Leuven International Short Film Festival is the yearly place to be in December for film lovers and professionals in Belgium and abroad. As Academy Award Qualifying festival since 2012, BAFTA recognised since 2016 and European Film Award nominating since 2017, it's the main Belgian gateway to the most renowned award ceremonies worldwide.

The festival will take place from Friday November 28 until Saturday December 6 in the beautiful medieval city of Leuven. The festival programme consists of more than 100 screenings in 4 venues. The whole festival takes place at one location, with screening venues, workshop rooms, festival bar and kitchen only a few metres apart, creating a unique cosy atmosphere.
The programme contains live action fiction films, animated shorts, short films for children, non-narrative shorts , VR and yearly changing thematic compilations. Every year, the festival screens more than 200 short films from all over the world, divided into more than 25 different compilations.
Beside the film programme, the festival organises film concerts, live music, parties, dinners, masterclasses, workshops and panel discussions, giving film professionals from Belgium and abroad inspiring moments of learning and networking possibilities.

_____Why Pay a Fee? Return for filmmakers_____

With our fee at only €9-14, its sole purpose is enabling us to treat your film fairly. Without this fee, we would have too many submissions, and we would not be able to give them all our full attention.

As a festival, we're proud to say our competition is 100% selected from paying submissions. We don't go prospecting for films at other festivals and give every film the same fair chance. We don't look at the festival screening history of the submitted films or the previous works of the directors. Everyone starts with a blank slate, and we only judge the films based on their own merits.
Waivers are only given to filmmakers that were previously selected at the festival.

Directors selected for competition are invited and receive travel and accommodation (depending on the country of origin), as well as an accreditation for the complete festival. Films outside of competition are paid a screening fee, or can request accommodation (places are limited), and an accreditation for the festival.
All selected directors can request fee waivers for next editions of the festival.

The festival's focus on directors makes it a great place to get to know colleagues and present your film to the broad audience present in Leuven.

Awards & Prizes

EUROPEAN COMPETITION (Live-action fiction, animation & documentary)
- Jury Award: €1.000 donated by the festival
- European Film Awards nomination
- Academy Award™ Qualification
- Audience Award: €1.000 purchasing prize from Dalton Distribution
- Peer Award: selected directors pick their favourite film, with a spot in the next year's jury as the prize.

FLEMISH COMPETITIONS: COMBINED
- Jury Award for best Flemish Short Film: Academy Award™ Qualifying
- Jury Award for best Cinematography: €1.000 donated by Camalot.

FLEMISH COMPETITION: LIVE-ACTION FICTION
- Jury Award: €12.500 shooting kit hire from Camalot
- Audience Award: €2.000 purchasing prize from CANVAS + €5.000 post-production support from Sondr. and A-Sound.
- Jury Award for Best Debut: €1.500 donated by SABAM
- Jury Award for Best Actor: €1.000 donated by Playright+

FLEMISH COMPETITION: ANIMATION
- Jury Award: €1.000 purchasing prize from Dalton Distribution
- Audience Award: €2.000 purchasing prize from CANVAS

FLEMISH COMPETITION: DOCUMENTARY
- Jury Award: €7.500 shooting kit hire from Camalot

Rules & Terms

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

- Follow category guidelines
- 50% of the production needs to be European (for the European Competition).
- European = Geographical Europe excluding transcontinental countries such as Russia or Turkey.
- Other types of short film (International non-competitive programmes**)
- Duration: max. 35 min.
- Finished after January 1st, 2025
- English subtitled (recommended even when dialogue is English)
- International entry deadline: August 15, 2026
- Flemish entry deadline: September 15, 2026
- No premiere requirements
- No online restrictions

We strongly advise submitting your film earlier than the official deadline.

The festival will not confirm the receipt of submissions. We kindly ask you to refrain from calling or emailing us to confirm the receipt of your material. All applicants will be notified via e-mail about the selection or rejection of their film at the end of October. No earlier feedback is given.

If the original language of the submitted film is other than English, the film must be subtitled in English. We also require English subtitles for Dutch language films. Your film will not be considered if not subtitled in English (if not English spoken)., but even English spoken films are encouraged to provide English subtitles.

The selection committee’s decision to select or reject a film is final. No correspondence will be held in regard to this decision. If a film is selected for one of the competition programmes of Leuven International Short Film Festival, it can no longer be withdrawn.

Extra Screenings When Selected
When your film is selected for the festival, it becomes eligible for up to four possible extra screenings. These are special showings reserved for award-winning films and honorary selections.
In addition to the festival winners, these extra screenings are curated by our media partners: VRT Canvas, Kortfilm.be, and HUMO. Some of these selections come with prizes, but their main value lies in the opportunities they create—such as interest from national broadcasters in acquiring the films or supporting the filmmaker’s future projects.

** The international non-competitive programmes consist of:
- animation
- short films for children (without dialogue)
- non-narrative short films
- VR
- comedy shorts
- thematic programme: tba
40 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Erika Paulinská

    The festival in Leuven was a wonderful experience for me. The excellent organizers had everything perfectly managed and created an amazing, friendly atmosphere. I also truly appreciated the rich side program, which offered plenty of inspiration and great networking opportunities.

    A particularly interesting and original element was the “Peer Award” concept, where filmmakers are required to watch each other’s films – leading to meaningful discussions, valuable feedback, and genuine connections between creators. I highly recommend it. PS: I am writing from my school account. Rastislav Kupšo

    March 2026
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  • Fon Cortizo

    A beautifully organised festival with a very caring and welcoming team. Communication is smooth and everything feels warm.
    I loved The Peer Award (voted by the selected filmmakers) Great idea!! It's a perfect way to connect with other directors and discover the programme (the selection is amazing, by the way)

    February 2026
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  • Elisa De Block Coupez

    Thank you to the organizers of Leuven Kort for creating an interesting, beautifully varied program and for including our short in it. You surrounded the filmmakers with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, so thank you for that! See you soon!

    December 2025
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  • Sebald van der Waal

    Lovely festival, great organization and very interesting films. Thanks for everything and see you soon!

    December 2025
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  • Hilke Roennfeldt

    Wonderful festival, great films, great filmmakers, great hospitality and a lovely festival team, all gathered in the beautiful STUK festival venue, a great community feel. Vincent & festival team have a hot beating heart for short films, thank you!

    December 2025
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