Joseph Moser
Great cinema can cure late-winter blues, immersing viewers in manifold visions and cultures. This year marks the 25th Green Mountain Film Festival, from March 12 to 15, in downtown Montpelier, with films screening at the Savoy and Capitol theaters. Here are 11 exciting films you should book tickets for right now. Online ticketing is at tickets.gmffestival.org/2026.
“The Scout” — Thursday, March 12, 6:15 p.m.
The 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.
“Late Shift” — Friday, March 13, 7:15 p.m.
The phenomenal Leonie Benesch, who played 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.
“The Little Sister” — Sunday, March 15, 4:30 p.m.
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.
“I Only Rest in the Storm” — Saturday, March 14, 7 p.m.
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.
“Arco” — Friday, March 13, 10:30 a.m. and Saturday, March 14, 10 a.m.
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.
“Godzilla” (1956) — Friday, March 13, 3:15 p.m.
Festival 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.
“My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in Moscow” — Thursday, March 12, 12 p.m.
The Green Mountain Film Festival 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.
“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” — Sunday, March 15, 2 p.m.
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.
“The Ozu Diaries” — Friday, March 13, 12:30 p.m.
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.
“Sun Ra: Do the Impossible” — Saturday, March 14, 12 p.m.
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.
“Cutting Through Rocks” — Sunday, March 15, 6:45 p.m.
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.
In addition to these riveting films, the festival offers Q&As 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. Purchase tickets and all-access passes at tickets.gmffestival.org/2026.
All film stills courtesy of GMFF. Disclosure: Joseph Moser is the publicity coordinator for GMFF.
