The YoungCuts Film Festival is one of the longest-running and most prestigious film festivals for young filmmakers around the world. Founded in 2001, this short film festival is held annually in Montreal, and is dedicated to filmmakers 29 years old and under.

Winning a laurel at YoungCuts is important because of our long-standing international reputation and focus on the best upcoming talent.

And differentiating your talents is the key to your success!

Although we are global, our staff is available to answer questions year round. If you have questions, you can call us or email us, and we will be pleased to help you.

Awards & Prizes

There are separate awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Editor, Best Music, Best Sound Design & Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Acting, and Best Writing.

Awards are also presented in film categories that include; Documentary, Short Short, Animation, Music Video, Arts and Experimental.

Filmmakers's films also qualify for awards by age category; Teen (19 and younger), Young Filmmaker (20 to 25), and Master Class (26 to 29).

Award winners receive a beautiful trophy.

Participating filmmakers also receive unique web access to watch, vote and be inspired by other participants' films.

Rules & Terms

To be eligible for inclusion, the applicant must be 29 years old or under as of December 31st, 2014.

Filmmakers submit their films to YoungCuts using FilmFreeway or by sharing their film files with us via Dropbox, Vimeo or any other file sharing services. Do not send your master tape or original.

The use of original music or royalty-free music is strongly recommended but not mandatory for Festival submissions.

Please ensure that you have all necessary releases on file, including actors’ releases.

YoungCuts will only select films for the festival that are 30 minutes or less.

Submission fees are non-refundable.

Please submit a separate submission form for each film.

Applicant permits YoungCuts to retain film files and promotional materials as part of its Festival library.

Submissions accepted for exhibition may be screened one or multiple times at various YoungCuts venues (whether online, in-theatre or in other forms) prior to, during and after the Festival for purposes of promoting the Festival.

Applicant hereby grants YoungCuts the non-exclusive rights to use all or part(s) of the film for promotional purposes; to use stills, biographical material, names and likeness from the film for promotional purposes and in Festival program and merchandise, to provide copies of the film for journalists to review, to show the film at press screenings, to include in festival compilations and to exhibit the film during the Festival and at any time before and after the Festival for purposes of promoting the Festival.

YoungCuts will use its best efforts to ensure the correct title and credits are listed in the Festival program, but shall not be held liable for errors or omissions.

Festival programmers and judges shall determine selections and award winners at their sole discretion.

YoungCuts reserves the right to decide all questions not specifically provided for in the Terms and Conditions.

YoungCuts reserves the rights to adjust dates and times of film screenings without notice. YoungCuts shall not be responsible for delays or cancellations due to equipment failure, shipping delays, or the condition of the films delivered.

If sending a digital copy of your film, via the internet, is impossible, we can accept two DVD screeners and Data DVD with .mp4 or .MOV file. This material will not be returned to you. Send the material to:

YoungCuts Film Festival
2075 University, Suite 1410
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2L1
Tel: (514) 285-4591

You will receive an invitation to join our e-mailing list. We encourage you to join the list, which provides regular updates about the Festival and its events.