Grimmfest 2026 is scheduled for 8th to 11th October, teaming up with our regular venue partner Odeon Great Northern, for a live event.

Submissions are open now!

Are you a UK film maker? We are thrilled to announce that GRIMMFEST is now officially a BIFA qualifying Festival for both Shorts and Features. 

If your film is selected for our 2026 edition, you are one step closer to the British Independent Film Awards.

A screening with us counts as 1 of the 2 screenings required for BIFA eligibility.

We are also a competitive member of the Méliès federation, which means all selected European short films (Including UK) are in the running for the prestigious Méliès d'argent for Best European Short Film at Grimmfest 2026 and will then be put forward for the Méliès d'Or competition at Sitges international film festival.

Grimmfest has fast become one of the ‘go to’ genre film festivals in the World, now in its 18th year, the festival will see thousands of fans attend in early October at the Odeon Great Northern in Manchester UK. Hosting a plethora of horror, dark fantasy and sci-fi movie premieres alongside Q&As from many of the film makers and stars of the films; Grimmfest 2026 will be a massive celebration of genre cinema on the big screen.

The festival seeks the very best cutting edge and exciting new horror and genre movies to premiere in the north of the UK. Every selected film will benefit from extensive press coverage and will also be in the running for one of our prestigious Reaper awards. This year, films will be competing for these categories: BEST FEATURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST SCORE, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST ART DIRECTION, BEST SHORT, BEST SFX, BEST SCARE and the coveted AUDIENCE AWARD. The winners will be announced just after the festival in mid October.

We have also recently launched our distribution arm, called GRIMMVISION in which we release indie genre films in the UK and around the world. Films are selected from the Grimmfest line up and further afield. Titles acquired under the label so far include: SELF DRIVER, TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELLER'S PARADOX, M - BEYOND THE WASTELAND, CONTENT, TRIBE, CRUSHED, HERESY, WHERE DARKNESS DWELLS, DEATH CYCLE and many more. Contact us for more info.

GRIMMFEST continues to draw a huge community of genre film fans, press and guests to Manchester (UK) and was recently named as one of the best genre festivals in the world' by MovieMaker magazine.

Selected films will be viewed and voted on by a special Jury of genre experts.

This year’s Jury will be selected and announced before the festival.

Previous award winners have included: I SEE THE DEMON, BEAST OF WAR, RABBIT TRAP, M, PIGGY, THE SADNESS, SINISTER, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, THE PASSENGER, MIDNIGHT, SLAPFACE, WERE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR, THE DEEP HOUSE, THE RIGHTEOUS, BLAST, RENT-A-PAL, ROPES, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, HARPOON, EXTRA ORDINARY and many many more.

Previous highlights include: THE SUBSTANCE, LONGLEGS, TRAIN TO BUSAN, SINISTER, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, THE BABADOOK, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID, RABBIT TRAP and many many more.

Previous guests have included: Nick Frost (Shaune of the dead), Tim McInnerny (Black Adder, Severance), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), Alice Krige (She Wiil, Startrek), Reece Shearsmith (Inside No.9), Barbara Crampton (Re-animator), Dee Wallace (E.T.), Brian Yuzna (From Beyond), AJ Bowen (The Sacrament), Mick Garris (The Stand), Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead), Johnny Vegas, Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, The Soska Sisters (Rabid), Steve Oram (Sightseers), Ross Noble (QI), Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Patrick Mower (The Devil Rides out), Dominic Brunt (Wolf Manor, Before Dawn, Emmerdale), Robin Hardy (The Wicker Man), Matthew Holness (Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Shaun Evans (Endeavour, Boy A), The cast of Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER, Myanna Buring (Ripper Street, The Decent, Kill List) and many many more.

TESTIMONIALS:

"Grimmfest is one of my absolute favourite genre festivals in the world. Their taste in horror and all things cinematically fantastical is impeccable - always a brilliant lineup of edgy, insanely creative, mind-bending films! It’s a true honour to be involved." Kiah Roache-Turner, director of BEAST OF WAR

“Grimmfest is absolutely one of the best genre festivals in the world, very cool team, lovely fans and terrifying movies!” - Federico Zampaglione, director of THE WELL

The team behind the festival are independent filmmakers themselves and have here built an event and platform which reflects their passion and dedication, helping other filmmakers where they know they have needed support themselves. We can’t wait to be back!“ - Justin Hardy, director of CHILDREN OF THE WICKER MAN

Do yourself a favor: submit your work and attend this festival. You won’t regret it! I can’t wait to return next year because I am now a Grimmfest fan. Cheers!” - Robyn August director of KILLHER

“Grimmfest is fast becoming the UK’s number 1 genre festival!” - Julian Richards, JINGA FILMS

“Fast becoming one of the most prominent genre festivals in the UK, attracting premieres, special guests and plenty of media attention.” – Bloody-Disgusting.com

“We had a great reception from a wonderfully enthusiastic crowd of genre fans. Can’t wait to visit Grimmfest again.” – Paul Hyett, Director - HOWL & THE SEASONING HOUSE; SFX - THE WOMAN IN BLACK, THE DECENT

“Grimmfest’s reputation as a premiere genre festival was only surpassed by its buzzing attendees... They’ve really fostered a fantastic culture.” – Chris Peckover, Director – BETTER WATCH OUT

“I loved everything about Grimmfest. I very much look forward to screening another film there.” – Matt Stuertz, Director – HUMAN & TONIGHT SHE COMES.

“I applaud the programmers at Grimmfest for their bold film selections, which not only create unique opportunities for moviemakers but allow their audiences to see and feel cinema they might not have the chance to experience.” – Ted Geoghegan, Director - WE ARE STILL HERE

“I've attended film premiere's before but I've never felt such a warm atmosphere or watched cast and crew members be so well looked after, myself included”. - Sara Dee, Actress (BORLEY RECTORY)

Awards & Prizes

THE AWARD CATEGORIES:

BEST FEATURE

BEST SHORT

BEST SHORT (Melies D'argent)

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST SCREENPLAY

BEST SCORE

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST ART DIRECTION

BEST SFX

BEST SCARE

AUDIENCE AWARD. Voted on by Grimmfest attendees.

Rules & Terms

GRIMMFEST is looking for independent feature-length and short genre films from around the world.

Our Standard Festival Participation Agreement (Terms and Conditions), which all submitted films are also expected to follow is as follows:

GENERAL RULES AND CONDITIONS
The 18th Grimmfest Film Festival will take place 8-11th October 2026.

1. Submission Deadlines
Submissions will be accepted from 1st November 2025.

2. Submission Format
Films must be submitted via online screener.

3. Submission Eligibility
All submissions must have been completed after 1 January 2025.
Grimmfest generally requires at least a Greater Manchester premiere for all films but prefers UK premieres. Films which have already been publicly released online are not accepted.

Works-in-progress and films with distribution are accepted.
All films not in the English language are required to have English subtitles.

4. Premiere Status
Grimmfest generally requires at least a Greater Manchester premiere for all films and they may not have been screened publicly online. All films may have screened at other festivals but just not have screened in the Greater Manchester Region.

5. Film Classification
All films screened during Grimmfest receive an age rating that is decided by the Manchester City Council if they haven't already received a UK rating by the BBFC prior to screening at the festival.

6. Submission Fee
All FilmFreeway submissions for Grimmfest are to be paid by via FilmFreeway. The submission fee is non-refundable.

7. Shipping
All shipping and postage costs, if the film is selected for the Festival, for all DCPs and additional materials sent to and returned from Grimmfest must be borne by the submitting party. Grimmfest will not accept Cash On Delivery shipments. Grimmfest will not absorb any fees incurred in British customs. All charges must be pre-paid.

8. Notification
Grimmfest endeavours to complete all selection procedures by 2nd September 2026 and inform all submitting parties, in writing, if their film has been successful or not after that time. Due to the volume of submissions received, we cannot offer detailed personalised feedback for every film submitted. Successful submissions will receive important information on shipping the DCP to the Festival, press and publicity, guest accreditation, contact information and how to make the most of participating in the Festival.

9. Festival Screenings
Selected films MUST provide a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) or high res digital file in order to be screened at Grimmfest. Delivery of feature films must be via physical media (hard drive or USB) or digitally via online file transfer.

The screening copy of the film must be received at Grimmfest no later than TWENTY days prior to its scheduled screening date.

10. Scheduling
Screenings are scheduled during the Festival at the discretion of Grimmfest. Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the published schedule, Grimmfest reserves the right to make changes at any time for any reason. Grimmfest will not be liable for any costs claimed as a result of a change in scheduling.

No film may be withdrawn from the festival programme after its selection.

GENERAL AGREEMENT OF PARTICIPATION IN GRIMMFEST:
By submitting to GRIMMFEST I confirm that I have read and accept the terms and regulations of GRIMMFEST. I will provide the festival with any additional information required pursuant to these rules and regulations. I authorize GRIMMFEST to exhibit my film, and if selected, I confirm that an exhibition copy will be available in a required format for screening during the 2026 festival. I certify that I hold all necessary rights for the submission of this film/video to Grimmfest and that all rights and clearances have been made. This film is not subject to any litigation nor is threatened by any litigation. I hold Grimmfest harmless from damage to, or loss of any or all materials en route to, from or otherwise at the festival. I assume all legal responsibilities therein. By Agreeing to these terms, I transfer to GRIMMFEST the right to use excerpts of the submitted film, its stills, and trailers, for the purposes of publicity and marketing of the film at the 2026 festival, and for other non-commercial uses related to the promotion of the 2026 festival. I hereby agree to indemnify GRIMMFEST, in the event that such rights have not been properly transferred.

For further information or queries please contact the team at: info@grimmfest.com with the subject line ’GRIMMFEST 2026 Submission Inquiry’.

64 Reviews
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Networking
  • Allie Perison

    We're so grateful to have had the European Premiere for our short film SHE DEVIL at Grimmfest! Such an incredible community of genre-lovers - I felt right at home at Grimmfest and in Manchester as a whole. Thank you so much! Can't wait to return!

    November 2025
    Helpful
  • Tim Connery

    We had a great time over in Manchester premiering our film 'The Driftless'. The staff and volunteers of Grimmfest were extremely helpful, providing clear communication and answering any questions we had, which made navigating life in a different country much easier.

    October 2025
    Helpful
  • Joe Savage

    We loved having the world premiere for our film 'Itch' at Grimmfest 2025. The team we're so friendly and accommodating and quick to promote our film. The whole line up was fantastic and they cultivate a really great atmosphere there, highly recommend!

    October 2025
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  • Manu Herrera

    It has been a real pleasure, an impeccable organization, wonderful

    October 2025
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  • Bari Kang

    GRIMMFEST is one of the best genre festivals in the world! We were thrilled to have the international premiere of ITCH! with them. The programming is top-notch, the audience is passionate, and the festival offers incredible press and networking opportunities.

    October 2025
    Helpful