Screenings of the 5th edition of Lisboeta International Short Film Festival will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. LISFF is expanding its creative horizon from Lisbon to Mediterranean while keeping its core mission unchanged: to celebrate bold, independent cinema and emerging voices from around the world.
The festival aims to bring together and inspire short filmmakers from all around the world, as well as support original cinematographic approach and talented filmmakers.
Global technological changes have greatly and inevitably reshaped the face of cinema. The digital era has not only simplified the complicated technical process, but it also made it much cheaper and so, more available in terms of its production.
One of the targets of this festival is to create debates and to give a chance to short filmmakers to share their experiences as well as to discover new talents and create a sustainable network between filmmakers within the industry.
All the screenings and events will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus at the venue which will be confirmed latest by the end of February 2026. For further information please visit our official representative: www.avfri.com (https://www.avfri.com/lisff)

Award Categories:

*Best Film
*Best Director
*Best Cinematography
*Best Screenplay
*Best Female Actor
*Best Male Actor
*Best Child Actor
*Jury Special Mention
*Audience Award

**All winners will receive award certificates.

*We accept fiction films of any genre up to 20 minutes. Other genres (including documentary and animation) can be accepted to be screened at the festival only in non-competition section.

*Films that have been completed prior to March 30, 2024 are not eligible to submit to the competition category of the festival.

*All content submitted in any language (including English) is required to have English subtitles included.

*All films must be submitted on NTSC DVD or PAL or as an online screener. We do NOT screen films in any other format.

*No porn content.

*We reserve the right to promote any film submitted to LISFF via our social media channels or website. This may include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

*In regards to intellectual property, you are fully responsible for the copyrights of any images, music, sound or graphics contained in your entry.

*If you are an independent filmmaker (if you as a director produced your own film) and your film is premiering at LISFF, you can submit your film without an entry fee by sending us a preview copy via email beforehand (contact festival directly to learn other possible benefits).

*There are two stages of selection at LISFF:

1.Preselection:

Films that are preselected at the festival are not in the stage of ‘Official Selection’ and their ‘Judging Status’ on FilmFreeway do not change. These are the films that have passed the first selection and are selected to be considered for the ‘Official Selection’.

2.Official Selection:

Officially selected films are the films that are listed to be screened at the competition section of the festival. As soon as the film is officially selected its Judging Status on FilmFreeway changes and submitter gets notified.

*Films that are presented on the social media channels of the festival (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube) under the 'Spotlight' announcement for the promotional purposes are not considered as 'preselected' or 'officially selected' unless they are announced so.

*Films that are publicly available on online media platforms will not be eligible for the competition section of the festival, even if they meet all other criteria for official selection.

*LISFF is hereby granted the right to utilize an excerpt from any film submitted and accepted for exhibition at the Festival for promotional purposes.

*The selection committees’ and juries’ decisions are final.

*Lisboeta International Short Film Festival reserves the right to make any necessary changes in regulations or scheduling.

*The Festival reserves the right to exhibit any submitted film that is more than two years old on its official website or online platforms (e.g., avfri.com) for promotional purposes for a maximum period of 48 hours.

*The Festival reserves the right to publish a review or analysis of any submitted film on its official social media accounts, its Patreon page, and its official partner website, avfri.com.

*During the Early Bird period, each submitter is limited to one film submission. Any additional submissions will result in all entries being disqualified.

*By submitting your film to the LISFF, you agree that you have read and accepted rules of the festival.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • RAJ KUMAR LAMICHHANE 'RAJ SARGAM'

    Wonderful Fastival.
    Thank you so much

    April 2026
    Response from festival:

    Dear Raj,
    Thank you for your kind review. It was a pleasure for us to screen your film at the festival.

  • On behalf of Madakto Pictures, we are honored to be a part of this prestigious film festival. It is truly inspiring to see so much talent and creativity gathered in one place. Thank you to the organizers and everyone involved for providing such a wonderful platform to share our work and connect with fellow filmmakers. We wish all participants the best and look forward to celebrating the art of cinema together.

    April 2025
    Response from festival:

    Dear Modakto Pictures,
    Thank you for your review- it was a true pleasure for us to screen 'Bonus' in the competition section of our 4th edition. We have published a detailed review of the film on our Patreon page: LISFF Extra: https://www.patreon.com/c/Lisboeta

  • Everything was perfect! Flawless! It was an Honor to be part of the festival. Thank you.

    June 2024
    Response from festival:

    Dear Nicola,
    Thank you, it was a great pleasure and honor to have you at the festival!

  • Lam Can-zhao

    An awesome festival that my team and I were privileged to be a part of!

    June 2022
  • viviano romero

    it was awesome and a great opportunity to show muy work to the world

    May 2022