The LAKFF is a popular audience festival and takes place annually in Landshut, the medieval capital of Lower Bavaria, close to Munich. It is open to international short films of all genres. There are 12 awards to be won in eight competition categories with a total value of EUR 18,000 prize money. At three venues, on nine screens, around 250 selected short films delight around 5,000 visitors.

The 24th Landshut Short Film Festival will take place from March 13th to March 18th, 2024.

G-A-S Competition / D-A-CH Wettbewerb
Open for short films from Germany, Austria & Switzerland in German language.

BMW Grand Prix – Jury Award: EUR 5,000
Audience Award: EUR 2,000
Best Comedy – Jury Award: EUR 500

International Competition
Open to short films from anywhere in the world.

International Short Film Award – Jury Award: EUR 2,000
Audience Award: EUR 1,000

Deadline_Award
Open to Horror, Fantasy & Sci-Fi short films from anywhere in the world.

Deadline_Award – Jury Award: EUR 1,000
Deadline_Audience Award EUR 300

Animation Competition
Open to animated short films from anywhere in the world.

Best Animation Short Film – Jury Award: EUR 750

Documentary Competition
Open for short films from Germany, Austria & Switzerland

Best Short Documentary Film – Jury Award: EUR 1,000

Shorts For Kids Competition
Open to short films for children made in Germany, Austria & Switzerland in German language.

Shorts For Kids Award – Audience Award: EUR 1,000

Lokalrunde Competition
Open to short films made in Lower Bavaria, have Lower Bavaria as their theme or have Lower Bavarian protagonists in front of or behind the camera.

Lokalrunde Award – Audience Award: EUR 500

Special Awards

DaHome Award – Jury Award: EUR 2,000

For more details, please see Rules & Terms

1. The G-A-S Competition / D-A-CH Wettbewerb is open for short films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in German language. In this category three prizes will be awarded.

BMW Grand Prix: awarded by a jury; the trophy money is EUR 5,000
Audience Award: the trophy money is EUR 2,000
Best Comedy: awarded by a jury; the trophy money is EUR 500

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

2. The International Competition is open to short films from anywhere in the world. In this category two prizes will be awarded.

International Short Film Award: awarded by a jury; the trophy money is EUR 2,000
Audience Award: the trophy money is EUR 1,000

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

3. The Deadline_Award is open to genre short films from anywhere in the world. It is a special award for an outstanding international Horror, Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction or Thriller Short Film.

Deadline_Award: awarded by a jury; the trophy money is EUR 1,000
Deadline_Audience Award; the trophy money is EUR 300

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

4. The Animation Competition is open to animated short films from anywhere in the world.

The trophy money is EUR 750 and is awarded by a jury.

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

5. The Documentary Competition is open to short documentary films made in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

The trophy money is EUR 1,500 and is awarded by a jury.

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

6. The Shorts for Kids Competition is open to short films for children made in Germany, Austria or Switzerland in German language.

The trophy money is EUR 1,000 and is awarded by the audience.

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

7. The Lokalrunde Competition is open for short films made in Lower Bavaria, have Lower Bavaria as their theme or have Lower Bavarian protagonists in front of or behind the camera.

The trophy money is EUR 500 and is awarded by the audience.

Submitted films must not be longer than 30 minutes.

8. The DaHome Award is a special Jury award and is awarded to an international short film that deals with the subject of Heimat / homeland in a special and extraordinary way.

The trophy money is EUR 2,000 and is awarded by a jury.

9. All submitted films must have been completed after January 1st, 2022.

10. The screening formats at the festival are: DCP, full HD high-res files, Apple ProRes

11. If the original version of the film is not in English or German language, the film must be subtitled in English or German language.

12. In submitting your film or video you guarantee that you have all the relevant permissions, licenses and releases for your film or video to be screened in a public exhibition.

13. The organizer has the right to show preview trailer of the submitted and selected film at the websites, social media sites of the festival and on TV as part of the festival coverage if this is not expressly revoked by the submitter.

14. If more films are submitted than can be shown in the festival programs, a preliminary jury will decide on the admission to the various programs and competitions. Accepted films are divided between the different competitions and programs by the artistic festival management. The decision of the preliminary jury is final.

15. A screening fee will not be paid.

16. Festival passes and travel allowance:

Participating filmmakers have the opportunity to obtain accreditation for free and receive up to three festival passes per accepted film. All other team members can be accredited for a fee of Euro 30 per person.

One travel allowance is granted for each accepted film. The travel allowance can only be applied for once by one person, even if they have several films in the festival program. The travel allowance cannot be paid in cash but will be transferred to the person registered for it after the festival. The travel allowance for participants is from:
• Bavaria € 80
• Rest of Germany € 150
• European countries € 250
• Rest of the world € 350

Unfortunately, we cannot cover the costs of hotels and accommodation.

17. With the submission the sender agrees that his or her specifications will be stored and used in purpose of the festival and accept the regulations of the festival.

18. By submitting a film the submitter accepts all entry conditions and the privacy policy of the Landshut Short Film Festival.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • I am really happy my animation HOOKED ON ILLUSIONS was screened at the LAKFF! The communication with the festival was very nice and quick and while I couldn't attend personally, I followed their social media updates and was impressed by all the events! The website is also outstanding. Hopefully, I can attend in person in the future! :)

    March 2024
  • Wajda Studio

    Cameral but great film festival. Looking forward to the next edition. We will definitelly submit there againg. Greetings from Wajda School & Studio

    March 2024
  • Kai Bosse

    Wonderful intimate festival with lots of opportunities to connect with fellow filmmakers and talk about their work. The movie selection was amazing. Organisation was fantastic and we even got to a guided tour of the city Landshut.

    Thank you Birgit and Michael for having us this year =)
    Looking forward to the next time!

    December 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you very much Kai, looking forward to meeting you soon again 😃

  • Sean Wainsteim

    What a wonderful festival! I had such an incredible time visiting this picturesque Bavarian town, meeting amazing filmmakers and the wonderful festival staff and volunteers. Amazing Q&As!! Hospitality was incredible and the whole visit left me feeling so inspired!! The experience felt like we were at a family get-together... but with family we like! I was extremely honoured that my film Demon Box received an Honourable Mention for the Dräxlmaier Innovation Award! Highly recommended.

    May 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you very much for your kind words, it was a pleasure to screen your fantastic film. We are very happy that you enjoyed your stay in Landshut and we are excited to hear about your new work.

  • A very friendly and well organized festival. Was a pig pleasure to visit this festival and watch many very good films. Hope to come back one day.

    May 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks a lot for your nice words, we are looking forward to hear from you new films.