Scarborough Film Festival is a 4 day festival of screenings, exhibitions and events bringing a diverse array of films from across the UK and the rest of the world to the festival hub at the McCarthy Cinema in the Stephen Joseph Theatre and other venues across the town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.

We host a variety of film events including a Regional short film competition that is judged by a film industry panel.

There are art-film installations, live performance events, Q&As with filmmakers, social events and workshops, as well as screenings in cinemas, galleries and independent venues throughout the town.

Awards & Prizes

There is currently only one competition section open to short films of any genre with a strong link to Yorkshire, the Humber and the North East. A maximum of 10 films will be screened and judged by an industry panel.

The competition winner will receive £200 this will be voted on by a Jury

The Audience Award was introduced in 2025 and the voted on by the audience, with the winner receiving £100

REGIONAL SHORTS JURY WINNER AND JURIES 2026
JURIES: BAFTA winning TV director Jordon Hogg, Film Programmer Alice Miller and Youth Jury member Harris Atkinson

Jury Award 2026: The Long Away Game Director Hannah Congdon

Audience Award 2026: The Long Away Game Director Hannah Congdon

REGIONAL SHORTS 2025 WINNERS AND JURIES
The Jury: Actor, Writer, Producer, Liam Thomas, DJ Babybel, Animator, Jessica Cope and our young jury member, Shuaib Firify

Jury Winner: James C. Thompson, Paula Says Hi

Audience Award: James C. Thompson, Paula Says Hi

REGIONAL SHORTS 2023 WINNERS AND JURIES
The jury: BAFTA award winning director Jordan Hogg, film critic Tim Robey, the BFI Academy organiser and programmer Zoe Naylor, and resident writer of for Scarborough Film Festival Laurence Boag-Matthews.

Winner: Eden, dir. Charlie Bush, 10.32 mins.

Runner-Up: Time and Tide, dir. Caleb Yule, 11.45 mins.

Rules & Terms

FILM CONSIDERATION

1) All submissions are fairly considered by the programmer team.

2) The date of entry bears no relation to the selection decision.

3) We regret we cannot give individual feedback on submissions.

4) Films must be submitted by midnight on 14th January 2026, and all submissions are final, no refunds are available.

5) Films must be completed in the past two years (after January 1st 2024) to be considered for the competitions.

6) Films must not have been submitted to Scarborough Film Festival previously, filmmakers can reapply with new titles.

7) We do not have a specific student category, but we welcome student submission.

8) For short film competitions and other shorts programmes, we do not have a premiere policy.

9) For any submissions not in the English language, we would ideally request embedded English closed captions or otherwise subtitles.

10) Films must not exceed 30 minutes in length

11) Films must be made in the majority in the UK regions of Yorkshire, Humber or the North East of England, or be from a filmmaker from these regions.

12) If the fee is paid and you have completed the submission, you can chill! Follow our social media @scarboroughfilmfestival for updates. You will receive notification if your film is selected or not on January 26th 2027. If you have any questions, please email the team on scarboroughfilmfestival@gmail.com.

SELECTED FILMS

13) If selected for screening, films must be provided in MP4 and/or DCP format.

14) If selected you agree that we can use stills from the film for marketing and publicity with relevant credits.

15) We request where possible, that all films require a subtitle track or ideally closed captions to ensure our ongoing commitment to accessibility.

16) SFF does not pay screening fees for submitted and accepted films.

17) If your film is not BBFC certified, please outline any triggers or elements that may affect the rating of your film.
4 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Shaun Clark

    Great festival experience with a good curated selection of short films and features. The festival team are really organised and passionate about film. A good networking opportunity in a beautiful cinema and town. Really recommend submitting your film and attending

    April 2026
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  • Tom Harmer

    What a wonderful festival, so grateful to have been selected to be screened by a festival that truly values film and wants to celebrate and cultivate talent from the region.

    March 2025
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  • Neil Baker

    For a first year Scarborough Film Festival started with a bang. The festival had a very good community feel. It felt of its community and for its community with a desire to bring films to Scarborough.

    The programming reflected the context of the place - a regional and coastal, and coast pursuits focus which worked very well. There was also a strand of performative events, with music, poetry, theatre and spoken word mixed in with film but relating to film.

    I was very pleased to have my film within the shorts programme and Scarborough and felt valued and looked after as a filmmaker. The cinema is fantastic and the quality of projection and sound was superb.

    I hope to attend many more Scarborough Film Festivals and my only hope is that the festival grows in reach, in number of films and events but keeps hold of its ethos of being of and for its community whilst presenting work from Yorkshire, the North East and beyond.

    November 2023
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  • Dean Sills

    An outstanding Film Festival. It was an honour to have our work shown in such a beautiful theatre. The Festival was well organised and is highly recommended.

    November 2023
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