Festivals worth Sprite Fright.

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  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
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  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
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  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
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  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

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.