RAFF 2026: Rab Becomes an Island of Film, Dialogue and Music Once Again
Rab Film Festival 2026 will take place from 21 to 26 August on the island of Rab. The new edition of the festival will bring investigative film, talks, music, programmes for young audiences, documentary projects in development and festival encounters that will unfold over six days in the old town.
The Film Programme Is Being Shaped
The film programme is still being shaped. Film titles, festival guests and the detailed schedule will be announced gradually, once the selection, screening times and festival locations are confirmed. RAFF does not build its film programme a year in advance as a closed list of titles. It follows current international and regional production, festival premieres and films that have a reason to be shown now.
RAFF 2026 Programme Sections
What is already clear is that RAFF 2026 will continue to develop all of its recognisable programme sections: RAFF Cinema, RAFF Talk, RAFF Beat, RAFF Generation, RAFF Junior, RAFF Residency and Kino Murnau.
RAFF Cinema
RAFF Cinema remains the heart of the film programme — a space for documentary and fiction films that explore reality, open up important social questions and offer the audience more than a screening. RAFF looks for films that ask questions, start conversations and stay with viewers after the closing credits.
RAFF Talk
RAFF Talk continues to create space for conversations with filmmakers, journalists, experts and festival guests. At RAFF, films are not only an evening programme, but a starting point for discussions about media, society, culture, history, propaganda, justice, responsibility and the world we live in.
RAFF Beat
RAFF Beat brings the musical rhythm of the festival. The first confirmed programme of the new edition is a concert by Elvis Stanić AIRes Collective, taking place on Saturday, 22 August, at Trg slobode – the Rab square known as Pjaceta.
The concert will begin after the opening ceremony and the opening film at the Open-Air Cinema, and entrance to Pjaceta will be free. After the film, the first festival evening will continue with music on the square that becomes RAFF’s main meeting point.
RAFF Generation
RAFF Generation remains a space for young people, students and new generations of filmmakers and audiences. The programme connects film, media, education and critical thinking, with a special focus on encounters between students, film professionals, journalists and festival guests.
In cooperation with VERN’ University, one festival evening at Pjaceta will be dedicated to films by VERN’ students, continuing RAFF’s commitment to young authors and their first film works.
RAFF Junior
RAFF Junior brings cinema to the youngest audiences. Through film and educational content for children, the festival creates space for first encounters with film, storytelling, images and creativity. RAFF is not only a festival for those who already follow cinema, but also for those who are just becoming an audience.
RAFF Residency
RAFF Residency is a programme for documentary projects in development. It gives filmmakers and producers time, space and focus for their work, while connecting the festival with films that are still taking shape.
As part of RAFF 2026, the Croatian documentary project Through the Process / Kroz proces by director Marina Petković Liker and producer Tiha K. Gudac will continue its development on Rab, after receiving the RAFF Residency Award at the ZagrebDox Pro Slow Pitch programme.
Kino Murnau
Kino Murnau reminds us that the island is not only the festival’s location, but also a place with its own cinematic memory. Through classics, special screenings and film history, Kino Murnau connects cinema’s past with its present.
RAFF 2026 Is in Full Preparation
RAFF 2026 is now in full preparation. The film selection is underway, the programme will grow as films, guests and dates are confirmed, and all new information will be published on the festival’s official website and social media channels.
From 21 to 26 August, Rab once again becomes a place of film, dialogue, music, education and new documentary projects in development.
Truth needs an audience. RAFF brings it together again.
