The Kerry International Film Festival (KIFF) is a vibrant four-day event held every October, dedicated to showcasing a carefully curated selection of Irish and international short films and feature films. The festival celebrates Kerry as a hub for filmmaking and creativity. 2026 marks KIFF's 27th edition.

Submissions will open on January 1st 2026, and the festival is eager to explore new and exciting works from filmmakers worldwide. KIFF is renowned for its diverse short film selection, including categories like Irish, International, Kerry Connected, Student, Music and Animation films. In addition to shorts, the festival features a selection of carefully chosen feature films, spanning narrative, documentary, and animation genres, followed by engaging Q&A sessions with filmmakers. The festival also hosts a variety of industry events, talks, and workshops, offering opportunities for learning and networking.

For more information, visit www.kerryfilmfestival.com.

Please note that waivers and discount codes for the Kerry International Film Festival are exclusively available to alumni. Due to the high volume of inquiries regarding waivers, we are unable to guarantee a response to all emails. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to review our submission guidelines for further details.

Kerry International Film Festival is inviting entries for competition in the following categories:

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT
BEST IRISH NARRATIVE SHORT
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
BEST STUDENT SHORT
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
BEST OF KERRY
BEST IRISH LANGUAGE SHORT
BEST ANIMATION
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
SCREENWRITING AWARD - BEST SCRIPT

FILM SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

By submitting to Kerry International Film Festival, you are agreeing to a possible online and/or physical screening of your work. The programming team will discuss this in more detail nearer to the event. Refunds will not be issued if you do not wish to screen the film online.

At the time of submission, entrants must disclose the extent to which AI has been used during the course of pre-production and production of their entry.

Please submit to ONE category ONLY per film. If you wish us to note an additional category for your film, please use the cover note section to tell us!

For the Best of Kerry category, we would like to clearly know about the Kerry link to your film. What is your link to the Kingdom? Was your film made in Kerry? The more information, the better.

Please let us know if your film has an original score (add a note in the cover letter) as we have an award for Best Original Score.

Withdrawal will only be refunded if requested within two weeks from being submitted.

Students, please submit to the student category for all genres of film.

KIFF only accepts short films of NO LONGER than 30 minutes. (Including titles & credits)
Feature Films must be 55 minutes or over.

Films not in the English language must have subtitles.

The selection and scheduling of all films screened at KIFF is entirely at the discretion of the Festival Director and the Judging Panel.

Due to the large amount of submissions received, KIFF cannot enter into any discussion regarding films that are not selected for the festival. The festival is unable to send personal emails regarding films that are not selected and notification regarding the status of selection will be made via FilmFreeway notification.

Selected films will be announced on the KIFF website and in the media.

Short Film Screening Files: (Once Selected)

If selected the festival will request a ProRes 422 or ProRes LT Quicktime file with the following specifications only:

Frame size - 1920 x 1080
Frame rate - 24fps or 25fps

Audio 48khz 24bit stereo or 5.1

or

A H.264 file with the following specifications:
Frame size - 1920 x 1080
Frame rate - 24fps or 25fps
Bit rate - 12000kbps to 35000kbps.

Audio 48khz 24bit stereo

If selected, any web links used to transfer accepted formats should remain active until we have confirmed that we have downloaded and tested the film. Alternative versions will be required where it is evident that the technical requirements are not being met.

Please watch the file of your film IN FULL before sending to us. Our DCP technician will not be able to check your file for errors. Failure to adhere to the technical requirements may result in films not being screened.

Screening format for FEATURE FILMS will be DCP only and must be provided by the APPLICANT if selected.

KIFF will liaise with the filmmaker regarding screening formats after final decisions have been taken. Please check the email you submit your film with regularly. This is the method we will use to contact you. If there is no response to our emails, KIFF reserve the right to withdraw selection.

Images and press packs will be requested upon selection. These will be used for promotional purposes not limited to press, online media, television, radio and any other media platform.

Television and Internet broadcasting: Taking part in KIFF implies allowing broadcasting on Irish and foreign televisions and on the Internet (extracts limited to and not exceeding 1 min) for the purpose of promoting the festival.

KIFF does not pay screening fees for submitted work.

We request that applicants submit to Kerry International Film Festival only through the FilmFreeway portal. We do not accept DVDs, online links by email or social media messages etc. The festival has a small seasonal staff and we are not in a position to accept submissions in any other way. This allows our judging panel to view and select films in a fair manner.

All the films are watched by the panel and the judges make the final decision. There is no audience award at Kerry International Film Festival.

If entering your film to KIFF you must have the authority and licence for any music soundtrack on/in your film. You and/or the artists who own the music and/or their representatives waive rights to claim royalties from KIFF for screening selected films.

On submitting to the festival the applicant understands that he/she/they has a legal right to submit the film including ensuring all clearances have been obtained. By submitting to the festival the applicant agrees to the rules and terms.

**SHORT FILM SCREENWRITING COMPETITION**

Submission Rules:

All scripts to be submitted in English or Irish, maximum 15 pages, via FilmFreeway only.

Must be original work of the author(s) and on date of submission must be wholly owned and controlled by author(s).

If the script has been sold, currently under option, is being produced, or is in any other way encumbered by a third party on the date of submission, the script is not eligible.  If a script is optioned, sold or produced after it has been entered, it is eligible

Only original screenplays are eligible.  Novels, short stories, stage plays, treatments and spec scripts for other media are not accepted.

Adaptations of books, plays or any other source materials written by another author are not eligible under any circumstances.  A script adapted from your own book, play or other source material is eligible if you have retained all rights to the property.

Once a script has been entered into the completion, under no circumstances will substitutions of new draft or corrected pages be accepted.  Revised drafts must be entered as a new submission.

Author(s) to be 18 years or older on date of submission.

Decisions of the Judges are final and may not be disputed.

Only the selected finalists will be individually notified and a list will be on the website and social media platforms  We regret we are unable to provide individual feedback on your submission.

SCREENWRITING AWARD WINNERS:

-Winner Trophy
-Access All Areas Pass to the 2027 Kerry International Film Festival Screenings

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Donna Bonilla Wheeler

    Although I was not able to travel to the Fest this year in person, I was overwhelmed for my script to be selected as the Award Winning short screenplay. The Festival was delightful to work with and was so kind to forward my official award to me via post. Thank you, KIFF Team!

    November 2025
  • Elaine Kennedy

    Fantastic festival with inspiring industry talks and great networking opportunities. We were delighted to have our short film COGAR screen at the festival and won The Best of Kerry award! Thank you KIFF! Highly recommend this festival!!

    November 2025
  • Helen O Reilly

    This is a great festival to attend in a bustling town in a picturesque part of Ireland. The cinema was great with a packed audience on a Friday afternoon and Declan and the team were very welcoming. They had a really interesting selection of local, Irish and international films and I got to see some super films that played at TIFF and Berlinale. I'd highly recommend this festival.

    November 2025
  • Thank you so much for selecting my short screenplay "BYOB (Bring Your Own Body)" as a semi-finalist. I am deeply honored! I hope to attend next year. The communication was great.

    October 2025
  • Jonathan Lambert

    A fantastic festival. Excellent celebration of diverse filmmaking and a really strong programme. Seen some of my favourite shorts while there over the Friday and Saturday. Thank you for having 'Hometime', up the Kingdom!!

    August 2025