Cine-Excess is an international film festival and conference devoted to the critical study of global cult film traditions, and has been running annually since 2007. Cine-Excess hosts UK theatrical premieres and exclusive screenings, visiting international filmmakers, a themed conference and media mentoring sessions for young filmmakers.

Cine-Excess has a strong tradition of attracting global cult filmmakers as guests to the event, who attend as recipients of the annual Cine-Excess Lifetime Achievement Award or Innovator of Horror Award. Some of the previous filmmaking guests of honour to have attended Cine-Excess include Pam Grier, Ti West, Brandon Cronenberg, Jen and Sylvia Soska, Catherine Breillat, Peter Strickland, Roger Corman, Dario Argento, Joe Dante, Vanessa Redgrave, Sergio Martino, Franco Nero, John Landis, Enzo G. Castellari, Nicholas Vince, Barbie Wilde, Simon Bamford, Doug Bradley, Brian Yuzna, Ruggero Deodato, Victoria Price, Stuart Gordon, Jeff Lieberman, Pete Walker, Norman J. Warren and Jake West.

In terms of its programming strategy, Cine-Excess hosts a range of UK theatrical premieres and exclusive retrospective screenings from around the world, but with a strong focus on the following global territories: Europe, North America/Canada, Central America, Australia and the Global South. The festival also retains a wide definition of cult film that encompasses a broad range of horror cycles, unconventional thrillers, revisionist or hybrid genres (such as science fiction, gangster cinema, dark love dramas or the western), action cycles or fantastic titles that can also be linked to wider national film traditions.

Films are screened both in person at leading cinemas across the West Midlands, whilst a separate strand of programming is streamed for international audiences who are not able to travel to the UK.

Awards & Prizes

Our main annual festival will run in October 2026 with this year's theme focused being: 'Legends Never Die'.

The October 2026 event will feature both physical and online events that include a film festival season of UK premieres, visiting international filmmaker awards and retrospectives and a themed academic conference.

As part of Cine-Excess 2026 we are seeking feature film and documentary submissions that can be screened in the following 2 categories:

1. Cine-Excess Best Feature - Films from first time or established directors, whose work will be screened either in theatres at our main October 2026 event.

2. Cine-Excess Distinctive Visions - Innovative and challenging visions of film that will screen at our online screening season in October 2026.

Filmmakers such indicate which film strand they wish to be included in.

The submission deadlines for both the Cine-Excess Best Feature and the Cine-Excess Distinctive Visions strands are:

Friday 30 January 2026 (Early Bird submissions)

Friday 24 April 2026 (Regular Festival submissions)

Friday 31 July 2026 (Late Festival submissions/Final Deadline).

Festival entrants must ensure that their films are either UK premieres, or are not been widely distributed (either theatrically or on UK home entertainment platforms) before submitting work for competition at Cine-Excess.

Entrants who wish their films to be considered for distribution through Black Mandala
should specify this in their covering letter, and ensure that their films are currently not being distributed on home entertainment platforms (such as digital /terrestrial/satellite) before submitting their work.

Rules & Terms

Submission Eligibility
- All films submitted must have been completed within a period of three calendar years previous to the start of the festival.
- All films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English.

Terms and conditions:
Cine-Excess is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes. The individual or corporation submitting the film hereby warrants that it is authorized to commit the film for screening, and understands and accepts these requirements and regulations. The undersigned shall indemnify and hold harmless Cine-Excess from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered. The admission fees are non-refundable.

* Cine-Excess has and will continue to monitor the Covid 19 (coronavirus) outbreak, regularly reviewing the situation and taking necessary action. Our priority is to ensure the health and safety of our attendees, delegates, staff, and everyone we work with. Cine-Excess reserves the right to amend the conference and festival programme in the event of changes to Covid 19 restrictions and guidelines.
10 Reviews
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  • Thomas Seymour

    A delight to be a part of. One of the top genre film festivals in the U.K. with ties to the University system there. A place where cult films are taken seriously.

    October 2025
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  • Mike J. Marin

    This is one my favorite festivals to submit to due to the festival directors being very gracious and hospitable to us filmmakers. Not only do they show your film, but they also provide you with a network of resources and possibilities that add to the filmmaker experience. Cheers, Cine-Excess! Blessings from Native America:)

    November 2024
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  • Marjorie Conrad

    Cine-Excess: a knowledgeable and caring festival team delivering thoughtfully curated programming. I'm glad to have virtually premiered my third feature with them.

    October 2023
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  • Antonio Rotunno

    Thank you for having us and premiering our feature film "Please Don't Abandon Me" at the special event Distinctive Visions, as well as the dedication on each work presented.

    November 2022
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  • Stephen King Simmons

    CINE-EXCESS not only cares about the filmmakers work. They go out of their way to get as much attention for each film. Highly communicative, friendly and the networking is top notch. My feature "THE PARKER SESSIONS" played at CINE-EXCESS and I have to say it was one of my favorite experiences in the film festival circuit. I will be submitting my future work in this festival. The organizers go above and beyond compared to other film festivals out there.

    November 2022
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