The 23rd London Short Film Festival will be held in January 2026.

LSFF exists to spotlight a multiplicity of filmmakers, visual artists and creatives, across intersections and with a commitment to peripheral voices.

Each January, the festival hosts ten days of short form, conversation and multidisciplinary curation. We present up to 500 British and international films, collaboratively selected from 5000+ open submissions, alongside Special Events and an industry programme of workshops, panels and discussion for filmmakers and cinema workers.

Each edition, we award cash prizes to the UK and international short films screening in our annual competition. We are a BAFTA-affiliated festival, enabling accepted UK filmmakers to apply for the 2026 BAFTAs.

Awards & Prizes

Each year the festival appoints an international jury who deliberate on the following categories and award prizes.

Our LSFF jury in recent years has comprised of filmmakers such as Ngozi Onwurah (Welcome II the Terrordome), Lucille Hadžihalilović (Innocence), Nick Rowland (Calm With Horses) and Maryam Tafakory (Irani Bag), film industry professionals such as actors Stacy Martin (Nymphomania, Vox Lux) and Jessica Barden (The Lobster, The End of the Fucking World), programmer Abiba Coulibaly (Brixton Community Cinema) and talent executive Aaliah Simpson (Film London, BFI Network) and festival programmers from Hamburg Short Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Dokufest Kosovo, imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, Open City Docs, and Short Waves Poland.

BEST UK SHORT FILM

The Best UK Short Film Award spotlights the multiplicity and diversity of British creators and creativity producing impactful, challenging work.

The Best UK Short Film Award winner will receive a £1000 cash prize courtesy of the British Council.

A Special Mention runner-up will be awarded £500 towards their next project.

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM

The Best International Short Film Award champions filmmaking from across the globe interpreting cultural, political and social concerns in bold and exploratory ways.

The Best International Short Film award winner will receive a £1000 grant towards their next project.

A Special Mention runner-up will be awarded £500 towards their next project.

BEST LO-BUDGET SHORT FILM

LSFF has always championed a little DIY rebelliousness in short filmmaking, while being aware there’s a method to that madness.

Our Lo-Budget Mayhem programme has been the festival’s traditional celebration of such filmmaking, and this award recognises work that is imaginative, resourceful and tells stories with limited-to-no resources and a good dose of wit.

All qualifying films can be found in our Lo-Budget Mayhem programme and this award is deliberated on by a separate youth jury.

The Best Lo-Budget Short winner will receive an award of £500.

Rules & Terms

Submissions are open to short form of every genre - including fiction, comedy, horror, sci-fi, documentary, animation, music videos and more. We welcome artists’ moving image and video works.

Films must be no longer than 45 minutes in length.

Entries are open to both UK and international filmmakers based outside the UK, with two separate tiers of submission.

Both UK and international films under 5 minutes in length qualify for our Under 5 minute category.

PREMIERE STATUS
Films must have been completed after 1st January 2024, though LSFF does not require any premiere status.

FORMATS AND CAPTIONS
Should your film be selected, you will be required to provide a Quicktime ProRes file and a DCP of your film.

All entries must be in English or contain English subtitles if not in the English language. Non-English entries without subtitles, or supplementary printed translations, can unfortunately not be considered.

All films will be required to provide a subtitle track to ensure our ongoing commitment to accessibility, though the LSFF team will be able to assist and provide facilities to help on this.

SELECTION
We accept short films via FilmFreeway only. LSFF does not accept speculative submissions, and only entries received through FilmFreeway will be considered.

All submissions are fully considered and curated by our team of programmers, pre-selectors and review committee. Please note, due to the volume of entries received, we regret we cannot give individual feedback on submissions.

You will be notified of your film's acceptance in mid-October.

LSFF does not pay screening fees for submitted and accepted films, both in and out of competition.

TERMS
Entry fees are not refundable, and only completed entries with paid submission fees will be processed and considered for screening.

Only completed films may be submitted and will be considered.

76 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ieuan Coombs

    This festival has a special place in my heart- huge fan- thanks for having us!

    March 2025
    Helpful
  • M. Sebastian Molina

    We had a great time during the festival! The venues of the screenings were the best and the people working for the festival were always so kind and nice. Q&a was really good and it was really nice to meet the other filmmakers that got selected. :)

    February 2025
    Helpful
  • Maryam Hassanein

    Great festival as a first-time filmmaker to have my work shown as part of the Official Selection! Very well-curated networking opportunities and insightful for people working in film in different areas and capacities to network and reflect on next steps and opportunities in the industry.

    February 2025
    Helpful
  • Tabby Carless-Frost

    What a special festival – the LSFF crew are some of the most welcoming and inspiring people out there. Incredible programming, fantastic networking opportunities, and such a great vibe all round.

    February 2025
    Helpful
  • Quinton Dominguez

    Had an amazing time at an amazing festival. Would 10/10 recommend. Good programming. Very interesting films from around the world, it was a pleasure meeting the other filmmakers. Hope to be back next year!

    February 2025
    Helpful