.

With their third collaboration, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson continue to caress our humanity through a tender coming-of-age tale. Attuned to the mysterious ebbs and flows of grief with humor and heartbreak, Mouse is a gentle stunner.

A moving tale of three generations of Chinese women whose dreams and struggles are linked by one pair of scissors.

Composed of black-and-white 35mm photographs, A Town Called Needville traces filmmaker Audrey Lane's inpatient stay at an all-women’s mental health facility in Texas.