Introduction to the film festival
The 24th London Short Film Festival will be held in January 2027.
The UK’s leading short film festival exists to spotlight a multiplicity of UK and international filmmakers, visual artists and creatives, and with a commitment to peripheral voices, to bring films to London audiences via the city’s iconic cinemas, and its community and creative spaces.
Each January, the festival hosts ten days of short form, presenting up to 500 British and international films, collaboratively selected from nearly 6000 open submissions, alongside specially curated screenings and events and an industry programme of workshops, panels and discussion.
Each edition, we award cash prizes to the UK and international short films screening in our annual competition. We are a BAFTA and BIFA-affiliated festival, enabling accepted UK filmmakers to apply for the BAFTAs and the BIFAs respectively.
Awards
Each year the festival appoints an international jury who deliberate on the following categories and award prizes. Our LSFF jury in recent years has comprised of filmmakers such as Ngozi Onwurah (Welcome II the Terrordome), Lucille Hadžihalilović (Innocence), Nick Rowland (Calm With Horses) and Maryam Tafakory (Irani Bag), film industry professionals such as actors Stacy Martin (Nymphomania, Vox Lux, The Brutalist), Jessica Barden (The Lobster, The End of the Fucking World), Kosar Ali (Rocks), programmer Abiba Coulibaly (Brixton Community Cinema) and talent executive Aaliah Simpson (Film London, BFI Network) and festival programmers from Hamburg Short Film Festival, Dresden Short Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Dokufest Kosovo, imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival, Open City Docs, and Short Waves Poland. BEST UK SHORT FILM The Best UK Short Film Award winner will receive a £1000 cash prize towards their next project, courtesy of the British Council. A Special Mention runner-up will be awarded £500 towards their next project. BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM The Best International Short Film award winner will receive a £1000 grant towards their next project. A Special Mention runner-up will be awarded £500 towards their next project. BEST LO-BUDGET SHORT FILM Our Lo-Budget Mayhem programme has been the festival’s traditional celebration of such filmmaking, and this award recognises work that is imaginative, resourceful and tells stories with limited-to-no resources and a good dose of wit. All qualifying films can be found in our Lo-Budget Mayhem programme and this award is deliberated on by a separate youth jury. The Best Lo-Budget Short winner will receive an award of £500.
The Best UK Short Film Award spotlights the multiplicity and diversity of British creators and creativity producing impactful, challenging work.
The Best International Short Film Award champions filmmaking from across the globe interpreting cultural, political and social concerns in bold and exploratory ways.
LSFF has always championed a little DIY rebelliousness in short filmmaking, while being aware there’s a method to that madness.
Rules
Submissions are open to short form of every genre - including fiction, comedy, horror, sci-fi, documentary, animation, music videos and more. We welcome artists’ moving image and video works.
Films must be no longer than 45 minutes in length.
Entries are open to both UK and international filmmakers based outside the UK, with two separate tiers of submission.
Films must have been completed after 1st January 2025, though LSFF does not require any premiere status.
| Jury Name | Judge photos | Jury Profile |
|---|
Authorization type
Duration (several sessions)
Film Festival Features
Dates & Deadlines
2025-12-19
Submission start time
2026-03-29
Earlybird Deadline
2026-05-30
Regular Deadline
2026-08-16
Late Deadline
2026-08-16
Submission end time
2026-10-22
Finalist notification start time
2026-10-22
Finalist notification end time
2027-01-22
Award ceremony start time
2027-01-31
Award ceremony end time
Categories and fees
2026/03/29
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 40 Dollar
2026/05/30
Regular Deadline
Standard: 56 Dollar
2026/08/16
Late Deadline
Standard: 67 Dollar
2026/03/29
Earlybird Deadline
Standard: 26 Dollar
2026/05/30
Regular Deadline
Standard: 40 Dollar
2026/08/16
Late Deadline
Standard: 47 Dollar
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