Founded in 1961, WorldFest-Houston is the third-oldest international film festival in North America. This spring, WorldFest returns to Houston with a week’s worth of screenings, film seminars, and its prestigious Remi Awards Gala.
What is WorldFest?
While festivals like Cannes or Sundance are known for debuting the latest and greatest in cinema, WorldFest is more of discovery festival focused on independent cinema.
The longstanding, filmmaker-friendly festival is credited for discovering cinematic giants before they hit big. Before they were household names, Steven Speilberg, George Lucas and Ridley Scott (among others) received early career recognition at WorldFest in Houston.
The 59th Annual WorldFest runs from April 24 – May 3, 2026. The 2026 festival program features a wide variety of screenings, including feature films and shorts, as well as filmmaker seminars, Q&As, a wellness program, festival hub, and the Remi Awards Dinner.
Screenings at WorldFest
This year, WorldFest is bringing a staggering 34 feature films and 89 short films to the Cinemark Memorial City. The program represents over 60 countries, making it a true global takeover of the Houston movie scene.
“We’re building on what has always made WorldFest special, which is discovery,” said Festival Director Katy Lea Cannon in a press release. “But we’re expanding that idea. It’s not just about discovering films. It’s about supporting filmmakers—how they connect, sustain themselves, and grow creative careers over time.”
The festival will roll out the red carpet for its marquee event: a screening of Star Sailors: Past the Horizon, a high-concept, Portuguese film. Following the screening, a Q&A with the director will take place.
WorldFest Village
This year, the festival will debut its first-ever WorldFest Village at Memorial City Mall. Serving as the central hub of the festival, WorldFest Village will provide a space for festival-goers to check-in as well as a space for community activations, meetups, and filmmaker resources.
Seminars and Filmmaker Resources
Over the course of the festival, WorldFest will host a number of industry-focused seminars. Topics will range from music licensing and supervision, distribution pathways, and the filmmaking biz. The festival will record a number of conversations with filmmakers and studio leaders in collaboration with Captiv Studios podcast studio activation.
Wellness Programming
This year’s festival will see an expansion of its wellness program, that which will include such activities as yoga, rest spaces, and sound baths.
Remi Awards Dinner
On Saturday, May 2, the festival will host the Remi Awards Dinners at Hotel ZaZa Memorial City. The dinner is the festival’s grand finale and awards ceremony, where a jury-based scoring system will crown its winning filmmakers. The event is black-tie optional; cocktail reception begins at 7 pm followed by the dinner and awards presentation at 8 pm.
How to get tickets to WorldFest in Houston?
Tickets to Worldfest are available through the festival’s official website. Aspiring festival-goers can choose from a variety of passes that which relate to screenings, seminars, and more comprehensive passes. VIP passes are also available. Note that passes do not ensure entry at screenings; as such, festival-goers are encouraged to make reservations ahead of time.
