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Introduction to the film festival

We are delighted to accept submissions for the 40th Leeds International Film Festival, 29 October to 15 November 2026. LIFF is an Oscar® Qualifying Festival for the categories of Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film through our Louis le Prince and World Animation grand prizes. LIFF is also BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying for British short films.

Leeds is one of the UK's major cities and is located in the UK's largest county, Yorkshire. 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, the home of Screen Yorkshire, and the new home for the UK's leading independent TV company Channel 4.

Founded in 1987 and now one of the UK's leading annual film events, LIFF primarily supports the work of new filmmakers from the UK and across the world, with 86 countries represented in 2025. LIFF presents two feature film competitions, feature film audience awards, and nine short film competitions with cash prizes.


Awards

FEATURE FILM COMPETITIONS AND AUDIENCE AWARDS AT LIFF 2026

LIFF presents two feature film competitions. The Constellation Competition supports first or second features and filmmakers new to audiences in the UK. The Fanomenon Competition supports new fantastic genre features - including fantasy, sci-fi, horror, dark comedy, action, thriller films and more. LIFF also presents audience awards for features, including best narrative film, best fantastic genre film, and best documentary.

SHORT FILM COMPETITIONS AT LIFF 2026

LIFF is an Oscar® Qualifying Festival for the categories of Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film through our Louis le Prince and World Animation grand prizes. LIFF is also BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying for British short film selections.


Rules

Genre ：
Subject ：
Video Format ：AVI MPEG4 DCP

CATEGORIES AND CONSIDERATION

1) You only need to submit into one category. If your film is eligible for consideration in other categories, we will also consider it for those categories.

2) If your film is selected for a different category to the one you submitted into, we will request approval from you for this before confirmation.

3) All submissions are fairly considered by specialist and diverse teams of British and international programmers.

4) The date of entry bears no relation to the selection decision.

5) We regret we cannot give individual feedback on submissions.

6) Where there are cash prizes for the winner of a short film competition, the prize is awarded to the director or shared equally if there is more than one director.

ELIGIBILITY

7) Films must be submitted by 31 July 2026. Film selection decisions are final and no submission fee refunds are possible.

8) Films must be completed after 1 January 2025 to be considered for the competitions.

9) If you have more than one film to submit, you may be eligible for fee discounts for multiple entries - please email for more details.

10) We do not have a student short film competition but if your film school would like to submit multiple films they may be eligible for a discounted submission rate. Please email

11) The duration for feature films is 41 minutes and over, and for short films 40 minutes and under (including credits). Submissions for the screendance and queer shorts categories need to be 20 minutes or under.

12) For the music videos category, LIFF is only able to select submissions made with the permission of the artist whose music is featured.

13) For all submissions not in the English language, we ideally require embedded English descriptive subtitles or otherwise standard subtitles.

14) We can only accept a work-in-progress submission that is nearly completed - for example, where the final sound mix is not yet complete - and it must be completed by 1st September 2026. Please note, we cannot guarantee our programmers can watch an updated version of a film at a later date if they have already considered the film.

15) If you have a film for children and families, it may be more suitable for our sister event Leeds Young Film Festival - please email for more details.

PREMIERE POLICY

16) For feature film competitions, we require a UK Premiere. For features not selected for our competition, we prefer a UK premiere where possible but it is not a requirement. Please email if you would like clarification if your film has already screened or is going to be screened in the UK before LIFF 2026.

17) For short film competitions and other shorts programmes, we do not have a premiere policy.

SELECTED FILMS

18) If your submission is selected, you will be required to provide a DCP of your film. LIFF can help in the creation of a DCP which will be supplied to the filmmaker for a charge to cover the cost of making it.

19) All films will be required to provide subtitles or ideally descriptive subtitles to ensure our ongoing commitment to accessibility.

20) LIFF does not pay screening fees for selected submissions.

Evaluation

Jury Profile
Jury Name Judge photos Jury Profile

Authorization type

    Proxy Submission

Duration (several sessions)

    40

Film Festival Features

  • Red Carpet
  • Celebrity Guest
  • Filmscreen
  • Cash prize
  • Trophy

Dates & Deadlines

  • 2025-10-16
    Submission start time

  • 2025-12-09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

  • 2026-03-24
    Earlybird Deadline

  • 2026-06-23
    Regular Deadline

  • 2026-07-28
    Extended Deadline

  • 2026-07-28
    Submission end time

  • 2026-09-17
    Finalist notification start time

  • 2026-09-17
    Finalist notification end time

  • 2026-10-29
    Award ceremony start time

  • 2026-11-15
    Award ceremony end time

Categories and fees

  • Narrative Features
    Video length ：41 - 300
    British and International narrative features (41 minutes or over) are considered for the whole of the LIFF 2025 features selection including the Constellation Feature Film Competition.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 85 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 95 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Documentary Features
    Video length ：41 - 300
    British and international documentary features (41 minutes or over) are considered for the whole of the LIFF 2025 features selection including the Constellation Feature Film Competition and the Cinema Versa section.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 85 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 95 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Fantastic Features
    Video length ：41 - 300
    British and international fantastic genre features (41 minutes or over) - including fantasy, horror, sci-fi, thriller, action and cross-genre films - are considered for the Fanomenon section including the Fanomenon Feature Film Competition.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 85 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 95 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • International Narrative Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 40
    International narrative shorts (40 minutes or under) are considered for the Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition (£2000 cash prize). The grand prize winner can be submitted for consideration for nomination for the Oscar® Live Action short film category if it meets the eligibility criteria. British shorts submitted to the British category at LIFF will also be considered for the Louis le Prince Competition.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • International Documentary Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 40
    International documentary shorts (40 minutes or under) are considered for the Documentary Short Film Competition (£1000 cash prize) and panorama programmes. British shorts submitted to the British category at LIFF will also be considered for the documentary competition and panorama programmes.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • International Animation Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 40
    International animation shorts (40 minutes or under) are considered for the World Animation Competition (£1000 cash prize). The grand prize winner can be submitted for consideration for nomination for the Oscar® Animated short film category if it meets the eligibility criteria. British shorts submitted to the British category at LIFF will also be considered for the World Animation Competition.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Fantastic Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 40
    Fantastic genre shorts (40 minutes or under) - including fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action, thriller, action and cross-genre films - are considered for the Fanomenon Short Film Competition (£1000 cash prize).

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Queer Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 20
    Queer shorts (20 minutes or under) are considered for the Leeds Queer Short Film Competition (£500 cash prize). We are looking for original and diverse shorts, including narrative, documentary and animation, from the UK and around the world, that represent a wide range of LGBTQ+ themes and stories.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Dance Shorts
    Video length ：0 - 20
    Dance shorts (20 minutes or under) are considered for the Leeds Screendance Competition (£500 cash prize). We are looking for innovative shorts, from the UK and around the world, 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, though we will consider live work creatively re-staged or reinterpreted specifically for the screen.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival
  • Music Videos
    Video length ：0 - 59
    Music videos are considered for the Leeds Music Video Competition (£500 cash prize). We are looking for innovative music videos across all genres, alongside shorts with a dominant musical soundtrack. We can only consider submissions made with the permission of the artist whose music is featured. Please provide the name of the artist and song featured in the submission.

    2025/12/09
    Super Early Bird Deadline

    Standard: 45 Dollar

    2026/03/24
    Earlybird Deadline

    Standard: 55 Dollar

    2026/06/23
    Regular Deadline

    Standard: 65 Dollar

    2026/07/28
    Extended Deadline

    Standard: 75 Dollar

    Submit to the Festival

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