The San Diego Film Fest kicks off October 15 with Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield.

The festival, which runs through October 19, features films from 29 countries and 24 world premieres selected from a record-breaking 3,500 submissions.

The festival, strategically positioned in mid-October as awards season revs up, includes, in the Gala and Narrative Competition, Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Hikari’s “Rental Family,” with Brendan Fraser, Cole Webley’s “Omaha,” starring John Magaro, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo’s “Silent Rebellion,” toplining Lila Gueneau and Grégoire Colin, Max Walker-Silverman’s “Rebuilding,” with Josh O’Connor, Matthew Shear’s “Fantasy Life,” starring Amanda Peet and Alessandro Nivola, Elena Oxman’s “Outerland,” with Asia Kate Dillon, Dean Imperial’s “Caper,” starring Dean Imperial, Kevin Kane and Sam Gilroy (SXSW) and Amy Landecker’s “For Worse,” with Landecker and Bradley Whitford.

This year, Variety has joined the festival as the official media partner for the Night of the Stars Tribute, presenting the Gregory Peck Award for Excellence in Cinema.

The festival’s robust lineup includes documentaries, shorts and animation.

Docs screening include “A Quiet Love,” from Garry Keane, “Lights, Camera, Friendship on the Spectrum — Amelia Island,” by Joey Travolta and “Ugo: An Artist at War,” from Steve Nemsick.

The San Diego Scene sidebar will unspool “Code Red,” from Jessica McGaugh, “Coulrophobia,” from Christopher White, “Crane,” by Aiden Keltner, “Disconnected,” from Will Jones, “One Handed Fighter,” from Matthew Meredith, “The Last Ones Out,” by Joshua Timpany, “The Truth About Susie,” from Ty Mabrey and “Tides of Tradition: A Brief History of San Diego Commercial Fishing,” from Lindsay Bauman.

For more information about all the titles at the festival, screening venues, tickets and more, visit sdfilmfest.com.