Vienna Shorts Festival, 27/5-1/6/2021
Vienna Shorts is the international short film festival in Vienna. The presentation of short films and the exchange about them are the main focus. The festival is organized by the association Independent Cinema and shows about 300 productions under 30 minutes. The competition is structured in four categories, for each of which separate entries can be submitted. Other sections include portraits and thematically curated programs.
Vienna Shorts 2021 will take place as a hybrid festival from May 27 to June 1, 2021. The focus is on the presentation of short film forms in the cinema in Vienna (subject to a non-hazardous implementation). The rights holders will be specially informed about online screenings of films.
2021 Call for Entries
For the Vienna Shorts 2021 competitions, films of all genres and formats up to 30 minutes in length and with a completion date after January 1, 2020 can be submitted if they have not been submitted to the festival before.
- The regular submission deadline for the 18th festival edition is January 5, 2021 for all submissions.
- The deadline for late submissions to the competitions (II.A) is January 31, 2021.
Entries can be submitted in four competition categories: Fiction & Documentary is devoted to international short fiction and short documentary films, Animation Avantgarde to international animation and experimental film. The Austrian Competition is dedicated to national productions, the Austrian Music Video Award is given to the best national music video. On the festival website you can find mission statements for all four categories.
International productions can be submitted for the two competitions Fiction & Documentary and Animation Avantgarde. For the Austrian Competition and the Austrian Music Video Award, only productions by Austrian directors or producers or works that were (partly) produced in Austria or were mainly financed by Austrian institutions are eligible. The festival reserves the right to assign films to a different category than the one for which they were originally submitted.
The Vienna Shorts awards are awarded as main prizes in the four competition categories of the festival and are endowed with EUR 1,000 to 5,000 each. The additional three prizes of the jury are endowed with EUR 1,000 to 3,000 each. In addition, special prizes (e.g. for the best female director) as well as audience prizes are awarded.
Entries are also possible for non-competitive festival sections. Films are eligible for this category if they either do not meet the conditions of the competition categories, are not intended for a competition presentation and can be assigned to one of the following categories:
- Trash film
- Horror film
- Music and/or dance film
- International music video
- Films for children and young people
- Longer than 30 minutes
Films of all genres and formats up to a length of 45 minutes and with a completion date after January 1, 2019 are accepted.
- In order to guarantee a high-quality selection process and a professional handling, Vienna Shorts charges an entry fee. This fee is EUR 15 (USD 17) for short live action films and short documentaries (Fiction & Documentary) and EUR 10 (USD 12) for animation and experimental films (Animation Avantgarde) during the regular submission period.
- For non-competitive films (Non-competitive Section) EUR 7 (USD 8) will be charged.
- During the extended submission period (January 6 to January 31, 2021) the entry fee for all competition categories—including the Austrian Competition and the Austrian Music Video Award—will be increased by EUR 10 (USD 12) respectively.
- Regulations
- Submission
2020 Festival Coverage:
The festival has its our own streaming platform, which will enable both live streaming and on-demand offerings and will be available to a wide audience on the regular festival date—from 28 May to 2 June 2020—as well as our new website, which will go online gradually.
Event Dates
- From 27 May 2021 to 01 June 2021
