Leeds International Film Festival

The world's first moving images were filmed in Leeds in 1888 by Louis le Prince. Today Leeds is a major European centre for film production and exhibition, the home of Screen Yorkshire, and the new home for the UK's leading independent TV company Channel 4.

Founded in 1987 and one of the UK's leading film events, Leeds International Film Festival is renowned as a dynamic event with a reputation for challenging and innovative programming.

A qualifying event for both the Academy Awards and BAFTAs, LIFF presents nine national and international competitions for short films with total cash prizes of over $5000.

See the highlights video from LIFF 2019:

Quotes about LIFF from film industry and press:

'Leeds International Film Festival has been key in the support and promotion of international filmmakers, including myself, throughout its history. The quality of films and commitment to film makers has been paramount to the success of the festival' - Francis Lee, Director of God's Own Country

'I had a great time in the jury at LIFF. The general standard of the films selected was exceptional and the screenings where well curated. The festival team was very organised and friendly and took great care of the guests at the festival. I would go back any day.' - Niclas Gillberg, Festival Director, Uppsala International Short Film Festival

'Every city should have a film festival like Leeds.' – Ken Loach, leading UK filmmaker

'The programme continues to prove Leeds has one of the most diverse selections on offer at any British film festival.' – Huffington Post

'Finding an obscure film at a festival is always enjoyable, yet the particular high standard of selection at Leeds Film Festival made the entire festival played out like a habitual uncovering of hidden gems.' – Little White Lies

'Leeds International Film Festival is a glorious celebration of world cinema, which brings a stellar blend of old and new movies to an increasingly global city. It’s expertly run, brilliantly staffed and, above all, perfectly programmed. A fantastic fortnight.' – Subtitled Online

LIFF programme sections (full details of the LIFF 2019 film selection are on leedsfilm.com):

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Official Selection is the backbone of the Film Festival and the focal point for new fiction features from around the world. Premieres of exciting new talents emerging in world cinema are presented alongside an extensive panorama of new work from established directors.

LEEDS SHORT FILM AWARDS
LIFF provides a major platform for new and established short filmmakers to showcase their work. These are the LIFF short film competition winners from 2019:

Louis Le Prince International Short Film ($1300)
Winner: Olla by Ariane Labed (France)
Special Mention: The Christmas Gift by Bogdan Muresanu (Romania)

World Animation Short Film ($1300)
Winner: And Then The Bear by Agnès Patron (France)

British Short Film ($1300)
Winner: Hydebank by Ross McClean (UK)
Special Mention: Pale Saint by Rhys Jones (UK)

Yorkshire Short Film ($660)
Winner: The Strangers Case by Peter Trifunovic (UK)
Special Mention: Seagulls by Ben G. Brown (UK) & Standing in the Rain: Slung Low and The Holbeck by Brett Chapman (UK)

Screendance Short Film ($660)
Winner: The Circle by Lanre Malaolu (UK)
Screendance Audience Choice: Sisters by Daphne Lucker (UK)

Leeds Queer Short Film Award ($660)
Winner: A Night with Noorjehan by Mariam Majid (UK)
Special Mention: The Promise by Paula Gustafsson (Sweden) & My Lady of the Camellia by Edouard Montoute (France)

International Music Video
Winner: Okami by Motomichi Nakamura (UK/USA)
Special Mention: GUO4 by Peter Strickland (Hungary)

Leeds Short Film Audience Award
Winner: Why Slugs Have No Legs by Aline Höchli (Switzerland)

FANOMENON
Fanomenon is the UK’s leading celebration of fantastic film with an extensive international programme of new and archive horror, sci-fi, fantasy and action films, featuring many special guest appearances. Fanomenon has three short film programmes:

• International Fantasy Short Film
• Dead Shorts
• Sci-Fi Shorts

CINEMA VERSA
Cinema Versa is the home of documentary filmmaking in LIFF with two leading themes: 'Music on Film' and 'Underground Voices'. Screenings take place both in cinemas and unconventional venues across the city, often featuring live performances, guest interviews and debates.

RETROSPECTIVES
LIFF has long been dedicated to celebrating film history, unearthing rarely screened classics from the archive and importing rare film prints from around the world.

LIFF is a qualifying film festival for the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. The winning shorts in LIFF's Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition and World Animation Competition are eligible for the Academy’s Short Film Awards. British shorts selected for LIFF may be considered for nomination for the BAFTA Short Film Awards.

LIFF awards for shorts and features:

• Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition ($1300 winner prize)
• World Animation Competition ($1300 winner prize)
• British Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Yorkshire Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Screendance Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Queer Short Film Competition ($660 winner prize)
• Leeds International Music Video Competition
• Leeds Short Film Audience Award
• Leeds Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature
• Leeds Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature

Please note you only need to submit into one category: if your film is eligible for other categories then our programmers will consider it for those also.

Eligibility:
• All Films must be submitted to the Film Festival by 10th August 2020, and all submissions are final no refunds are available.

• All submissions are fairly considered by a broad team of programmers and the date of entry bears no relation to the selection decision.

• If you have more than one film to submit, you may be entitled to fee discounts for multiple entries - please email leeds.film@leeds.gov.uk for more details.

• Only films completed after 1st January 2019 will be considered for the competitive sections.

• Any genre and any length of film will be considered – anything under 45 minutes is classified as a short, anything over 45 minutes is classified as a feature. Maximum film length for the Screendance and Queer Short Film Competitions is 20 minutes

Premiere Policy:

• For feature-length films, though we do not insist on a premiere.
Please contact the Film Festival office if you would like clarification on your film if it has already screened or is going to be screened in the UK.

• For short films, we do not have a premiere policy.

If you have any further questions regarding submissions please refer to our FAQ:
https://bit.ly/36AunUD

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Mariam Majid

Winning first prize at Leeds was an absolutely amazing experience!!

January 2020

Helpful
NOBUTAKA SHIMODA

Wonderful film festival! Thank you for your selected.

December 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Hi Nobutaka, thanks so much! We were so glad to be able to show your work '14' as part of our Screendance Short Film Programme, thanks for getting in touch!

All the best,
LIFF Team
Lou Sumray

It was my first Film festival showing and although at first I felt daunted my queries were always answered promptly and I was made to feel very welcome.

November 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Hi Lou,

We are so glad you chose LIFF to submit your first short film to, and really pleased to hear we made it an enjoyable experience for you! Can't wait to see more of your work soon.
Roshni "Rush" Bhatia

I wasn't able to attend the festival but I'm beyond thrilled that my horror short, "Plasmid" screens at LEEDS. Thank you to the team!!

November 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thanks for getting in touch, Roshni! We loved being able to screen 'Plasmid' in two of our short film programmes this year.
Fran Casanova

It was a really pleasure to be part of this festival!!!

Even though I wasn´t able to attend to the festival, I´m very happy to have been part of the festival with my short film HAY ALGO EN LA OSCURIDAD (SOMETHING IN THE DARKNESS).

Thanks a lot to the director and crew of the festival for their great attention and kindness, thank you so much!

For me as a spanish filmmaker ist´s a great opportunity to show my work outside my country, thanks!

I hope to have the opportunity again to be in the festival in the future. See you soon LEEDS!

All my best wishes and greetings from Spain!
Fran Casanova

May 2019

Helpful

Response from festival:

Hi Fran!

Thank you so much for your kind words, we were really happy to show 'Something In The Darkness' at LIFF2018.

All the best!

Add to List

Dates & Deadlines

December 9, 2019
Opening Date
April 6, 2020
Earlybird Deadline
July 6, 2020
Regular Deadline
August 10, 2020
Late Deadline
September 14, 2020
Notification Date
November 4 – 19, 2020
Event Date

Categories & Fees

Feature Films - Fiction
British and International feature-length narrative fiction films, including animation and fantasy, are considered for LIFF's Official Selection and Fanomenon programme sections. If selected they are eligible for the annual Leeds Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $60
- Gold Members: $48
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $75
- Gold Members: $60
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $90
- Gold Members: $72
Submit Now
Feature Films - Documentary
Documentary features are considered for LIFF's dedicated programme section CINEMA VERSA, and occasionally for other sections depending on the subject. If selected, the film will be eligible for the Leeds Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $60
- Gold Members: $48
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $75
- Gold Members: $60
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $90
- Gold Members: $72
Submit Now
International Short Films - Fiction
Every short film submitted in this category will be considered for all applicable LIFF programme sections and competitions, including the Academy-Award-qualifying Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition. If your film is a fantasy, dance or music video film, please submit in the other categories available for those types. If our selectors think your short may also be suitable for another LIFF programme section or competition, then they will recommend it for further consideration - you only need to submit to one category for LIFF. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
International Short Films - Animation
Short films submitted in this category will be considered for all LIFF programme sections, the Academy-Award-qualifying World Animation Competition, and the Leeds Short Film Audience Award. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
International Short Films - Documentary
Shorts submitted in this category will be considered for LIFF's dedicated documentary section CINEMA VERSA, and for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award. If our selectors think your short may also be suitable for another LIFF programme section or competition, then they will recommend it for further consideration - you only need to submit to one category for LIFF. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
British Short Films
This is the category for British short fiction, animation and documentary films. Every short submitted in this category will be considered for all LIFF programme sections and competitions, including the British Short Film Competition, the Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition and the World Animation Award (if eligible). If your film is a fantasy, dance or music video film, or if it was made entirely in Yorkshire, please submit in the other categories available for those types. If our selectors think your short may also be suitable for another LIFF programme section or competition, then they will recommend it for further consideration - you only need to submit to one category for LIFF. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
Yorkshire Short Films
If you made your film entirely in the region of Yorkshire then you should submit into this category, whether its fiction, animation or documentary. As well as being considered for all LIFF programme sections, your film will also be eligible for the Yorkshire Short Film Competition and the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
Queer Short Films
The Leeds International Queer Short Film Competition is presented by LIFF and programmed by Leeds Queer Film Festival. We are looking for original and diverse short films from around the world that represent a wide range of LGBTQ+ themes and stories. Eligible films are narrative live action, documentary, animation, or a mix of those forms, in any genre, up to a running time of 20 minutes. If our selectors think your short is suitable for another LIFF programme section or competition, they will recommend it for further consideration: you only need to submit to one category. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
Fantasy Short Films
The home of fantasy filmmaking at LIFF is the Fanomenon programme section. Every short submitted in this category will be considered for Fanomenon as a whole as well as for three short fanomenon short programmes, the Dark Owl International Fantasy Short Film, Dead Shorts and Sci-Fi Shorts Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
Dance Short Films
We are looking for innovative short films under 20 minutes in length, that explore how cinematography and choreography crossover. This could be screen-based work that features dance or it may have a specific choreographic element in the edit itself. Your film could utilise new technologies, animation or web based work. We are not looking for ordinary documentation of a live dance on a proscenium stage, though we will consider live work creatively re-staged or reinterpreted specifically for the screen. How radically you interpret ‘choreography on a screen’ is up to you. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now
Music Videos
Submissions into this category are primarily considered for the Leeds International Music Video Competition. We are looking for innovative music videos across all genres of music, alongside short films with a dominant musical soundtrack. If our selectors think your short may also be suitable for another LIFF programme section or competition, then they will recommend it for further consideration - you only need to submit to one category for LIFF. Your film will also be considered for the Leeds Short Film Audience Award.
- Earlybird Deadline
- Standard: $35
- Gold Members: $28
- Regular Deadline
- Standard: $45
- Gold Members: $36
- Late Deadline
- Standard: $55
- Gold Members: $44
Submit Now

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