Kaş International Short Film Festival welcomes filmmakers and film lovers for the second time to the picturesque Mediterranean town of Turkey, Kaş. Looking over the endless turquoise Mediterranean Sea, an immersion of culture, art, and nature meets with carefully selected short films in the laid-back atmosphere of Kaş.

Supported by the Municipality of Kaş, our second edition will take place in June 2023, followed by Q&A sessions with the finalists, and the award ceremony at the impressive 2000-year-old ancient theater with the backdrop of the Greek island Kastellorizo. A good variety of workshops, moderated panels, and screenings will be available for everyone and free to join. Kaş has always been an attractive location for filmmakers and artists throughout history, therefore with an international art event, we are looking forward to boosting Kaş’s already established art scene with great opportunities to mingle and network with international contacts.

Followed by Kaş, selected finalist films will be screened at the extraordinary movie theatre of Kadıköy Sineması, Istanbul on the 8 and 9th of June. Finally, on the 15th of June, the films will be screened at one and only Karaca Sineması, Izmir. Everyone is invited and the entrance will be free, as always.

We accept submissions from all around the world, and we especially encourage underwater films to submit for the special underwater film category. Kaş is famous for its bustling and pristine underwater life, just as the fascinating wrecks. There's a great interest and awareness for underwater life in this charming town, so it is the right place to promote your underwater productions whether it's fiction or documentary.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime, and our team will respond to you shortly.

Awards & Prizes

Our judging panel consists of a pre-jury, underwater films jury, and the main jury; who are all sector professionals coming from every field of the film industry: directors, producers, academicians, actors, screenwriters, documentarists, and so on. 

All the finalists will be invited to Kaş and offered a 3-night stay with breakfast included. There will be a special dinner with the other filmmakers. Q&A sessions will be held with the attending filmmakers at the event. More awards and events are TBA in April and May 2023.

National Short Film Competition

• Best Film Award

• Best Cinematographer Award

• Best Director Award

• Best Acting Award (Gender-Neutral)

• Best Editing Award

• Best Screenplay Award

• Best Production Design Award

• Jury Award

International Short Film Competition

• Best Film Award

• Jury Award

International Underwater Short Film Competition

• Best Film Award


National Student Short Film Competition

• Best Film Award


Rules & Terms

• For the international, national, and student films competition, films produced in 2021 and after will be accepted.

• For the national student films competition category, filmmakers who are currently attending secondary school, high school, or a bachelor's degree may apply. Students currently pursuing their Master's or Ph.D. degree may submit their films to the national short film competition.

For the underwater film category, films produced in 2019 and later will be accepted. At least %30 of the length of these films must be filmed underwater level.


• Max. film length is 25 minutes including the credits. Any submission exceeding this limit will be disqualified.

• PLEASE do not submit your films for more than one category, otherwise the jury members won't rate them in an accurate way. If you've already submitted for more than one category, simply withdraw from one of them and leave the one that you like to be considered in.

• The submission deadline for each category is April 1st, 2023, but as the application fee increases over time, early submissions are strongly encouraged.

• A filmmaker’s submission fee will not be reimbursed if they decide to withdraw their film from the submission. All entry fees are non-refundable.

• All films submitted to FilmFreeway must be in the form of an online screener or Youtube/Vimeo link. If a link is password protected, then the password must be valid through April 10th, 2023, otherwise, your submission will be considered INVALID and will be DISQUALIFIED with a no-entry-fee refund. You will be reminded once if a password is invalid before being disqualified.


• We are all volunteers working to make this festival come true. We kindly ask you not to ask for fee waivers.

• If the movie is not English-speaking, subtitles must be provided by the submitter (including the national submissions).


• Filmmakers are responsible for every aspect of copyright on their own materials.

• Selected films will be privately reviewed by the judging panel before the awards, and before public screening.

• Once a film submission gets a Nominee status, the submitter receives a congratulatory e-mail with the festival's 2023 Nominee laurel.

• Accepted filmmakers will be notified via email, phone or text. Filmmakers must confirm their participation by the given deadline, otherwise, they might lose their spot in the line-up.

• All the finalists will be invited to Kaş, and either the director or the producer will be offered accommodation for 3 nights. Breakfast included. There will be an additional special dinner with the filmmakers.

• Kaş International Short Film Festival reserves the right to change the date of the events.

• The festival does not cover the travel expenses who are arriving out of Turkey.

• Selected films must acknowledge that Kaş International Short Film Festival reserves the right to promote the films on the festival’s website and social media using both images and video that you provide.
9 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Zig Dulay

    Attending KIFF was the highlight of my year. I was blown away by how amazing, committed and affectionate the festival team was. It was well organized led by the festival director, Ms. Seren.

    The screening and events programme were engaging and invigorating, the workshops were very insightful and the networking atmosphere was really a creative celebration rather than competition.

    The festival had a very high quality selection of films, well-curated and screened in different Kaş venues, with special mention of the screening at the magnificent Ancient Antiphellos Theatre. Kaş is absolutely one of the most lovely places I've ever been to.

    It was really a pleasure to be part of this festival! Ileft my heart in Kaş. Definitely recommend it.

    July 2022
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  • Ekaterina PROMOTION

    This is an incredible experience that exceeded all my expectations. I was very surprised when I found out that I got to the first (in principle) film festival in Kas! I was absolutely sure that this was a long-standing, well-organized festival with its own traditions. A unique humane atmosphere, thoughtfulness, care for guests, love for cinema - everything is mixed up in this magical place. It was as if I found myself in a circle of old friends with whom I have much in common. The festival focuses on the main thing that many other festivals do not have: communication between participants. Now I have many like-minded friends from all over the world, and the organizers of the festival are also my friends.

    I wish KIFF to grow, become more and more famous and respected as a major festival, the main event in the life of Kas - this magical little town seems to be created for it. If you have received an invitation to KIFF, you are becoming the hero of a story similar to a happy dream, a chapter from a book, a short film where there are no negative characters. I returned to cold St. Petersburg with warmth in my heart, with the warmth of the Mediterranean Sea, with the warmth of the narrow ancient streets, with the warmth of the people around me. And this warmth does not leave me. Thank you for that.

    I didn't even really care who got the awards, honestly! Humanity, humanity and once again humanity - this is the slogan of this festival.

    Best Regards
    Yaroslav Bulavin

    July 2022
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  • Clayton Conn

    I was very pleased and honored to have been selected and later awarded at the Kaş festival for my underwater short. I unfortunately was unable to attend in person, but very much regreted that because the festival, venues and participation looked wonderful from afar. The communication and professionalism from the festival organizaers was also top notch. I encourage filmmakers to submit and I hope to be able to participate again with future projects.

    July 2022
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  • Mustafa Koc

    Fantastic festival in a great venue, we felt really welcome and felt like our film was beautifully showcased and promoted by the Kas Film Festival. Plusss we felt incredibly lucky to have a screening at the fascinating atmosphere of the Kas Antic Theatre. The team were so friendly, and great with their communication. Highly recommended!

    July 2022
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  • utku alak

    dünyanın en güzel şehrinde düzenlenen, çok güzel bir festivaldi

    July 2022
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