Middleburg 2026: The Debut Opens, Being Heumann Closes
Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut will open the 14th Middleburg Film Festival and Siân Heder's Being Heumann will close it. The lineup was reported by Variety on 1 Oct, ahead of the festival's run on 15-18 Oct.
The four-day event keeps a simple shape. One film opens. One film closes. The closing slot is set.
The closer is Being Heumann, an Apple Original Film directed by Siân Heder, according to the same report. Apple Original Film means the picture was made for release by Apple. Heder's title takes the final-night position that traditionally sends audiences home.
The opener is The Debut from Eisenberg, who directs as well as acts. It will play first as the festival gets under way on 15 Oct.
Two showcase slots sit in the middle of the programme. La Bola Negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi is set as the Friday Spotlight. Behemoth! by Tony Gilroy is set as the Sunday Spotlight.
A Spotlight, in festival language, is a featured screening picked out from the wider schedule. Friday and Sunday are prime evenings. Those two titles get that treatment.
The festival also named its honourees for this year. Martin McDonagh will receive the Director Spotlight Award for Wild Horse Nine. Seth Rogen will receive the MFF Artistic Achievement Award.
McDonagh's award is tied to a specific title, Wild Horse Nine. Rogen's award honours broader creative work under the festival's own banner.
Acting and craft prizes follow. Rosalind Eleazar will receive the Breakthrough Actor Award for Misty Green. Brad Bird will receive the Spotlight Animation Award for Ray Gunn.
Eleazar is recognised for her performance in Misty Green. Bird, a veteran of animation, is recognised for Ray Gunn.
Two further honours look beyond directing and acting. Casting directors Adam Caldwell and Bernard Telsey will receive the festival's Special Achievement in Casting Award. Casting is the work of finding and selecting actors for each role.
Guitarricadelafuente will receive the International Spotlight Award. Billie Jean King and Bill Pullman are listed as special guests of the festival.
For audiences, this means a compact four days. An Eisenberg opener. A Heder closer. Spotlights from Calvo and Ambrossi and from Gilroy. Plus a run of on-stage presentations for McDonagh, Rogen, Eleazar, Bird, Caldwell, Telsey and Guitarricadelafuente, with King and Pullman also expected to appear.
