Northern Lights - Fantastic Film Festival is a short film festival in Iceland. The festival selects and showcases around 50 international short films in the fantastic genres: adventure, fantasy, supernatural, horror, sci-fi, and even magic realism. These films can be live-action or animated fiction, as well as documentaries.

The festival also hosts various themed events — from Panel Discussions and Masterclasses to the annual Fantastic Film - Pub Quiz and Halloween Costume Party.

The goal is to bring something fantastic to the cinema for fantastic film lovers and makers in the beautiful Icelandic countryside!

The festival’s mission is to support filmmakers of the fantastic genre and encourage inspiration from Nordic and Icelandic folkloric heritage in future projects.

Keywords: Fantastic films, intimate people, colorful sky, inspiring experience, and a lot of fun!

Awards & Prizes

AURORA Award - Best Fantastic Live Action
NEXUS Award - Best Fantastic Animation/Stop Motion
COMET Award - Best Icelandic Fantastic Short

Rules & Terms

The festival is only open to international short films of the fantasy genre, including adventure, fantasy, horror, and sci-fi. They can be both live-action or animated fiction, as well as documentaries. The festival is all about encouraging the inspiration from folklore and things that go beyond everyday realism, magic realism included.

Maximum length: 25 minutes.

You may submit multiple entries but each must be accompanied by a submission form and entry fee.

Screening requirements for films selected for the exhibition:
Kind: MPEG-4 movie
H.264
High Bitrate ( Minimum 20 Mbps )
Dimensions: 1080x1920 / 1998x1080 / 2048x858
Burned-in subtitle - English ( If not in English spoken language )

Entry fees are non-refundable and must be in U.S. dollars. We reserve the right to disqualify any submission if eligibility requirements are unmet.

Films that have had public or festival screenings in Iceland are ineligible, this includes theatrical, TV, VOD, or internet play. *Icelandic films not shown on TV, VOD, or internet play in Iceland are eligible.
19 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Niels Bierhaus

    It was an honor to have my graduation film TELEOS01 screen at the festival and to be able to attend in person. The hosts are such warm and lovely people. The selection was wonderful and it was great to connect with all the other film makers that visited over Icelandic delicacies and karaoke nights!

    November 2025
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  • Fernando Alle

    I attended this year's festival and it was a great experience. The screening venue and accomodations are in the same building, which is great for interacting with other guests and the festival team. There was a good selection of films and fun activities, such as quiz night and karaoke, as well as a haunted museum tour. The festival team were such great hosts.

    November 2025
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  • Kay Oceans

    Thank you so much for selecting my short film "Gökotta". Unfortunately at the end I couldn't attend to the festival, but the team was amazing and always wanting to help us in every possible way that they could. I hope someday I can visit the Northern Lights Fantastic Film festival in person <3

    November 2025
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  • Lucie Colborne

    Thank you so much for screening my student short, Congratulations Mortal, I Love You. I’m so glad I was able to attend in person as the festival was incredibly warm and welcoming. The selection of films was great and so were the homemade meals! Thank you, I had fantastic time.

    November 2025
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  • Jérémy Barlozzo

    Such a pleasure to have our movie screened at northern lights
    Thank you very much

    November 2025
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