Encounters Film Festival 2026
Category
ANIMATION & FILM FESTIVALS
Date
29/05/2025
City
Bristol, UK
Email
Website
Edition
31
Final submission deadline
2026-05-18
Submission/Registration Fee
Yes
Festival Description: Encounters Film Festival stages one of the world’s leading international competitions for the short film, animation, and immersive moving image work. The international competition is an official gateway to the world’s most prestigious awards; the Academy Awards®, BAFTAs, and the European Film Awards. Its mission is to provide an international platform for new and emerging talent in filmmaking. For over a quarter of a century, Encounters Film Festival has welcomed guests from all around the world, connecting filmmakers with the wider industry, our wonderful audiences, and, of course, each other.
2026 Call for Entries
The festival is open to short films of all production techniques, including animation, documentary, experimental or artists' films and hybrid work from low to high budgets. Films completed after 1st January 2024 will be eligible for the 2026 festival. The maximum eligible duration is 40 minutes (including credits). Encounters does not require any premiere status, including online.
Awards and Categories
\\\ INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX ////
- Brief Encounters Grand Prix for Live Action Fiction Short Film
- Animated Encounters Grand Prix for Animated Short Film
- Documentary Encounters Grand Prix for Documentary Short Film
The Grand Prix winners are considered to be the best in their category by our international juries.
\\\ NATIONAL PRIZES ///
Best of British Awards in the categories of:
- Live Action Fiction Short Film
- Animated Short Film
\\\ DEPICT ///
DepicT! is our long-running, FREE to enter micro-shorts competition. Entries must be 90 seconds or less in TOTAL duration (including all credits), and submissions over 90 seconds will be automatically disqualified.
Important information
- Regular deadline: 31 December 2025 Early Bird deadline, 16 March 2026 Spring deadline, 4 May 2026 Late deadline, 18 May 2026 Final deadline
- Rules and Submission via Filmfreeway
Archive
2024 Festival Coverage
The 2024 festival edition has been canceled due to insufficient funding. Festival info
2020 Festival Coverage
The festival has selected over 250 titles, from a huge 3000+ submissions, to be part of this year’s digital festival.
2019 Festival Coverage
2018 Festival News (25-30/9/18)
Event Dates
- From 23/09/2026 to 27/09/2026
