The Best Film Festivals for Short Films

Figuring out how to select which Festivals to submit your film to can lead to analysis paralysis. There’s so many choices. Log on to Film Freeway and there’s a seemingly endless supply of options. Ultimately, which ones you choose is dependent on what you want to get out of these experiences, offset by the chance of actually getting in. Many high profile Festivals are sifting through 1,000s of submissions and accepting <1.0% of them.

The Big 5–Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, and Sundance–loom over the rest, but how much you get out of these events where shorts can be overshadowed by high profile features mixed with the low acceptance rate can make these Festivals feel like “reach” schools when applying to Universities. 

Many Festivals run short programs along with features, but the following Fests stand out in their showcasing of shorts while also offering short film-centered events.

American Film Festivals

Palm Springs International Shortsfest

The sibling Festival to Palm Springs International Film Festival takes place June 23rd-29th in California. With over 300 shorts showcased at the 2025 festival, Shortsfest programs a wide variety of genres and filmmakers from over 60 countries. 

For filmmakers that are selected, there are plenty of events to meet like-minded creatives and people within the industry. 

Submission deadline: Feb. 7th, 2026

Aspen Shorts fest

Along with Palm Springs Shortsfest, the Aspen Film Shortsfest is one of the premiere Festivals dedicated to short form cinema. The 2026 iteration takes place between April 7th and April 12th in Colorado. There will be nine awards along with cash prizes given out at the festival in categories such as comedy, drama, documentary, and animation. 

The submission date has passed for the 2026 festival, but be on the lookout over the summer for the 2027 Festival. Last year, submissions opened in July for this year’s festival. 

Slamdance

Another Southern California-based Festival is Slamdance. An Oscar-qualifying Festival, Slamdance features a variety of shorts programs from filmmakers all over the world which give out many awards and also a fellowship program. Centered in LA, Slamdance provides an ample meeting place to meet other filmmakers and industry professionals. 

The 2026 entry of the Festival takes place in February, but submissions for 2027’s festival should open around May, so be prepared. 

Austin Film Festival

Taking place in the Texas capital, AFF is home to some of the best Festival events a filmmaker can attend including the Screenwriters Conference where you get to hear from some of the best writers working today. In addition to its shorts programs (and features), Austin also runs one of the biggest screenwriting competitions. 2026’s edition starts on October 29th.

The early bird deadline is coming up on March 27th

SXSW

Centered in Austin, while also hosting satellite Festivals around the world, SXSW is one of the largest Festivals in the circuit, especially if you’re measuring by quantity of networking events and conferences, the highly competitive SXSW is a chance to be shoulder-to-shoulder with Industry professionals from around the Globe. 

SXSW 2026 begins on March 12th. Be on the lookout over the summer for submissions to open for 2027. Last year, the first deadline was August 26th and the final deadline was Oct. 1st.

International Film Festivals

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival

France’s premiere shorts festival, Clermont-Ferrand takes place January 30th-February 7th. The 2025 saw some 71,000 euros be awarded. The Festival is a central hub into the European market. 

In 2025, the deadline for films made between October 1st, 2024 through December, 2025 was July 10th. Carefully review each Festivals guidelines as some only take recently completed films. 

Raindance

The UK’s largest independent Film Festival, Raindance is located in central London and opens on June 17th. While Raindance showcases features, there’s more than enough offerings from its shorts programming and events to entice any shorts filmmaker. Notable features include Masterclasses, The Raindance Industry Forum, and a Script competition. 

The regular deadline is January 19th and the late deadline is March 2nd. 

Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival

One of, if not the biggest, Film Festivals focused on short films in Latin America. The Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival, also known as Festival Curta Cinema, offers workshops, debates, and masterclasses for filmmakers to make the most out of their experience along with a cash prize for National and International awards. 

The extended deadline is January 25th and the event begins March 25th. 

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia

Tokyo’s premiere shorts based film festival has grown substantially since its beginnings in 1999 to become one of the biggest shorts-based Festivals in Asia. Featuring Japanese, Asia International, and International competitions, Short Shorts opens up the world to the filmmakers and filmgoers who attend. 

Films submitted must be under 25 minutes, be completed after June 1st, 2024, and have English or Japanese subtitles if not shot in either language. While the deadline for 2026 is January 12th, submissions should open back up around August for 2027. Short Shorts opens on May 25th. 

Genre Film Festivals

Ann Arbor Film Festival

For over 60 years, Ann Arbor has been showcasing experimental and avante-garde films. Featuring animation, narrative, documentary, and hybrid films, if your work is experimental, Ann Arbor is the place to be. Offering around 38,000 dollars in prizes, AAFF also puts on a “best of” tour, showing the best of the fest at participating theaters, universities, and museums. 

AAFF 2026 starts on March 24th and submissions for AAFF 2027 should open around the beginning of July. 

Aesthetica

While the York, England based film festival is not centered on a single genre, their programming centers around stories for impact that are pressing and meaningful to the world we live in today. If it sounds like your short belongs, then there’s plenty of activities including Masterclasses, panels, and pitch sessions with distributors. 

Aesthetica’s regular submission deadline is May 31st and the Festival opens on November 4th. 

Fantasia International Film Festival

The quintessential genre festival, Fantasia’s programming heavily leans into the Horror, Action, and Fantasy genres, but also includes works of “sheer individuality” which can come from any genre. Make sure to research previous year’s selections to make sure Fantasia is right for your film. If it is selected, then what awaits is an 18 day Festival of individualistic storytelling of various mediums, offering a robust variety of short film competitions. 

The late deadline is February 1st and the event begins July 16th. 

And Remember

When submitting to any Festival, remember to carefully read the guidelines to make sure your film is eligible, research what they tend to program from past Festivals, from the genre to the subject matter and themes to the lengths of the works. Submission fees can tally up quickly, so be absolutely positive you want to submit to any individual Festival. And finally, the best Festival experience might not be at any of the notable gold standard Festivals, it might be a small Festival in your backyard where you meet a lifelong collaborator.