List of international short film festivals
Festivals are an important part of getting your short film seen, and building your profile as a filmmaker. For advice on how to plan your festival strategy there is an informative article we wrote available here.
Filmmakers often ask us if we have a list of legitimate short film festivals around the world that they can enter. So we have put together this handy list to use when planning your festival strategy. These are all festivals we know, have attended or trusted people from our community have attended and recommended.
Argentina
Australia
- Flickerfest International Short Film Festival
- Melbourne International Film Festival
- Sydney Film Festival
Austria
Belgium
- Brussels International Short Film Festival
- Ghent Flanders International Film Festival
- Leuven International Short Film Festival
Bermuda
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Brazil
- Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival
- Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival
- Sao Paulo International Film Festival
Bulgaria
Burkina
Canada
- Calgary International Film Festival
- Edmonton International Film Festival
- Hot Docs
- imagineNATIVE
- Montreal International Festival of New Cinema
- Montreal World Film Festival
- Quebec City Film Festival
- REGARD International Short Film Festival (Sur le Court)
- Siggraph Computer Animation Festival
- Toronto International Film Festival
Chile
China
- Beijing International Film Festival
- Chinese Documentary Festival
- China International New Media Short Film Festival
- Shanghai International Film Festival
Colombia
- Festival de cortos de Bogotā Short Film Festival (Bogo Shorts)
- Cartagena International Film Festival
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
- Angers First Film Festival
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival
- Cannes Critics Week
- Cannes Directors Fortnight
- Cannes Film Festival – for shorts under 15 minutes only
- Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival
- Festival Tous Courts
- Nos Yeux Grands Ouverts – art-film focused
Germany
- Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival)
- Filmfest Dresden
- Interfilm Berlin Short Film Festival
- Internationales Trickfilm-Festival Stuttgart
- Oberhausen International Short Film Festival
- Oldenburg Film Festival
- Hamburg International Short Film Festival
Greece
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Japan
- Hiroshima International Animation Festival
- Sapporo International Short Film Festival
- Short Shorts Film Festival *Oscar qualifying
Korea
- Asiana International Short Film Festival
- Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
- Busan International Film Festival
- Busan International Short Film Festival *Oscar qualifying
Latvia
Lithuania
Madagascar
Mexico
- Guadalajara International Film Festival
- Guanajuato International Film Festival
- Mexico International Short Film Festival
- Monterrey International Film Festival
- Morelia International Film Festival
- Muestra Intergalactica Short Film Festival
- Shorts Mexico
Netherlands
- Go Short
- IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)
- Rotterdam International Film Festival
New Zealand
- Show Me Shorts Film Festival *Oscar qualifying
Norway
- Grimstad Norwegian Short Film Festival – international shorts by invitation only
- Minimalen Short Film Festival
Poland
- Cracow International Documentary and Short Film Festival
- Short Waves Festival
- Wroclaw New Horizons Film Festival
Portugal
Russia
South Africa
Spain
- Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films
- Gijon International Film Festival for Young People
- Huesca International Film Festival
- Mecal – Barcelona International Shorts and Animation Film Festival
- Sitges Film Festival
- Valladolid International Film Festival
Sweden
- Gothenberg International Film Festival
- Stockholm International Film Festival
- Uppsala International Short Film Festival
Switzerland
- Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur *Oscar qualifying
- Locarno Film Festival
Tahiti
Taiwan
UK
- Aesthetica Short Film Festival
- BFI London Film Festival
- Edinburgh Short Film Festival
- Encounters International Short Film Festival *Oscar qualifying
- Leeds International Film Festival
- London Short Film Festival
- Manchester Kino International Film Festival
- Norwich Film Festival
- Raindance Film Festival *Oscar qualifying
- The Smalls Film Festival
Ukraine
USA
- AFI Fest
- Ann Arbor Film Festival
- Aspen Shortsfest
- Athens International Film Festival
- Atlanta Film Festival
- Austin Film Festival
- Black Maria Film Festival
- Bumbershoot 1 Reel Film Festival
- Chicago International Children’s Film Festival
- Chicago International Film Festival
- Cinequest Film Festival
- Cleveland International Film Festival
- Florida Film Festival
- Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
- Hamptons International Film Festival
- Hawaii International Film Festival
- Heartland Film Festival
- Los Angeles Film Festival
- Los Angeles International Short Film Festival
- Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
- Las Vegas International Film Festival
- Mill Valley Film Festival
- Nashville Film Festival
- New Directors/New Films Festival
- New Orleans Film Festival
- New York Film Festival
- New York International Children’s Film Festival
- Palm Springs International Shortfest
- Philadelphia Film Festival
- Reel East Texas Film Festival
- Rhode Island International Film Festival
- San Diego Film Festival
- San Francisco International Film Festival
- Santa Barbara International Film Festival
- Seattle International Film Festival
- Slamdance Film Festival
- St. Louis International Film Festival
- Starz Denver International Film Festival
- Stony Brook Film Festival
- Sundance Film Festival
- SXSW: South By Southwest Film Festival
- Telluride Film Festival
- Tribeca Film Festival
- Woodstock Film Festival
- World Arts Film Festival
The full list of Oscar-qualifying short film festivals can also be found here.