IMAGINE FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL 2026

Imagine is the largest film festival for Fantastic film in the Netherlands, showcasing the best in fantasy, horror, sci-fi and everything in between. Imagine is all about the imagination. We believe dreaming big is best, because Weird Is Wonderful.

Besides the latest genre films, restored classics and shorts, Imagine 2026 will focus on magical realism in Latin American cinema and on the films of this year’s Guest of Honour, Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. A large chunk of the programme is also reserved for 2026’s main theme, Ghost in the Feed, which focuses on the anxieties and desires that arise with each new form of media technology. The programme examines five ‘Frequencies of Fear’ from the past century: the start of TV, the VHS era, the early internet years, the onstant online feed and our current immersive times. Dive into the feed with us through films, talks, a VHS-basement, an extensive immersive programme in de Filmhallen and more.

Ghost in the Feed also creates conversations between generations: the Gen X cinephile who remembers the tactile dread of a mysteriously unlabeled VHS tape; the Millennial who experienced the internet transform from utopian playground to corporate panopticon; the Gen Z viewer navigating horror through deepfakes and disappeared stories. Each generation believes their relationship to technology is unique, but we’re all possessed by the same ghosts, transmitted through different machines.