Scotland's coolest new genre festival.

From the creators and producers of the BAFTA and BIFA qualifying short comedy film festival Short Com (www.shortcom.org); SI-FAN is a genre-led arts festival (Fantasy; Horror, Sci-Fi, Gothic, Action-Thriller, Magical Realism) that takes place between Edinburgh for genre loving fans. Adopting our principles from Short Com by putting curating the best films around.

We are looking for the most exciting, fun, thought-provoking, shocking, spell binding and frightening films from the genres within the gamut of the Fantastic spectrum. Live action and animation, documentary or fiction. Low budget to high-end production.

We've giving Scottish premieres to feature titles such as Mars Express, Chainsaws Were Singing, Divinity, Vampire Zombies... From Space, A Useful Ghost and Dog of God.

To see our previous programmes https://www.si-fan.org/film-festival

Follow us on
​https://www.instagram.com/sifanfestival/

Awards & Prizes

We have three award categories

Grand Jury Prize - (Best Live action short film)

Best Animation

Best Scottish Short Film - Sponsored by No Drama - The winner will receive £1500 in in-kind kit hire.

Best Student Film - Free consultancy session from film festival strategy experts Festival Formula.

Best 'Short' Short - Films under 5 minutes.

All entrants will receive Official Selection laurels. Award winners can also request an updated laurel highlighting the category award win.

Rules & Terms

Films ideally should be no longer than twenty minutes for extended narrative based shorts. There is no set minimum length and we have shown shorts under a minute.

Films must be released after October 2025. Try to be honest please.

Non-English language entries must contain English subtitles.

The filmmaker grants SI-FAN permission to use images and footage from their film for the purpose of promoting SI-FAN events and marketing materials.

Submitting your film to SI-FAN does not guarantee it will be selected for screening at SI-FAN events. Only selected films are screened in the SI-FAN programme.

A final disclaimer. Filmmakers are responsible for any copyrighted material and licensing rights of music within their film. SI-FAN cannot be held responsible for the promotion and distribution of materials that contain footage or music that does not have the required legal permissions.

Films with heavy A.I. usage will not be considered.

SI-FAN is under no obligation to screen films that do not satisfy the criteria set above.

Please note. Unfortunately, we cannot offer screener fees for short films.

Films are scheduled at the discretion of SI-FAN. SI-FAN retains the right to make changes to the published schedule at any time and for any reason.

15 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Paper Horse Pictures

    Based on the submission experience and communication alone, SI-FAN made an excellent impression. Even without attending in person, the festival felt highly professional, well organized, and deeply committed to independent film. Communication was clear, timely, and thoughtful, reflecting a team that genuinely respects filmmakers and their work. From a distance, it’s easy to see the care and intention behind the programming and overall experience. It’s absolutely a festival we would be excited to return to and continue supporting in the future.

    May 2026
    Helpful
  • Kialy Tihngang

    Great organisers and a great festival!

    May 2026
    Helpful
  • Yasuteru Ohno

    Clear communication and very smooth administrative processes. The organizers were professional and made everything easy, from the initial contact to the final screening updates. It was a positive experience being part of SI-FAN 2026 even from afar.

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thank you Yasuteru. And thanks for letting us have your film as part of the festival.

  • Jasmine De Silva

    Si-Fan was great! So happy we could screen our film, Beauty Sleep, as part of this festival. Loved the curation of all the screenings I attended, and it was great to see each screening was full with a lovely audience

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Aw thanks Jasmine. Really appreciate you coming all the way up for it and great to meet you. And proud to have your film at the festival.

  • Hoku Uchiyama

    We're honored to have had our film be a part of SI-FAN! Thank you very much for including our work!

    May 2026
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Thanks Hoku. Really appreciate you letting us have Whitch part of the festival.