2024 Film Festival Dates: Film Festival Calendar

The Spool Staff
December 28, 2023

Whether you’re a filmmaker eager to make your mark on world cinema, a producer on the lookout for the next big thing, a journalist tracking the latest movies, or a cinephile simply looking to have a good time, then for you, we’ve made a comprehensive list of all the film festivals that will be happening this 2024.

We’ve sectioned them into two: the major film fests you’ve likely already heard about— that is those that are so popular and esteemed that the attendees usually go on to win prestigious awards like the Oscars later in the season—and the smaller film fests you likely haven’t heard about, but are just well-regarded and offer something uniquely special.

We will update this list as more dates are confirmed, but for now, here are all the film festivals from around the world you should keep an eye on.

Major Film Festivals

There used to only be five definitive film festivals—Berlinale, Cannes, Venice, TIFF, and Sundance—but thanks to a rapidly growing industry, a couple of others have emerged as must-see events that have an immense sway on both the awards circuit and what audiences choose to watch. The Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, for instance, famously screens internationally acclaimed films that are showing simultaneously in bigger fests like Venice. So below is an updated list of the major film festivals, a link to their website, and their confirmed dates.

Other Film Festivals

These festivals may be smaller in scope and notoriety, but they serve an important purpose: they screen films most people won’t otherwise get to see. Some fests are representative of their community (the Busan Film Fest, for instance, serves as the largest platform for Asian cinema). Other fests specialize in overlooked genres (the Locarno Film Fest has a reputation for screening the boldest and most bonkers films of the year). Plenty, too, offer incredible lineups that feature the best of the year, like Slamdance, BFI London, and the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Here is a full list of all those festivals:

January

February

March

April

  • HotDocs: April 25 – May 5, 2024

May

June

July

August

September

October

November