From March 25 to 29, 2026, Guadeloupe will host the 9ᵉ edition of the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026. In less than a decade, the festival has become one of the major events in contemporary Caribbean cinema. Since its inception in 2017, the festival has established itself as an essential platform for new cinematic writing from the region, while promoting exchanges with international creation.
This new edition promises to be a highly anticipated one. With short-film competitions, original screenings, immersive features and professional programs, the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026 confirms its role as a creative laboratory for emerging Caribbean filmmakers.
A 2026 poster combining urban poetry and Caribbean identity
To accompany this ninth edition, the organizers have unveiled an official poster signed by multi-disciplinary visual artist Shahine Héry. The image, from her series Lapwent created in 2025 in Pointe-à-Pitre, captures a fragile moment between the fading night and the dawning day.
In the photograph, a man appears seated on the tip of a building, suspended between reverie and contemplation. The scene evokes a moment of introspection, but also a feeling of freedom and openness. This visual composition speaks directly to the identity of the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026, which seeks to propose new narrative and artistic perspectives.
The city of Pointe-à-Pitre, the beating heart of Guadeloupe, serves here as a symbolic backdrop. The image reflects the urban realities, historical struggles and contemporary aspirations of Caribbean society. This sensitive, engaged dimension is perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the festival, which highlights singular views of the world.
A festival that has become a benchmark for Caribbean cinema
Since its first edition in 2017, the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026 has pursued a clear ambition: to provide a stage for filmmakers who are renewing the narrative and aesthetic forms of Caribbean cinema.
The festival focuses on several major themes:
- – an official competition devoted to short fiction films
- – out-of-competition screenings
- – a VR Room dedicated to immersive experiences
- – the NR Academy a program for professionals in the audiovisual sector
This approach supports emerging talent while building bridges with the international film industry. Over the years, the event has established itself as a place of discovery for Guadeloupe audiences, as well as a meeting place for directors, producers and programmers from all over the Caribbean.
Program 1: seven short films in competition
The short film competition is one of the highlights of the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026. The first program brings together seven films from several Caribbean territories and the diaspora.
These works will be shown :
- – Friday, March 27, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
- – Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
The screenings will take place in the Auditorium of the Palais de la Culture Félix Proto in Les Abymes.
The selection highlights a diversity of cinematic approaches and sensibilities:
- – Night Shift directed by Lynda Dalexis – Guadeloupe
- – Sunny by German Gruber Jr. – Curaçao
- – The Road We Travel by Mary Cecilia Walker – Barbados
- – The Terrifying Fear of the Void by Anthony Chambeau – Martinique
- – Las, Fiya (Last Fire) by Kat Anderson – Jamaica / Great Britain
- – Stevende Lavado Stubbs – Bahamas / Canada
- – Anba Dlo by Luiza Calagian and Rosa Caldeira – Cuba / Brazil / Haiti
With a total duration of 1 hour and 33 minutes this program reflects the narrative and aesthetic richness of the region’s young filmmakers.
Program 2: six films to explore other narratives
The second competition program continues this exploration of new voices in Caribbean cinema. It includes six short films with a total running time of 1 hour and 26 minutes.
Sessions are scheduled :
- – Friday, March 27, 2026 at 8:30 p.m.
- – Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.
Also at the Palais de la Culture Félix Proto this program offers a variety of cinematic worlds.
The selected films are :
- – Hello
- – Fort Buku
- – Gloria
- – Children’s games
- – Kavalyé O Dam
- – Cœur Bleu
This selection illustrates the evolution of themes and narrative forms explored by Caribbean creators, from social issues to intimate experiences and cultural imaginaries.
A platform for new generations of filmmakers
In addition to screenings, the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026 plays a strategic role in structuring the Caribbean audiovisual sector. Visit NR Academy provides a forum for exchange and training for professionals and young creators. Through meetings, workshops and discussions with experts in the sector, this program addresses the challenges of production, distribution and broadcasting of Caribbean cinema.
The presence of international works never before seen in Guadeloupe also reinforces the festival’s openness to other artistic horizons. This international dimension contributes to a broader dialogue between the Caribbean and the world’s cinematographies.
Guadeloupe, home of Caribbean cinema
By hosting the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026, Guadeloupe confirms its central role in the development of the Caribbean’s cultural industries. The festival contributes to the region’s artistic dynamism, while offering local audiences the opportunity to discover works that are rarely shown in traditional circuits. It also helps to raise the profile of Caribbean talent on the international scene.
Through its programming and its commitment to new writing, the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026 pursues an essential mission: to give a voice to filmmakers who tell the story of today’s Caribbean and imagine the Caribbean of tomorrow.
The Nouveaux Regards Film Festival 2026 will take place from March 25 to 29, 2026 in Guadeloupe.
Screenings of the short film competition will take place in the Auditorium of the Palais de la Culture Félix Proto, in Les Abymes.
The festival showcases new writing in Caribbean cinema, supports emerging directors and fosters exchanges between Caribbean creators and the international scene.
