The 5th Annual Flores Film Festival returns Saturday, October 24, with ten official selections in Sacramento.
The 2026 edition carries the theme “The Year of the Bloom,” celebrating five years of growth, CBS News reports.
What's Playing This Year
The 2026 program includes ten Official Selections split across three categories: four narrative shorts up to 15 minutes, four shorts under five minutes, and two documentary shorts up to 15 minutes.
Among the standouts is VETERANO, a neo-noir short written and directed by Patrick Epino and starring Jon Jon Briones, centered on an aging Filipino World War II veteran in 1981 San Francisco. The film previously won the Audience Award at the 2026 Asian American International Film Festival, according to its official site, Veterano Film. Also on the bill is Deville, one of the festival's selections.
No Entry Fee, Low Ticket Prices
Organizers kept the festival accessible to emerging filmmakers by charging no submission fees during the July 3 to August 3, 2026 entry window, FilmFreeway's event page states, a notable move given that many independent festivals charge entry fees ranging from $20 to $100. For audiences, doors open at 4:30 PM on October 24 with screenings starting at 5:30 PM, with $15 general admission and $12 discounted tickets for students, seniors, and veterans, along with free venue parking, according to a festival announcement on Instagram. Tickets are available both online in advance and at the door.
The festival's honors span eight competitive categories, including Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Cinematographer, Best Editor, Best Actor, and Best Actress, along with official selection laurels.
A Venue With Its Own Backstory
By October 2025, the Sheldon High School auditorium was known as the Paula D. Duncan Performing Arts Center.
The festival has also used its platform for community-driven storytelling before. In October 2025, the 4th Annual Flores Film Festival screened Re-Entrification, a documentary short exploring housing displacement in the Bay Area, as Lyrical Opposition reported at the time — a topic that remains an active point of debate across the region.
Part Of A Busy Fall For Sacramento Film
The Flores Film Festival's October slot lands amid a crowded autumn calendar for Sacramento-area cinema. The 5th Annual Oak Park Black Film Festival is also running this month at the historic Guild Theater, as Hoodline has previously reported.
