San Quentin Film Festival sets third edition for October with PBS preview

A film festival held inside a working prison returns next month for its third year.

The 2026 San Quentin Film Festival is scheduled for Oct. 22-23 at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County, California, according to the lineup announcement reported by The Hollywood Reporter. It is the only film festival held inside a U.S. prison. The festival was co-founded by Cori Thomas, who serves as artistic director.

Seventy-five films were entered. That is the pool for the 2026 competition.

The structure is unusual. The Short Film categories are open only to currently and formerly incarcerated film-makers, and they are judged by the festival's Industry Jury of film professionals. The Feature category is decided differently, by an Inside Jury made up of San Quentin residents.

There is a new section this year. The Long Short category covers films running up to 40 minutes. It will be judged by a second Inside Jury, composed of residents at the Central California Women's Facility.

The programme will start early. A preview night on Wednesday, Oct. 21 will screen the first hour of Crime and Punishment in America, a four-part documentary series from PBS, for San Quentin residents.

The series is directed by Lynn Novick and executive produced by Ken Burns and Sam Pollard. It is narrated by Keith David, with voice performances by Samuel L. Jackson, Laura Linney, Bobby Cannavale, Matthew Rhys, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Hyde Pierce and BD Wong, as listed by The Hollywood Reporter.

The broadcast is organised for later in the autumn. Crime and Punishment in America will air over four consecutive nights on PBS beginning Nov. 16, 2026, and will stream on PBS digital platforms for four weeks.

What makes this stand out is who decides. Industry figures judge one set of prizes, while incarcerated residents judge the rest, putting the audience inside the prison at the centre of the event.