Factual Animation Film Festival 2026

Event Description: The annual FAFF short film programme is screened at physical events, typically in London and Berlin, before being distributed as a global online festival. It is occasionally presented as a special programme at other film festivals. At physical screenings FAFF hosts Q&As with the filmmakers and each year a jury of experts award a trophy to the best film and best student film.

Note: Factual Animation Film Festival (FAFF) is the world’s longest running film festival dedicated to championing short animated documentaries and factual animation. 
www.factualanimation.com 

2026 Call for Entries

There are currently two categories to submit to:

1. Animated shorts of 1-20 minutes.
2. Animated shorts of under 1 minute.

Both categories will be subjected to the same selection process, so the main difference is that it costs less to submit a film that is shorter than 60 seconds.

Eligibility:
Example of a "factual animation" would share some of these qualities:
- They are about a factual subject, events that happened, real people or lived experiences.
- They follow the codes and conventions of documentary practice, science communication, journalism, educational films, explainer videos, or public service announcements.
- They are about the historical world that we all live in rather than an invented world of fiction.
- They feature representations of real people and their lives.
- If they do feature fictional characters, the emphasis in the film gives a strong impression that the characters are mere rhetorical tools that allow the film to draw focus on events that are grounded in fact, such as social or political issues.
- They tell biographic stories based in fact or autobiographical stories based in lived experience
- They visualise subjective experiences that are otherwise invisible, such as mental health difficulties, dreams, or hallucinations that felt real to those who experienced them.
- They address folklore, spirituality, or religion in a way that sheds light on a real world person, community, or culture, past or present, rather than presenting belief systems as truth.
- They visualise abstract concepts, or present authentic statistics/data. 

• Regulation and Submit via FilmFreeway
• Deadline: 24 April 2026 (super early-bird), 22 May 2026 (early-bird), 26 June 2026 (regular), 31 July 2026 (final)

2026 Festival Coverage

This year it is celebrating 10 years anniversary! FAFF’s goal is to draw attention to the best short non-fiction animations created around the globe each year, to bring filmmakers and audience members together, and build a community around the niche practice of non-fiction animation.
The screening will take place at The Garden Cinema and will have two programmes:
- FAFF 2025
- Best of FAFF

Films screened: 

FAFF 2025
- GIGI by Cynthia Calvi (France) 
- Romina by Paola Mendoza (USA)
- Voicemail by Holly Rivers Aguirre (USA)
- Us Four by Alex Peake (UK) 
- Warp and Weft by Isolda Milenkovic (UK) 
- Desi Oon by Suresh Eriyat (India) 
- Inside, The Valley Sings by Nathan Fagan (Ireland) 
- D4 or E4? by Umang(mango) Mankodiya (India / United Kingdom)
- The C Word by Serafima Serafimova (UK) 
- Jet Lag by Kacey Morrow, Dustin Morrow (USA) 
- The Sacred Society by Benny Zelkowicz (USA) 
- Speeding, of Course by Anni Sairio, Joonatan Turkki (Finland) 

Best of FAFF:
- Sent Away by Rosa Fisher 
- I Want To Be Bored by Magda Kreps 
- Embraces & The Touch Of Skin by Sara Koppel
- Carlotta’s Face by Valentin Riedl, Frédéric Schuld
- TIMELINE by Osbert Parker
- HOLE by G. Goletski 
- Maalbeek by Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis 
- No Body by Haemin Ko 
- The Redness of Red by Emily Downe 
- O Hunter Heart by Carla MacKinnonon 
- Uncle Thomas, accounting for the days by Regina Pessoa
- Do I See What You See? by Simon Ball 
- Everything Must Go by Alisha Liu

It is available online free of charge for those who subscribe to the festival newsletter at https://factualanimation.com/.