Eligibility Submission to the festival is open to feature films, creative documentaries, experimental films, short films and innovative visual productions for digital media completed after 1 January 2025. The festival gives priority to world and international premieres. Films that have already been shown in The Netherlands are not admitted. Student films, with the exception of post-graduate works, are excluded from submission to the festival. Films previously submitted to the Festival and were not selected, will not be reconsidered for the 2026 Festival. Participation Participation in the 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam implies acceptance of the Rules and Regulations by filmmakers, producers and their agents. Committing to the competitions Films cannot be withdrawn after accepting the invitation to participate. After accepting to participate in the Tiger Competition or Ammodo Tiger Short Competition, the film may not be screened at any other festival or public event prior to its official presentation in Rotterdam. Promotional materials Participants are urged to make available all requested publicity materials for promotion. Mentioning participation Producers and distributors of participating and awarded films in above mentioned competitions, are requested to mention this fact in future promotional materials. The appropriate logos will be made available through our Press department. Preview Copy All submissions require English language subtitles, with the exception of films with English, Dutch or no dialogue. To complete your submission the festival requires a preview copy. Selection All films presented at the festival are selected by the festival’s programmers and invited through its programme department. In case the programming team decides not to include a submitted film in IFFR, filmmakers will be notified as soon as possible via email Refunds After successfully receiving a film entry, the festival will not issue any refunds. Excerpts After official selection of a film, the festival is qualified to use excerpts from the film, with a maximum of three (3) minutes, nationally and internationally for promotional purposes (for documentaries and short films, the total duration of the excerpts is not to exceed more than 10% of the film running time). In the event that excerpts are not available, and it’s being understood that under no circumstances the entire print may be lent out, the festival is qualified to copy, under its strict supervision, one or more excerpts from the film for promotional use prior to and during the festival only. Promotion For the promotion of the entire selection and of each selected film, the festival website is allowed to use any photo or digital film clip (less than 3’ duration). Conclusion Entry and participation of films implies unconditional acceptance of the regulations. In unspecified cases, the festival management will make a final decision.