SOHO International Film Festival announces program for its 17th edition: over 100 premieres, 35 of them world premieres

The SOHO International Film Festival (SIFFNYC) has announced the program for its 17th edition, to be held from October 7 to 13, 2026 in New York: over 100 premieres, including 35 world premieres, as BroadwayWorld reports.

The festival will open with JACKRABBIT, an American mystery-comedy-thriller by Ballard C. Boyd, an Emmy and Peabody winner and a longtime producer and director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Shot on the streets of New York, the film stars Kuhoo Verma, Taylor Ortega, Saamer Usmani, Soojeong Son and Mark Gessner, and follows an investigative journalist and a struggling actress who team up after the mysterious disappearance of their best friend. Boyd and the film’s team are confirmed for Opening Night.

Special presentations include: GANGLAND, Vincent Grashaw’s crime drama with Lou Diamond Phillips and Nick Stahl; 3 DAYS RISING, a psychological-horror re-interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”, with the final leading performance of the late Peter Greene alongside Mickey Rourke and Ice-T; JESUS LAND, the adaptation of Julia Scheeres’ bestselling memoir with Juliette Lewis; Louis Nero’s MILAREPA with Harvey Keitel and F. Murray Abraham; and THE KING OF BLACK GOO with DJ Qualls and Margaret Cho.

The festival partners with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) through the “Made in NY” listening tour with Commissioner Rafael Espinal — on incentives, permits and resources to keep New York a place where film can flourish; in addition, a screening series with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is planned.

The international program brings from South Korea KARLOVY VARY, a comedy-drama about the chaos of making an independent film; from Japan Toshio Sekine’s SHAMBHALA STORY, which starts from Tibetan Buddhism toward Japan, amid spirituality, duty and forbidden love; and from France Emilie Tommasi’s THE GLIWENSBOURG CHRONICLES, a time-travel fantasy set in the era of the First World War.

Founded in 2009 by Jorge Ballos, the festival is led by executive director and head of programming Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago. “With over 100 premieres and filmmakers from all over the world, this edition reflects what makes New York an extraordinary place for independent film”, she said. More details at sohofilmfest.com.