DOXA Documentary Film Festival, returns to present the 25th edition from April 30 to May 10, 2026. The 2026 line-up showcases 40 features and 29 short or mid-length films, including 27 Canadian films alongside international films from 41 countries. Forty visiting filmmakers and industry leaders will be in attendance. Films holding their World Premieres at DOXA 2026 include Under the Red Roof by Yushi Nagamatsu, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific by Tanner Zurkoski, The Flower and the Flood by Elisa González and Bubba by Kayli Koonar.
Screenings will take place at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, The Cinematheque and VIFF Centre, with industry events held at SFU’s World Art Centre and The Post at 750.
Galas
The DOXA 2026 Opening Gala presentation is the live cinematic performance piece Bella Sutra, taking place at 7:00pm on Thursday, April 30 at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Directed and narrated by OK Pedersen and accompanied by musicians Eden Glasman and Jakob Tokarczyk, Bella Sutra is a personal essay about life as an innkeeper in Bella Coola, BC. With honesty and levity, the piece reflects on our current communication crisis, the rural/urban philosophical divide, and the myth of progress. The presentation will be followed by a reception with refreshments.
Bella sutra
DOXA’s Mid-Week Gala presentation, taking place at 7:00pm on May 6 at VIFF Centre, is the BC Premiere of Concrete Turned to Sand, directed by local filmmakers Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora. The film follows oyster farmers on Cortes Island, BC, and observes the shifting intertidal zone under the pressures of ocean warming and acidification. Johnson and Ermacora will also participate in an Industry Panel on May 2 at 3pm at SFU’s World Art Centre.
DOXA’s Justice Forum is returning for its 16th year, highlighting films that showcase resistance, environmental justice and human rights. Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom is the Justice Forum Special Presentation, which will screen at 5:15pm on May 1 at VIFF Centre. The film explores the connection between two families and the famous photograph Saigon Execution. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kim Nguyen will be in attendance.
Saigon Story: Two Shootings in the Forest Kingdom | Courtesy of NFB
The Closing Gala presentation is the BC Premiere of Time and Water, from Oscar-nominated director Sara Dosa, and will take place at 6:30pm May 9 at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. The film is a lyrical meditation on climate grief, memory and belonging, centred on writer Andri Snær Magnason. Drawing from Magnason’s home movies and photographs, myths and songs, the film is an intimate and expansive cinematic journey through memory and loss.
Notables
Other highlights from this year’s lineup include AMERICAN DOCTOR (Sundance, Hot Docs), Bouchra (TIFF), Traces (Berlinale), Who is Still Alive (Venice, Hot Docs), Steal This Story, Please! (DOC NYC, Hot Docs), Windward (Cinema du réel), Powwow People (TIFF), Alea Jacarandas (Visions du reel), Life After Siham (ACID Cannes), The Sandbox (CPH:DOX, Hot Docs) and The Oldest Person in the World (Sundance, Hot Docs).
The Sandbox | Photo by Kenya-Jade Pinto
Local features with filmmakers in attendance include təm kʷaθ nan Namesake, Green Valley, Touching Rocks, In Tyee Country and The Latest News from ‘Deseret,’ as well as the previously mentioned Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific and Concrete Turned to Sand.
Country of Honour
DOXA will present South Korea as the Country of Honour with guest curation by Byungwon Jang, Head Programmer of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs). Jang previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Korean film weekly FILM2.0 and worked as a programmer for the Jeonju International Film Festival. Currently, he is active as a film critic and teaches film theory at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.
Beyond Now, Nyein
This guest-curated program includes feature films Beyond Now, Nyein (2025) and Untold (2021), and short films The Silent Bearers (2023) and Last May in Theatres (2025). Tying these films together, Byungwon Jang is also contributing an essay, titled No Barriers, No Nations: Transnational Expansion in Contemporary Korean Documentary, to be published in the 2026 DOXA program book.
Also this year
Returning to the festival this year is DOXA’s Rated Y for Youth–a program of films curated to foster media literacy in youths. The popular paraDOXA program, which spotlights experimental and boundary-pushing documentaries, will return for its second year.
In addition, DOXA’s robust industry program will feature panels and masterclasses, as well as a series of free workshops and a surprise screening held in partnership with VPL’s Central Library.
All tickets and festival passes are on sale now at doxafestival.ca. Festival passes include access to all film screenings as well as our Opening and Closing Galas, and Mid-Week Film.
