Marbella International Film Festival: A Visitor's Guide

Every autumn, independent filmmakers, producers and actors spend a week moving between a five-star hotel on the Estepona side of the coast and a multiplex on Puerto Banús's Avenida Julio Iglesias, watching each other's films and pitching new ones to investors. Most of Marbella barely notices, which is part of the appeal: the screenings are open to anyone with €10. The Marbella International Film Festival, founded in 2006, runs its 21st edition from 7 to 12 October 2026; anyone can buy screening tickets at €10 a film or €45 for the lot, while the receptions and the gala dinner need a VIP pass.

Below are the dates, venues, prices and the shape of a festival night, plus how one of our companions in Marbella fits into a screening or the awards dinner. If you already plan to book an escort in Marbella for the week, the last section covers October rates.

The Marbella International Film Festival at a Glance

The Marbella International Film Festival is an independent-film festival founded in 2006 by the New World Trust, a non-profit. Its 21st edition runs from 7 to 12 October 2026, with the METT Hotel & Beach Resort as its hub and screenings at the Odeon Multicines in Puerto Banús, at €10 a film.

The Festival in One Table

Figures are from the festival's 2026 programme; the industry passes are priced in sterling and the screening tickets in euros.

Who Runs It, and What It Is For

The festival is the flagship of the New World Trust, and its director is Mac Chakaveh. According to its Wikipedia entry, the films are chosen each year from several hundred applications. The pitch is commercial as much as artistic: the festival describes itself as a place where filmmakers meet financiers, distributors and the wealthy residents who call Marbella home. That explains the daily networking mornings, the masterclasses and the Pitch Your Vision session, and why so much of the week happens in a hotel rather than a cinema.

When Is the Marbella Film Festival?

Usually across the turn of September and October. The 2025 edition ran from Monday 29 September to Sunday 5 October; the 2026 edition runs from Wednesday 7 to Monday 12 October, with screenings from the 7th to the 11th. The dates move every year, so check the official site before booking flights.

The 2026 Week, Day by Day

The provisional schedule follows the pattern of recent years. Each day opens with registration and networking at the METT from 11:00 to 12:00, the industry sessions fill the afternoons there, and the screenings run in two evening blocks at about 17:00 and 19:30. The workshops are spread across the week: Fund Your Film on the Thursday, the AI and Media Creation panel on the Friday, Acting on Camera and Pitch Your Vision on the Saturday, and the Director's Cut masterclass on the Sunday. Evenings are then free for dinner, which suits anyone attending for the films rather than the deals.

Mind the 12 October Holiday

Monday 12 October is the Fiesta Nacional, Spain's national day and a public holiday, which turns the festival's final weekend into a long one for Spanish visitors. Expect Puerto Banús restaurants to fill on the Saturday and Sunday nights in a way they do not on the Wednesday or Thursday. If you can choose your nights, the midweek screenings are quieter, dinner is easier to book, and hotel rates are lower too.

What Gets Screened, and Who Turns Up

Independent features, documentaries and short films from around the world, plus a strand of AI-made films, selected for an awards competition with a handful of world premieres. Expect working filmmakers, producers and actors rather than a red carpet of A-listers, although the festival has drawn names such as William Shatner, who collected an award in person in 2009.

The Official Selection

Sessions bundle several films together: in the 2026 provisional schedule, a seven-minute short shares a slot with a 104-minute Romanian feature. In 2025 the awards covered best feature, documentary, short and shorter short, actor, actress, director, newcomer, AI-generated film and AI director. That year's best feature was Dead Actually, a British countryside comedy directed by Deanna Dewey, which also won best actress for Sandra Dickinson. If you want one session that sums up the festival, pick an evening block that mixes shorts with a feature.

Past Winners and Guests We Can Vouch For

The 2009 best documentary, William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet, was collected by Shatner himself. Timothy Spall won best actor in 2017 for Stanley a Man of Variety, and Matthew Goode won it in 2024 for Freud's Last Session. In 2025 Kevin McNally gave the festival's directing and acting masterclass. The festival also publishes a longer list of famous names on its website; we only repeat what the record supports, because winning an award in Marbella is not the same as turning up for it.

How Do You Get Tickets as a Member of the Public?

Buy them on the festival website. A screening ticket is €10 a film, or €20 for the sessions held at the METT, and €45 covers every official screening from 7 to 11 October. Day passes are sold for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Receptions, after-parties and the gala dinner need a VIP pass rather than a ticket.

Screening Tickets and the €45 Pass

Ticket prices come from the festival's official site, which also describes the Odeon Multicines as seven auditoriums seating between 115 and 475. A session runs about two hours, so the 19:30 block finishes around 21:30, which is exactly when Puerto Banús sits down to dinner. Tickets are sold per film, not per session, so an evening block of four shorts costs €40; if you plan to see more than four films, the €45 pass is the better buy.

Industry and VIP Passes

The early-bird Industry Pass is £475 and covers every screening, the daily networking mornings and three masterclasses. The VIP Festival Pass is £975 and adds one-to-one meetings with industry guests, the official after-parties and the gala awards dinner. Packages with accommodation start at £1,100 per person sharing at the Exe Estepona Thalasso & Spa and £1,750 at the METT, or £1,530 and £2,180 for single occupancy. For a visitor who wants the gala and nothing else, the published route in is the VIP pass, priced per person.

Screening Night vs Gala Night

A screening night is informal: a 17:00 or 19:30 session at the Odeon in Puerto Banús, then dinner in the port at about 21:30. The gala night is the dressed-up one, with a poolside cocktail reception and a seated dinner and awards at the METT, which in 2025 ran from 19:00 to midnight on the final Sunday. They suit different evenings.

A Screening Night in Puerto Banús

Smart casual is enough for a multiplex, and the rest of the evening is the port: a short walk to the marina, dinner on or behind the quayside, perhaps a drink afterwards. The gap between the 17:00 and 19:30 blocks is about half an hour, enough for a drink but not for dinner, so pick one block and eat afterwards. It is the easiest festival evening to plan and the cheapest, and it works on any night of the week. Our Puerto Banús guide covers the restaurants and bars within walking distance of the cinema.

The Gala Dinner at the METT

In 2025 the awards night began with a cocktail reception by the pool from 19:00 to 20:00, followed by the gala dinner at the hotel's Ammos restaurant until midnight, on Sunday 5 October; the 2023 edition held its awards on Sunday 8 October. The METT is a five-star beach resort with around 240 rooms and suites on the Estepona side of the municipal boundary, a taxi ride west of Puerto Banús rather than a walk. The festival publishes no dress code. For a seated awards dinner at a five-star hotel on this coast, a dark suit is the minimum and a dinner jacket is never wrong.

Opening Night and the After-Parties

For 2026 the festival opens with a cocktail reception aboard a private yacht in the Puerto Banús marina, and there is a festival night out in the port during the week. In 2025 the parties ran from a beach kiosk at the METT to a Puerto Banús club and a masked after-party at the hotel. All of them are for VIP pass holders and invited guests, so a screening ticket does not get you in.

Why October Suits a Festival Trip to Marbella

The festival falls in the shoulder season. The sea is still warm, the August crowds have gone, restaurants take bookings a day or two ahead, and rates across the coast sit below their peak. A festival week costs less and runs more calmly than a summer one, with the 12 October long weekend the one exception.

The Shoulder-Season Advantage

Our September guide makes the case for the early autumn in detail, and most of it still holds in the first half of October: beach clubs winding down rather than shut, long lunches outdoors and evenings warm enough for a terrace. The summer's big draw has gone by then, too: Starlite's 2025 concert season closed on 29 August. Our events calendar shows the coast otherwise quiet in October, so hotels and restaurants have room, apart from the holiday weekend.

Fill the Rest of the Week

The Museo del Grabado in the old town shows Dalí's 1973 book-object Diez recetas de inmortalidad until 15 November 2026, entry €5, and the Museo Ralli on the Golden Mile is free from Tuesday to Saturday. The municipal theatre's autumn programme is usually under way by October, though nearly all of it is in Spanish. Any of them pairs well with a screening on another night. Our guide to arts festivals in Marbella covers the season's other cultural evenings and how to fit dinner around them.

Booking an Event Companion for the Festival

Book an event companion for the gala and a dinner date for a screening night. The price is the same in October as in any other month: a dinner date is three hours at least, from €900, and an overnight €3,000 to €4,000, weekends included. Allow two weeks' notice for the gala, as for any formal event.

The Gala: Two Passes and a Brief

Passes are sold per person, so a companion at the awards dinner needs her own VIP pass; buy both together. Then brief her as you would for any seated event: who is at your table, what brings you there (an investment, a friend's film in competition or simply the films), and which titles you have seen. Our event companions are chosen for exactly this kind of room, and a VIP companion suits a table of producers and investors. The event booking guide covers the story and the dress.

Screening Nights and October Availability

A 19:30 screening followed by dinner in the port fits a standard dinner date, and in October we can usually confirm a companion for a weekday evening at a day's notice. The final weekend is different because of the national holiday, so book the Saturday and Sunday further ahead; our weekday versus weekend post explains how demand differs. Our Puerto Banús escorts page covers outcalls to the port's hotels and apartments, and the Estepona companions page the hotels nearest the METT.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Marbella International Film Festival 2026?

From Wednesday 7 to Monday 12 October 2026, the festival's 21st edition. Screenings run from 7 to 11 October at the Odeon Multicines in Puerto Banús, with the METT Hotel & Beach Resort as the hub for registration, industry sessions and the gala. The 2025 edition ran from 29 September to 5 October.

Can the public attend the Marbella Film Festival?

Yes. Anyone can buy a screening ticket on the festival website for €10 a film, or €20 for sessions held at the METT hotel, and a €45 pass covers every official screening. Receptions, after-parties and the gala dinner are for VIP pass holders and invited guests rather than ticket buyers.

Do celebrities go to the Marbella International Film Festival?

Occasionally, but it is an independent-film festival rather than a red-carpet event. William Shatner collected a best documentary award in person in 2009, and the actor Kevin McNally gave a masterclass in 2025. Most guests are working filmmakers, producers, investors and actors with films in competition.

What should I wear to the Marbella film festival gala?

The festival does not publish a dress code. For a seated awards dinner at a five-star hotel on this coast, a dark suit is the minimum and a dinner jacket is never wrong. Screenings at the multiplex need nothing more than smart casual, and the yacht reception calls for flat shoes.

Where should I stay for the Marbella film festival?

The METT Hotel & Beach Resort is the official hub, with festival packages from £1,750 per person sharing including a VIP pass, while the Exe Estepona package starts at £1,100. Staying in Puerto Banús puts you closer to the screenings and restaurants, but you will need taxis to the METT for the daytime sessions and the gala.