The Popcorn List, an annual survey completed by festival programmers identifying “fresh, hot” films without wide distribution, presents the second edition of The Popcorn List: Pop Up Series. This sneak-preview screening event will be held at a dozen theaters across the country in July before arriving for an encore presentation during Gotham Week in October. This is the second annual iteration of the Pop Up Series, which was created in 2025 to “deliver an additional window of visibility and audience-building for a number of films on the List” amid an uncertain distribution landscape, per a press release. This year, seven […]
by Natalia Keogan on May 6, 2026
The Popcorn List has released its second annual survey of recommended feature films. From the press release: The Popcorn List (TPL), an annual survey of acclaimed feature films returns for its second year with 19 film recommendations. TPL was founded in 2024 as a discovery and visibility initiative to amplify independent films that deserve to be seen more widely, highlight the discovery nature of film festivals and the craft of film curation, and respect audiences’ desire for story-driven movies. The result is an open-source database of acclaimed films without U.S. distribution (theatrical, VOD, self-distributed), as recommended by festival programmers across […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Apr 25, 2025