Mill Valley Film Festival 48 (Oct. 2-12, 2025)

[Chris Knipp]

Mill Valley Film Festival 48 (Oct. 2-12, 2025)

GENERAL FILM FORUM LINK

The Mill Valley is one of America's best small film fests, and not really so small: it features some of the season's most important films. It traditionally has showcased a curated selection of independent films, including international features, documentaries, and shorts, often with a focus on gender equity and social issues. This year's festival, #48, runs from October 2 to October 12, 2025, opening with Chloé Zhao's HAMNET and featuring a tribute to Spike Lee. The festival also includes various programs like Mind the Gap for gender equity and Active Cinema for impactful documentaries, along with panels, workshops, and networking opportunities for attendees.

Mark Fishkin was the founder and longtime director of the Mill Valley Film Festival since its founding in 1977 until recently, but has now stepped back to a part-time role. Under his directorship it grew to an internationally noted event, always with a great selection of many of the best new films of the festival year.

Highlights include Cannes winners It Was Just an Accident (Palme d’Or), Sentimental Value (Grand Jury Prize), The Secret Agent (Best Director, Best Actor), Sirāt and Sound of Falling (Jury Prize), plus The President’s Cake, After the Hunt, Blue Moon, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Bugonia, The Mastermind, No Other Choice, Is This Thing On?, Wake Up Dead Man, Once Upon a Time in Gaza and more.

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet and Hikari’s Rental Family will topline the 48th Mill Valley Film Festival, as the lineup was announced by Founder/Director Mark Fishkin and Director of Programming Zoë Elton this week.

This year’s lineup features 138 films from 40 countries, with 52% of the films directed or co-directed by women or non-binary filmmakers.