The Women and the World International Film Festival (IFFWW) has announced the programme for its third edition, which runs in London from 5 to 12 November 2026. Opening night takes place on 5 November at Ham Yard Hotel with Lilly, starring Patricia Clarkson, an Academy Award nominee who has also won a Golden Globe and three Emmys. Rachel Feldman directed and co-wrote the film, her first theatrical feature, which tells the true story of equal-pay campaigner Lilly Ledbetter. A Q&A with Feldman follows the screening. Clarkson will send a recorded message to the audience, and organisers are exploring a virtual appearance.
The competition includes the world premiere of Laya, a Philippine feature directed by Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo. Its producers have confirmed that the London screening will be the film’s first public showing, ahead of its national premiere in the Philippines later in November. The filmmaking team plans to attend the Q&A, and lead actress Andrea Brillantes hopes to join them, subject to visa approval.
Festival Director Kseniia Bugrimova curated the competition, which covers fiction and documentary features along with short films. Almost 90 percent of the selected films are London or UK premieres. Screenings run beside filmmaker Q&As, industry conversations, masterclasses, roundtables and networking events across the city.
The eight-member international jury includes actors David Gyasi and Olwen Fouéré; documentary filmmaker Elena Andreicheva, an Academy Award and BAFTA winner who produced Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl); and Denise Parkinson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Global at Variety. Joining them are the actor MyAnna Buring, David Martinez of Raindance Film Festival, Rebecca del Tufo of ScreenCraft Works and Victoria Emslie, an actor, producer and IFFWW Ambassador.
IFFWW is organised by Talented U Limited, a London-based non-profit founded by the Ukrainian producers and filmmakers Bugrimova and Maria Vynogradova after they relocated to the UK. The festival reports year-on-year growth of about 145 percent. Its 2025 edition presented 34 films and 39 events to more than 2,450 attendees and closed with Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great. Bugrimova describes the gap the festival addresses in these terms: «London has been missing an international competitive festival that works systematically with women’s cinema.»
