Festivals worth your film · MFJF Community

40 opportunities · 40 confirmed by a check of its own page · last pass 27 Sept 2026

Every row shows the date we last checked it and the page we checked it on. A row nobody has checked says so. Dates change: read the opportunity's own page before you pay or plan around it.

All 36 Festivals 28 Funds 4 Schemes 3 Labs 0 Competitions 1 Free to enter 10

SchemeFree to entercloses today · 19 October 2026
BFI Film Academy London introductory courses
Free courses where 16 to 19 year olds make a short film from start to finish with industry mentors; travel bursaries available.
London · Free, with travel bursaries within London zones 1 to 6 · Aged 16 to 19; half the places are kept for people who live, work or study in Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield or Newham.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
CompetitionWorldwideFree to entercloses in 57 days · 15 December 2026
Sony Future Filmmaker Awards
Free international awards for fiction, non-fiction, animation, immersive, student and vertical films; shortlisted filmmakers go to Sony Pictures Studios.
International; shortlist flown to Sony Pictures Studios, California · Free to enter · up to 20 min · Open to the public worldwide; films 5 to 20 minutes (animation 2 to 20) released between 1 January 2025 and 15 December 2026; one film per category.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FundFree to enterClosed; the 2026 deadline was 12 June 2026
Beacons short film funding (Ffilm Cymru Wales)
Ffilm Cymru's short film fund, with BFI NETWORK money: up to £25,000 for a live action, animation, documentary or hybrid short for cinema audiences.
Wales · No application fee · up to 15 min · Director born or based in Wales; team needs a creative track record but must not have directed a feature with a commercial distribution deal; films up to 15 minutes.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FundFree to enterClosed 18 March 2026 (England); the next round is scheduled for spring 2027
BFI NETWORK short film funding
National Lottery grants of £5,000 to £25,000 for early career filmmakers making fiction shorts of up to 15 minutes, with partner schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
England (partner schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) · No application fee mentioned; awards of £5,000 to £25,000 · up to 15 min · Early career producer and director teams (18+) with an original fiction short up to 15 minutes; the director must live in England
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
SchemeFree to enter2026/27 round closed 9 September 2026; the scheme is in its sixth year
Little Pictures (GMAC)
For new filmmakers in Scotland to make a first funded short, with up to £6,000, training, an industry mentor and free equipment.
Scotland (run by GMAC in Glasgow) · No application fee · Aged 18 or over and based anywhere in Scotland; fiction, documentary, animation or experimental; separate strands for filmmakers and producers.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FundFree to enter2026 round ran 18 May to 1 July 2026; it funds films each year
Made of Truth: BFI Doc Society Short Film Fund
Grants of up to £25,000 for early-career UK teams to make a non-fiction short of 5 to 40 minutes, live action or animation.
UK-wide · No application fee · up to 40 min · At least a director and producer, both UK residents, early in their careers; the director cannot have had a commercial release for a non-fiction feature in the last five years.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FundFree to enterApplications closed for 2026; watch Take Three for the next round
North Star Shorts (Take Three, Scotland)
Backed by Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK, it funds six live action or animated fiction shorts by early-career talent with £25,000 each plus £3,000 for development.
Scotland · No application fee · up to 15 min · Resident in Scotland, not in full-time education, with some short-form experience; fiction up to 15 minutes; not for anyone already funded for a BFI NETWORK short.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FestivalFree to enter2026 entries closed 1 June 2026; the festival runs every September
Portobello Film Festival
Annual independent film festival around Portobello Road, free to enter and free to attend; the 2026 edition ran 3 to 20 September.
Portobello Road, west London · Free to enter · Send a password-protected link to your film with the entry form by email; you must hold the rights to show it.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
SchemeFree to enterRecruits once a year; the next window is announced on this page
ScreenSkills Trainee Finder
ScreenSkills' programme for people starting out: set-ready training, then paid trainee placements on UK productions.
UK · Free to apply · 18 or over, finished full-time education, and less than 12 months' paid experience in your chosen department
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source
FestivalFree to enterSite says submissions are open for the 5 to 7 March 2027 festival; no closing date given
Watersprite Film Festival
Free-to-enter international student film festival in Cambridge; nominated filmmakers get travel and accommodation bursaries to attend.
Cambridge (and online) · Free to enter · up to 23 min · At least two of director, producer and writer must have been students during production; under 23 minutes; in English or with English subtitles.
checked 27 Sept 2026 · source

The list is found and re-checked by a research pass that reads each festival's own page; a row it cannot confirm for sixty days comes off, and a deadline that has passed comes off at once. Read the festival plan before you enter anything, and the festival's own rules before you pay.

Festivals worth Tears of Steel.