Sunrise Film Festival, East Anglia’s weekend-long film festival, has officially unveiled the programme for its highly anticipated fifth edition. Running from 20–23 August, the festival returns to its home at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft, expanding into a town-wide celebration of diverse stories, underrepresented filmmakers, and immersive community experiences.

As a BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) and Grierson qualifying festival, Sunrise has solidified its status as a major force in the UK film industry. Made possible with the support of the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), awarding funds from the National Lottery, this year’s festival is set to bring more independent cinema to wider audiences than ever before.

The 2026 edition marks a historic milestone for Sunrise, which received a staggering 1,136 submissions from East Anglia, the wider UK, and around the world, equating to just over 305 hours of viewing. From this highly competitive pool, volunteer curators built a bold, enlightening programme featuring 263 films across 52 separate curated screenings.

The lineup boasts 37 world premieres and spans 34 countries, striking a masterful balance between homegrown talent and global perspectives:

Sunrise continues to grow as the UK’s largest four-day celebration of underrepresented filmmakers. Demonstrating a fierce commitment to gender equality, with an incredible 68% of the 2026 programme being F-Rated, meaning the films are directed, produced, or written by women, or feature significant female characters on screen.

Watch Our Festival Trailer on YouTube Here

Or watch it on Instagram @sunrisefilmfest

Grab one of our Day or Weekend Festival Passes and plan your whole experience from your Eventive account with your Sunrise Festival Pass.

Day Passes - £7.50*

A Day Pass gives you access to everything we have to offer at the 5th Sunrise Film Festival.

*Excludes Family Friendly Outdoor Cinemas.

Festival Pass - £20

A Sunrise Festival Pass gives you access to everything we have to offer at the 5th Sunrise Film Festival.

Every special event, screening, and talk.

Film Pass - £12.50*

A Sunrise Film Pass gives you access to all film screenings we have to offer at the 5th Sunrise Film Festival.

Individual Tickets Are Only Available For Our Outdoor Cinema’s

Relaxed screenings are £3 for adults, and our family-friendly screenings are £6.50 for adults, and kids go free!

Sunrise is transforming Lowestoft into a vibrant cultural hub. Screenings and events will spill out from the traditional auditorium into the Marina Yard and across the Marina Road in the town centre.

New for this year is ‘B-Roll on Marina Road’, a street-wide takeover featuring an array of stalls by local makers and artists, along with free interactive activities for the public. Film lovers can also experience film in new forms at the Marina Studio with a dedicated Virtual Reality showcase (New Ways of Seeing) and the ultra-short Pocket Cinema micro shorts.

Families are well catered to, with 9 Family-Friendly Outdoor Cinema screenings powered by silent-disco-style headsets in the Marina Yard. Highlights include the Academy Award-winning Flow, classic favourites like Jurassic Park (1993) and Chicken Run, and a completely free outdoor screening of The Wild Robot on the closing day of the festival to celebrate the National Year of Reading.

From 20–23 August, the Marina Yard at the Marina Theatre will once again transform into a sun-soaked open-air cinema. Film lovers of all ages are invited to grab your blankets, pack your low-backed chairs, and experience the magic of cinema under the open sky, complete with high-quality Silent Headphones for a fully immersive experience.

Best of all, we're keeping things accessible for families, as Kids go absolutely free to all outdoor screenings, daytime relaxed screenings are just £3 per adult, and evening family screenings are only £6.50 per adult.

The four-day open-air lineup is packed with some delights, including award-winners, family favourites, and a completely free screening to celebrate the National Year of Reading.

Thursday, August 20: The fun kicks off with a relaxed, morning screening of the Academy Award-winning animated adventure Flow (11:30 AM). In the evening, families can join everyone’s favourite duo in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (5:30 PM), paired with a selection of animated shorts.

Friday, August 21: Hold onto your popcorn for one of cinema’s greatest adventures, Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park (1993) (5:30 PM), screening alongside curated family-friendly shorts.

Saturday, August 22: Start the day with a heartwarming, relaxed screening of the family adventure Little Amélie (11:30 AM), followed by a cracking afternoon adventure with Aardman’s beloved Chicken Run (4:00 PM).

Sunday, August 23: Sunrise is offering a completely free outdoor screening of the critically acclaimed The Wild Robot (11:00 AM). The weekend rounds out with the Family Friendly Shorts Mix Under 12 (1:00 PM) and the dazzling global animation showcase, Animated Feast (2:30 PM).

Audiences are encouraged to bring blankets or low-backed chairs.

Tickets are limited and have previously sold out quickly months before the festival! So don’t delay and remember Kids Go Free.

Made possible with support of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK.

Join us in Lowestoft from 20-23 August 2026 💛🧡🩷

P.S.

New here? Check out our Website to get a taste of what Sunrise is all about.