Zlín Film Festival

About the Film Festival

International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín belongs among the oldest and largest events of its kind worldwide. Founded in 1961 in the Czechoslovak hotbed of filmmaking for children and youth, the festival gradually acquired international presence and attention. The festival is a non-profitable event with all screenings and supporting events free of charge. The audience consists mainly of children and youth from the Zlín region, but also university students and adult visitors to whom late-night screening slot with appropriate dramaturgy are devoted. More and more film professionals from all over the world come to Zlín. The programme structure of the festival focuses above all on films for children and youth. Its programme scheme is very wide and apart from the main competitive sections of feature films for children and youth includes a competition of short animations for children or competitive documentaries dealing with problems of young people. In recent years we have been providing intensive support for young emerging filmmakers, which reflected in the competitive section Zlín Dog - International Competition of Student Films. Screenings are accompanied by a series of seminars, workshops and entertainment events for children and teenagers. Our festival enjoys a superb reputation internationally; it has given our country a good name abroad, as has been our intention. Among the world's famous personalities to have taken part in the Zlín Film Festival, we can include Alfonso Cuarón, Annie Girardot, Sir Christopher Lee, Sir Peter Ustinov or the talented young actors George MacKay or Art Parkinson. 66th edition will take place from May 28 to June 3, 2026.

Contract

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Competitive category:
International Competition of Feature Films in the Children’s Category
International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
International Competition of Feature Films in the Youth Category (over 15 years of age)
International Competition of Short Animations for Children (up to 12 year of age)
Competition of European Documentary Films for Young Audience
International Competition of Student Films Zlín Dog

The main festival awards:
Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film in the Children’s Category
Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film in the Junior
Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film in the Youth Category

Golden Slipper for Best Short Animation for Children
Europe Award - the European Children's Film Association Award for Best European Documentary Film for Young Audience
Zlín Dog Award for Best Student Film (with prize money of EUR 1000)

Genre ：
Subject ：
Video Format ：MPEG4 DCP

I. BASIC INFORMATION

Zlín Film Festival – International Film Festival for Children and Youth

The mission and goal of the Zlín Film Festival is the presentation of contemporary world film for children and youth in the Czech Republic as well as an exhibition of Czech films. An important aspect of the festival is not only the effort to entertain young audiences, but to also – through film – to educate, expand their awareness of the outside world, and develop esthetic, social and moral perceptions.

Zlín Film Festival – International Film Festival for Children and Youth is being organized by the FILMFEST, s.r.o., registered at Filmová 174, 760 01 Zlín, Czech Republic.

66th International Film Festival for Children and Youth will take place in Zlín from May 28 to June 3, 2026.

II. PROGRAMME SECTIONS

A) Competitions:

International Competition of Feature Films in the Children’s Category
International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
International Competition of Feature Films in the Youth Category (over 15 years of age)
International Competition of Short Animations for Children (up to 12 year of age)
Competition of European Feature Documentaries for Young Audience
International Competition of Student Films Zlín Dog

B) Non-competitive sections:

World Children´s Film Panorama
Beyond the Childhood Horizon
Festival Laurels from around the World
New Czech Films and TV Programmes
European Series for Teenagers
Top Teen Ten
Neighbourhood
Virtual Reality
Retrospective and Profile Sections

III. CONDITIONS FOR SUBMITTERS

Only films completed after January 1, 2024 will be allowed to participate in the competitive sections. Animations of up to a maximum of 15 minutes in length may participate in the short animations for children competition.

Festival doesn´t accept short live-action films (with exception of student films).

In order to have a film screened at the Festival it is necessary to fill in the application form at https://www.zlinfest.cz/-en/ and send an preview screener with English subtitles by no later than March 1, 2026. The organizer will inform the applicants of their acceptance in writing by no later than April 1, 2026.

IV. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Required formats for films in competitions are DCP. The festival may grant exceptions. Short animated films and student films included in competition are accepted also in the formats Quicktime H.264 HD that can be uploaded at the online application. The Festival strongly prefers receiving non-encrypted DCP. For any encrypted DCP the festival will require a KDM for all playback servers in use at the Festival from May 23 to June 4, 2026.

V. LANGUAGE VERSIONS

Competing films must be provided with English subtitles by the applicant. Films for children of up to 11 years of age are screened in their original version with simultaneous interpreting into the Czech language provided by the organizer. Other films are screened in their original version with English subtitles and at the same time with Czech subtitles provided by the organizer. The organizer may allow exceptions – especially in the case of historical and archival films.

Categories and fees

International Competition of Feature Films in the Children’s Category
International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
International Competition of Feature Films in the Youth Category (over 15 years of age
International Competition of Short Animations for Children (up to 12 year of age)
Competition of European Documentary Films for Young Audience
International Competition of Student Films Zlín Dog
Animated Feature

International Competition of Feature Films in the Children’s Category

Video length ：1 - 180
Typical films selected in this section are family-oriented feature films, often around 75–110 minutes long