Coronado Island Film Festival: Five Days, 11 Years, and a Festival You Can Walk

Overview

Eleven years in, CIFF has settled into a format that's unusual for a film festival: everything is walkable. Six venues, all within a few blocks of each other on Coronado, which means you can see three films and eat lunch without moving a car.

The 2026 theme is "Where the Art and Science of Cinema Converge." It runs five days, Wednesday through Sunday, and it's a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the Hotel del Coronado as presenting sponsor.

One thing to be clear about before you plan: the feature lineup hasn't been announced yet. More on that below, because the festival's own website makes this confusing.

What You Need to Know

When: Wednesday, November 4 – Sunday, November 8, 2026

Where: Six venues across Coronado — all walkable

Main box office: John D. Spreckels Center, 1019 7th St

Badges: Marquee $895 · Emerald $495 · Industry and Student badges by application

Individual tickets: Not yet on sale for 2026

Info: coronadofilmfest.com · info@coronadofilm.com

The Venues

All in Coronado, 92118, and all within walking distance:

• John D. Spreckels Center — 1019 7th St. Hospitality center and main box office. Golf cart pick-up available, and staff can help transport anyone who needs extra support
• Village Theatre — 820 Orange Ave. Three screens
• Coronado Performing Arts Center — 650 D Ave
• Hotel del Coronado — 1500 Orange Ave. Crown Room, Spreckels Room, Ocean Ballroom. Gala venue
• Winn Room, Coronado Public Library — 640 Orange Ave
• Sacred Heart — 655 C Ave

Two more appear on the 2026 shorts schedule but aren't on the official venue list: the Coronado Community Center's Nautilus Room (where most shorts blocks screen) and Founders Hall C at the Hotel del.

Badges and Tickets

Badges are the product here — there are no day passes.

Marquee — $895. Everything in Emerald, plus a ticket to the Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Awards Gala, the early reservation window, priority credentials, and access to signature experiences and select special events.

Emerald — $495. A curated selection of screenings by reservation, select panels and conversations, an early reservation window ahead of general ticket buyers, and credentials.

Industry badge — a "significant discount" off Emerald, approval required, explicitly not for media or press. Price not published.

Student badge — films, panels and workshops only, no parties. Verification required, limited availability. Price not published.

Two things worth knowing: badges don't include the Maltin Gala unless you're at Marquee level, and a badge doesn't guarantee a seat — every screening requires a reservation.

Individual screening tickets aren't on sale yet for 2026, and no on-sale date has been announced.

The festival is cash-free — major credit cards and Venmo — and operates a strict no-refund policy. Transfers are possible with box office approval.

The Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Awards Gala

Wednesday, November 4, opening night. Champagne reception and red carpet from 5:30 p.m., running to a 9:00 p.m. after-party, in The Garden and The Crown Room at the Hotel del Coronado.

The 2026 honorees haven't been announced. Past recipients include Chloé Zhao, Ron Shelton and Delroy Lindo. Leonard Maltin has been the festival's honorary head juror since the first edition in 2016. [CONFIRM gala ticket price — the page links to tickets but shows none]

What's Actually Scheduled for 2026

Seventeen ShortsFest program blocks are on the calendar. These are block names rather than individual film titles, which haven't been published:

Thursday, November 5 — Sliding Doors 10:00 a.m. · Culinary Cinema: PAIRINGS Savory Shorts 10:30 a.m. (Spreckels Center) · More Than a Game 1:00 p.m. · Matters of Consequence 4:00 p.m.

Friday, November 6 — Animation Showcase I 10:00 a.m. · The Science of Possibility 10:00 a.m. (Founders Hall C) · Unscripted 1:00 p.m. · Ties that Bind 4:00 p.m. · Life, Interrupted 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 7 — Last Laugh 10:00 a.m. · Technical Difficulties 12:30 p.m. · Emerging Filmmakers: High School 1:00 p.m. (Winn Room) · Animation Showcase II 3:00 p.m. · Emerging Filmmakers – Advanced 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 8 — Creative Crossroads 10:00 a.m. · Fork in the Road 1:00 p.m. · Turning Point 4:00 p.m.

Unless noted, these are at the Coronado Community Center's Nautilus Room.

What Isn't Announced

Being direct, because it affects whether you buy a badge now or wait:

• No 2026 feature films. Not opening night, not closing night, not any title
• No 2026 panels. The festival's badge copy references "MasterLab Workshops" but no sessions are listed
• No 2026 gala honorees or special guests
• No individual ticket prices or on-sale date

If you're buying for a specific film, wait. If you're buying for the shorts programs, the walkability and the early reservation window, the badge is already worth pricing out.

Awards

Jury and audience awards across Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Short Film, Best Animated Feature and Short, Best International Feature and Short, and Best Original Screenplay. Cash prizes total roughly $15,000–$18,000, including the Emerald Award at $3,000, the Dale St. Denis Female Filmmaker Awards at $3,000 and the Bardin Animation Awards at $5,000. The screenwriting competition offers $5,000.

The awards are known as Hubbells, after sculptor James Hubbell.

Getting to Coronado

This is the one thing the festival doesn't address, and it's the thing most attendees will worry about.

The festival's only published transportation guidance is that it's walkable once you're there, plus golf cart pick-up at the Spreckels Center and transport help for anyone with a disability. Nothing about the bridge, the ferry, shuttles, park-and-ride or parking.

So: plan your own way over. The Coronado Bridge and the ferry from the Broadway Pier are the two routes, and November evenings around the Hotel del get busy. If you're coming for the gala, budget more time than the map says. [CONFIRM parking guidance — worth sourcing from the City of Coronado rather than the festival]

Good to Know

Everything is a reservation. A badge gets you access, not a seat. Build the habit of reserving as soon as your window opens.

Marquee is the only badge with the gala. If opening night is the point, that's a $400 difference.

No refunds, at all. The policy explicitly covers acts of God, nature and communicable viruses.

Stay on the island if you can. The Hotel del is the presenting sponsor; Loews Coronado Bay Resort and Glorietta Bay Inn are hospitality sponsors.