The City Lights Film Festival (formerly TWEETFEST) is now open for its 12th year. Our BIFA qualifying (British Independent Film Awards) short film festival (https://www.bifa.film), includes prizes, trophies, and packages to support the further development of our filmmakers, along with our VIP jury judging!

Our film festival started in 2015 as part of City Nights (formerly UK Actors Tweetup) which has been running since 2010.

Our VIP jury judging the finalists range from casting directors and production companies to agents, BBC writers, sales distribution and more and changes annually. We pride ourselves on getting our short films in front of some of the industry's best. And we always have live screenings of the festivals In Competition and in Official Selection and a gala awards night in a central London venue. We are an approved Film Festival on IMDb too.

Our previous VIP judges list is extensive and includes but is not limited to Hat Trick Comedy Development Team, Casting Director Nancy Bishop, Casting Director Shakyra Dowling, Casting Director Ben Cogan, Casting Director Gemma Sykes, award-winning director Deborah Haywood (PIN CUSHION in Venice Film Festival 2017), Fizz and Ginger Films, award-winning director Jesse Quinones, and award-winning producer Rajita Shah, as well as the Blaine Brothers (Nina Forever), Manuel Puro at Puro Casting (Moon, The Machine), Simon Blake (Still), Jessie Mangum from Goalpost Films (The Sapphires, The Trip, The Escapist) and BAFTA nominated producer Alex Moody (Alan Carr, Argumental, BAFTA nominated Funny Valentines). More here: https://uktweetfest.com/previous-vip-juries/

The film festival is open to all genres of film, including animation and documentary.

You can also submit an International film in the International Film category, and student films can submit to our student film category.

Only British and Irish Short Films are eligible to win the Best Short Film award.

Why are we different?:
We are looking for exciting up-and-coming filmmakers who are taking to the screen with new and innovative stories. We want to inspire our audience with movies from the next generation of filmmakers! Diversity and inclusion are also a key part of our programming. We have a team of judges from every part of the film world, who are actively working in the industry, who watch and judge the submissions.

How we support you:
We care about the filmmakers, and our festival is about you. We host talks and workshops, a space for filmmakers and actors to network, and we keep in touch with our filmmakers long after their festival journey with us. Our filmmakers come back to City Lights again and again. And longevity in this business is really what it's all about.

Awards & Prizes

Best Short Film (UK only)
Best Student Short Film
Best International Short Film
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Cinematography
Best Casting
Best Screenplay
Best Composer/soundtrack
Best Art Direction
Audience Award

Rules & Terms

CITY LIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS 2026

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 2026

City Lights Film Festival is a British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) qualifying short film festival and also an approved film festival on IMDb.

The 2026 VIP judging panel for this year will be announced in 2026. More information on the VIP jury can be found on our official website, and this indicates the excellent calibre of the jury we have had in the past.

City Lights Film Festival will consider entries in the following categories for inclusion in the festival: Animation, documentary, sci-fi, action, fantasy, drama, comedy, horror or thriller. You can also submit an International film in the International Film category.

The Best Short Film Award is open to UK and Irish entries only.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS 2026
1. Our deadlines are as per the FilmFreeway website.

2. The duration of your film must not exceed 25 minutes 0 seconds, including titles and credits.

3. Any film that is a brand film or advertisement cannot be accepted. This is at the City Light Film Festival's discretion as to what is deemed as advertising.

4. Only films completed since January 2025 may be submitted.

5. If the original language is not English, please ensure the film includes English subtitles. If a foreign language film is submitted without English subtitles, it will not be considered for selection.

6. If your film is shortlisted, you will be asked to send an exhibition copy of the film in high/full resolution and we will also require a DCP. Specific details of the format we’ll need for screening and where to send it will be discussed with the team of the successful films nearer the event date (in accordance with the Screening and Selection criteria below). The shortlisted team that submitted their short film will be responsible for making sure the exhibition file and DCP are sent to the TweetFest team within the specified timeline for it to be judged and screened at the live event.

7. The film and/or the director(s) will be credited on the website and any other promotional material. In the case of shortlisted and/or winning co-directors, multiple prizes may be granted at the discretion of the organisers.

8. To keep informed on the details of the film festival, you can subscribe to the mailing list here: https://city-lights.kit.com/e7c1ff0f08

PLEASE NOTE: You agree by entering the festival that City Lights and City Nights (formerly TweetFest Film Festival and UK Actors Tweetup) may collect, use and disclose your personal data which you have provided in your booking, for providing marketing material that you have agreed to receive, in accordance with our privacy policies, which can be found here: https://uktweetfest.com/terms-and-conditions/

9. The primary contact completing the submission process must be authorised to submit the film and must have obtained the necessary permissions for the inclusion of copyrighted music and/or images within the films.

10. You must have a version of the short available to download in a high-resolution version if you are successful and chosen to be screened at the Film Festival. Information will be provided and sent to you prior to this date.

The City Lights Film Festival (formerly TweetFest) team’s decision is non-negotiable and final.

The City Lights Film Festival (formerly TweetFest) team reserves the right to change the date of the screening of City Lights Film Festival at their discretion.

SCREENING AND SELECTION:
1. A downloadable file delivery is the requirement. Preference is high-resolution MP4 or Prores Quicktime. Tapes, DVD and Bluray are not acceptable forms of submission if your film is selected as a finalist. Films that are low-res files or tape masters will not be considered either. If you are unable to meet these requirements, your film will no longer be selected as a finalist.

2. Your entry into the City Lights Film Festival (formerly TweetFest) festival gives us permission to use up to 30 seconds of your film to promote the festival this year, with an option to also include it in next year’s festival (in a trailer, clip of the film on a programme of the festival website), and ongoing festival trailers shown at the festival, and use ongoing on social media including Instagram, YouTube and the website.

3. You must have at least one hi-res defining image or you give us permission to lift one from the hi-def master at the Tweetup festival’s discretion if one is not provided, again for promotional and programme use by the festival.

4. A picture and short bio of the director will also assist us in promoting your short film, along with the festival, and to encourage networking. If you are unable to provide these City Lights Film Festival (formerly TweetFest) will use information available online to include on the website, for festival programming and promotional purposes.

Terms and Conditions are copyright 2026 to City Lights Film Festival (formerly TweetFest). All details of the film festival are available on the website, along with how we judge: https://citylightsfilmfestival.com/terms-and-conditions/

We are also a member of the AIFF: https://www.aiff.uk/ and Film Hub London and are a BIFA qualifying Film festival.
53 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ben Hyland

    I’ve screened here a handful of times and it’s always a fun festival to attend. Run by wonderful people. A great addition to any festival strategy.

    January 2026
    Helpful
  • Tara Aghdashloo

    I absolutely love this festival! The main focus really is the films and the filmmakers, and you can tell each year with the amount of love and attention that goes into it. Second year to have a short in it (Empty Your Pockets) and definitely hope to be back in the future. The team is lovely, the films are strong and varied, and it is an energising experience.

    December 2025
    Helpful
  • Leo Metcalf

    Lovely festival run by a great team!

    December 2025
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  • Pardeep Sahota

    An incredible festival. A wonderful community of filmmakers with a great selection of films, Q&As and a gala screening at the end. This is how you do a festival! We're very proud to have won the Best UK Short award. Angela and the team have created a brilliant launch pad for indie filmmakers. We will definitely submit to again.

    December 2025
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Pardeep for sharing this review. We are thrilled to hear this and we loved having your short in the festival and sharing it with our audience. And the biggest congratulations from us on winning Best UK Short Film.

  • Hannah Tookey

    TweetFest was such a lovely festival to be part of. From the very first email right through to our screening and Q&A, and the Gala screening and awards ceremony, Angela and the team made us feel so welcome. The quality of selected films was really high, and we met some great emerging and established filmmakers. This was a really special festival to be part of, and I highly recommend it to others.

    November 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Hannah! Having you and the rest of the CARE team in the festival was such a joy. It's an incredible film and we can't wait to see what you create next.