This is a reprint of Joe Moser's preview in this week's Bridge.
Great cinema can cure late-winter blues, immersing viewers in manifold visions and cultures. This year marks the 25th Green Mountain Film Festival, which is March 12 to 15 in downtown Montpelier, with films screening at the Savoy and Capitol Theaters. Here are eleven exciting films that you should book tickets for right now. Online ticketing is at tickets.gmffestival.org/2026/.
THE SCOUT | Thursday, 3/12, 6:15 p.m. Savoy Upstairs
GMFF’s opening-night film is by first-time director Paula González-Nasser, who based this day-in-the-life narrative on her own experiences in the TV industry. With equal parts humor and poignance, the movie follows a young location scout for a trashy new TV show as she enters the homes and workplaces of strangers across New York City and grapples with creeping self-doubt along the way. Sponsored by Good Girl Production.
LATE SHIFT | Friday, 3/13, 7:15 p.m. Savoy Upstairs
The phenomenal Leonie Benesch, who plays a noble educator in the exceptional 2023 thriller The Teachers’ Lounge takes on the role of a hardworking nurse pushed to her breaking point at an understaffed hospital in Germany. This film combines world-class acting, escalating tension, and powerful humanist drama. Sponsored by Sarducci's Restaurant and Bar.
THE LITTLE SISTER | Sunday, 3/15, 4:30 p.m. Capitol Theater
This coming-of-age story about a Parisian Muslim woman features a captivating lead performance by Nadia Melliti, who won the Best Actress award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for the movie in her debut role. The title character faces an interlocking set of dilemmas as she begins college, explores her sexuality, and navigates relationships with her loving but traditional family. Sponsored by Bear Pond Books.
I ONLY REST IN THE STORM | Saturday, 3/14, 7:00 p.m. Savoy Upstairs
Named one of the top ten films of the year by “Cahiers du Cinema,” this intense tale of clashing cultures from Portuguese director Pedro Pinho delves into the legacy of colonialism in West Africa and the ambiguity of NGO initiatives. The ambitious three-and-a-half-hour movie centers on a Portuguese environmental engineer who ventures to Guinea-Bissau to assess a controversial road construction project. Deeply philosophical and explicitly sexual, this film is for adults only. Sponsored by North Country Federal Credit Union.
ARCO | Friday, 3/13, 10:30 a.m. and Saturday, 3/14, 10:00 a.m. Capitol Theater
On the other end of the content spectrum is this family-friendly, Oscar-nominated sci-fi animated film from France. It’s a hopeful story of a boy from the distant future who transports himself back to the year 2075 and forms a unique friendship with a sensitive girl. Sponsored by Greenway. Please note: Friday show is sold out.
GODZILLA (1956) | Friday, 3/13, 3:15 p.m. Savoy Upstairs
GMFF cofounder Rick Winston will present a brief introduction and moderate a post-film discussion for this classic Japanese monster movie, which also offers bracing political and social commentary about the post-World War II world. Sponsored by Hunger Mountain Coop.
MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART 1 —LAST AIR IN MOSCOW | Thursday, 3/12, 12:00 p.m. Savoy Upstairs
GMFF could help us approach documentary nirvana in 2026, as My Undesirable Friends, which kicks off the festival at midday on Thursday, comes with a sterling reputation as one of the past year’s most acclaimed films. It follows young independent journalists in Russia as they strive to expose government propaganda and corruption and face mounting pressure from Putin’s regime to cease their reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Julia Loktev’s five-and-a-half-hour film will be shown with two short intermissions. Sponsored by The Bridge.
BLKNWS: TERMS & CONDITIONS | Sunday, 3/15, 2:00 p.m. Capitol Theater
Another of 2025’s most critically lauded releases, this documentary evolved from L.A. artist Kahlil Joseph’s renowned video installation of the same name, which he has been crafting since 2019. The film is an enthralling, kinetic meditation on African American history and identity. Sponsored by Center for Arts and Learning.
THE OZU DIARIES | Friday, 3/13, 12:30 p.m. Savoy Upstairs.
Fans of Japanese cinema and the humanist auteur behind such masterpieces as Tokyo Story will be delighted by this examination of the director’s life and work, as it uses Ozu’s own correspondence, diaries, and home movies as the backbone of the narrative. The documentary also weaves in interviews with contemporary filmmakers inspired by Ozu’s work, including Wim Wenders and Luc Dardenne. Sponsored by Capitol Stationers.
SUN RA: DO THE IMPOSSIBLE | Saturday, 3/14, 12:00 p.m. Capitol Theater
This is a compelling profile of the titular jazz legend, poet, and pioneering Afrofuturist who composed more than 1,000 songs and recorded over 200 albums, many under his own record label. Directed by Christine Turner, the filmmaker behind the powerful Oscar-nominated short documentary The Barber of Little Rock, the movie includes interviews with several former members of Sun Ra’s musical collective, the Arkestra. A Sun Ra record listening session will follow the screening at Hepcat jazz bar in downtown Montpelier. Sponsored by The Getup Vintage and Naive Melody Instrument Exchange.
CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS | Sunday, 3/15, 6:45 p.m. Capitol Theater
Current Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature and GMFF’s closing night film, Cutting Through Rocks is a thrilling bio-doc about defying repression that boasts breathtaking shots of the starkly beautiful Iranian countryside. The film tells the story of Sara Shahverdi, who becomes the first female elected official in her village and uses her platform to empower girls by promoting education and teaching them to ride motorcycles. Sponsored by North Country Federal Credit Union.
In addition to these eleven riveting films, the festival offers Q and A’s with filmmakers, several blocks of short films (including a Vermont shorts program), two restorations of American queer movies from 2001, a 25th GMFF party on Friday, March 13, and more fun events. You can purchase tickets and all-access passes now at tickets.gmffestival.org/2026/. Don’t miss out on all the phenomenal GMFF films and events this year.
Joe Moser writes film reviews for The Bridge and is a GMFF volunteer.
