EIFF at 40: What’s still ahead before the festival closes Oct. 3
Official 2026 Edmonton International Film Festival promotional artwork.
Photo credit: Edmonton International Film Festival
The 40th Edmonton International Film Festival heads into its final three days with several Canadian features still on the schedule, filmmaker Q&As, one of this year’s newly announced jury-award winners and a closing-night gala tied directly to Edmonton’s screen industry.
EIFF began Sept. 24 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 3, with screenings at Landmark Cinemas 9 Edmonton City Centre and Metro Cinema at the Garneau. Much of the festival’s Alberta and anniversary programming has already taken place, including the opening-night screening of Cody Lightning’s Smudge the Blades, the Creative Screen Business Summit and the Studio A local shorts programs. The remaining schedule from Thursday through Saturday is smaller, but there are still several Canadian films and events worth pulling out of the full program.
Thursday’s Canadian feature is Wayne Wapeemukwa’s Manhunt, currently listed for 6 p.m. at Landmark Cinemas 9 City Centre with a filmmaker Q&A. EIFF’s official materials disagree on that particular slot: the current schedule-at-a-glance lists Manhunt, while the longer festival program guide still lists Mélanie Charbonneau’s The Furies at the same time and theatre. Readers planning to attend the 6 p.m. screening should check EIFF’s live schedule before heading out.
Friday brings one of the festival’s award winners back into focus. Walter Thompson-Hernández’s If I Go Will They Miss Me, which EIFF has named Best Dramatic Feature for 2026, screens at Metro Cinema at the Garneau at 6:30 p.m. The 95-minute U.S. drama follows a 12-year-old boy growing up beneath the flight path into Los Angeles International Airport, where family relationships and his fascination with the aircraft above him begin to merge in his imagination.
A Canadian option follows at 7:30 p.m. Friday with Send the Rain, directed by Hayley Gray and Kaayla Whachell. The drama centres on an Okinawan-Canadian woman who returns home as a looming disaster threatens her grandmother’s farm, bringing unresolved family history with it. EIFF lists the film as a 2026 Canadian production.
Saturday has the heaviest concentration of remaining Canadian work. Mike Lobel’s documentary Don’t Come Upstairs screens at 12:30 p.m. with a filmmaker Q&A, followed at 3 p.m. by Ian Bawa’s Strong Son, also with a Q&A. Bawa’s feature follows a South Asian bodybuilder who moves back into his father’s home to become his primary caregiver while trying to maintain his own physical and mental health. The film had its world premiere at TIFF in September and was produced by Farpoint Films and Thin Stuff Productions.
The festival closes with Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Brett Harvey’s Canadian documentary is followed by a Q&A and EIFF’s closing-night after-party, and its presence on the final night also brings an Edmonton production company into the program. Edmonton-based Score G Productions produced the film, and the company says producer Shane Fennessey will be among those presenting it in Edmonton. Score G also has a longer history with EIFF: The Union won Best Canadian Documentary at the festival in 2007.
Regular screenings in the remaining program are generally listed at $15, while the Funny Money closing-night screening is $20. EIFF’s 2026 program guide lists a $40 option combining the film and after-party, a six-film pack for $75 and an All-Access pass for $199. The festival’s current homepage says individual tickets and passes are available through its ticketing system.
EIFF runs through Oct. 3. Because the festival’s current schedule-at-a-glance and longer program guide disagree on the Oct. 1 6 p.m. screening, readers should use EIFF’s live schedule for the final screening time and ticket check before attending.
