Cinemira International Children's and Youth Film Festival is tailored for professionals dedicated to creating films for young audiences. It takes place in the central of the beautiful and exciting Budapest in the autumn.

During the festival, we host an international competition featuring short films—both live-action and animation—from around the globe, alongside a curated selection of the finest feature films for children.

In the international categories, the awards are decided by a professional jury, while the Best Hungarian Children's Film and Best Hungarian Youth Film will be chosen by Hungary's largest children's jury, consisting of over 5,000 members.

Cinemira hosts an Industry Forum Day, featuring a dynamic Pitch Forum for TV series and film projects tailored to young audiences. The event also includes inspiring lectures from internationally renowned professionals, offering valuable insights into creating engaging and meaningful content for children.

Cinemira is an interactive film festival that goes beyond screenings, offering a range of hands-on workshops for children and their families. These include animation, filmmaking, make-up artistry, stunt techniques, dance choreography, and casting, providing a creative and immersive experience for all ages.

Cinemira offers a dedicated market showcasing the finest books, comics, and posters inspired by children's films.

The festival is organized by the team of the Cinemira Children's Film Academy that develops workshops for children aged 10-18 in the areas of film, television, and new media throughout the year and also produces films for children. Cinemira is a member of the European Children's Film Association (ECFA).

Main Awards (Golden Squirrel)

Best short live action film for Children (international)
Best short animation for Children (international)
Children's Jury Award for best short Hungarian Children's Film (national)

Best short live action film for Youth (international)
Best short animation for Youth (international)
Student Jury Award for best short Hungarian film for YOUTH (national)

The Best Film Made by High School Students (national)

ECFA Short Film Award Cinemira KIDS (international)

In 2024, the Festival awarded a total of nearly 4,000 euros in prize money in 3 competitions

Cinemira International Children's and Youth Film Festival is accepting short live-action, short animation for children and teens made by professionals.

The entry deadlines for CINEMIRA KIDS AND YOUTH are
EARLY BIRD: 15th OF MARCH, 2025.
REGULAR: 1TH OF MAY, 2025.
LAST MINUTE: 20TH OF JUNE, 2025.

Cinemira is held in Budapest, Hungary.

DETAILS:
I. PROGRAMME SECTIONS

Competition sections

a. International Competition of Short Animated films for Children (separately for 4-6,7-9, 10-14 years old)

b.International Competition of Short Live-Action films for Children (separately for 7-9, 10-14 years old)

c, International Competition of Short Animated Films for Teens (14-19 years old)

d, International Competition of Short Live-Action Films for Teens (14-19 years old)

e, National Competition of best Screenplay for Children (Cinemira Pitch Forum)

f, National Competition of best Series Script for Children and Youth (Cinemira Pitch Forum)

g, National competition of Films Made by High School Children

Panorama Sections

Outstanding international Feature-length film for children (BY INVITATION ONLY)
Retrospective Hungarian films

II. CONDITIONS FOR SUBMITTERS

DATE
Only works with a release date after January 1, 2023, will be allowed to participate in the competitive sections.

LENGHT
Cinemira KIDS: Short films of up to a maximum of 10 or 15 minutes in length can participate in the competitions in the KIDS section.

Cinemira YOUTH: short films of a maximum of 20 minutes in length can participate in the competitions in the YOUTH section. Films made by high school students category: films of a maximum of 7 minutes in length can participate in this category.
We cannot accept films that exceeds the prescribed length.

Submissions must be suitable for audiences under the age of 18.

Cinemira does not provide screening fees for films selected for the competition.

SUBMISSION
In order to have a film screened at the Festival, it is necessary to fill in the application form at https://filmfreeway.com/festival/Cinemira.

The organizer will inform the applicants of their acceptance in writing by no later than the 9th of September, 2025.

III. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Short films and student films included in the competition are accepted only in the formats Quicktime H.264 HD that can be uploaded at the online application.

IV. LANGUAGE VERSIONS

Competing films must be provided with English subtitles by the applicant. Other competing films are screened in their original version with English subtitles and at the same time with Hungarian subtitles provided by the organizer.

V. SENDING INSTRUCTIONS

Copies of invited films must be sent to the organizer by 30th of September, 2025 through file senders to the following email address:

cinemirafilmfest@gmail.com

By accepting to be part of the Cinemira's competition program the authors give the right to the organizers of Cinemira International Children's and Youth Film Festival to screen their film as part of a Cinemira special screening or Cinemira Best of Screening in-between October 2025- October 2026.

By accepting to be part of the Cinemira's competition program, the applicant consents to the use of photographs and parts of competing films or their trailers free of charge, and for their use as part of festival promotional material both online and offline.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • The Queenʻs Flowers

    One of greatest cities in the world! Truly a favorite place of mine, and so grateful to have shown my short film here. A billion thank yous!

    October 2024
  • Awesome festival! Thank you for including my short in your programme!

    October 2023
  • ali keyvan

    I am happy that my film was shown in your festival; Thank you for giving me this opportunity to have more audience for my film.

    October 2023
  • Sandra Moser

    Thanks for this great experience! Happy that our Short MARIPOSA was a part of this valuable children's film festival!

    November 2021
  • Tamás Rebák

    The festival was great and all the members were friendly and kind, thank you for the selection!

    October 2021