Brussels Short Film Festival

2027 award structure International Competition: Grand Prix International (€3,500), Jury Prize (€1,000), Female Performance Award (€1,000), Male Performance Award (€1,000), and Audience Award (€1,500), plus awards involving the purchase of television broadcast rights. National Competition: Grand Prix National (€12,500 in cash and services), Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Prize (€2,500), Female Performance Award (€1,000), Male Performance Award (€1,000), and Audience Award (€1,000), plus awards involving the purchase of television broadcast rights. The National Audience Award winner enters the European Short Film Audience Award tour; the 2027 Belgian winner participates in the 2028–2029 tour, whose overall audience winner receives €3,500 and is announced at BSFF 2029. Next Generation: the Belgian and international student-film regulations describe several prizes with a total value of €9,000, including the purchase of television broadcast rights; they do not specify individual prize categories or amounts. Jury decisions are final. Prizes are paid to the people designated by each award within 12 months of the festival's end. Winning entails permission for fee-free touring screenings and a free public screening at the following edition.

2027 submission rules The festival accepts all genres. The National Competition is for films from production companies based in Belgium, excluding film-school productions. Films must run no longer than 40 minutes and be produced or have their first public screening after 15 February 2026. Work-in-progress submissions are accepted if completed before the festival. Films must not already have screened in Brussels in 2027; the selection committee may grant exceptions. Entries are submitted through Shortfilmdepot by 1 March 2027. The International Competition accepts films of up to 30 minutes, completed or first publicly screened after 1 November 2025. Film-school productions must enter Next Generation instead. Entries are submitted through Shortfilmdepot or Festhome by 14 January 2027; films completed in November or December 2025 have an earlier deadline of 3 December 2026. International Competition submission fees are €11 until 13 August 2026, €14 from 14 August to 17 September, €16 from 18 September to 3 December, and €23 from 4 December 2026 to 14 January 2027. Next Generation is for films made within a film school or filmmaking course, with a maximum duration of 30 minutes. Belgian student films must be completed or first publicly screened after 15 February 2026 and must not already have screened in Brussels in 2027, subject to committee exceptions. They enter through Shortfilmdepot by 14 January 2027. International student films must be completed or first publicly screened after 1 November 2025 and enter through Shortfilmdepot or Festhome by 14 January 2027, with a 3 December 2026 deadline for films completed in November or December 2025. The international Next Generation fee schedule is €8 until 17 September 2026, €11 from 18 September to 3 December, and €15 from 4 December 2026 to 14 January 2027. Films must be available as an unencrypted 2K DCP following the Digital Cinema Naming Convention and as a 1920 × 1080 MP4 at 20–30 Mbps. International and Next Generation entry screeners require English subtitles, including films originally in English; selected screening copies must be understandable in English. English-subtitled copies are also required for the Short Film Market. Entries require an uploaded film, three film stills and a director photograph; a poster is optional. Submissions outside the designated platforms are not accepted, and selected screening copies are delivered digitally. Submitted films cannot be withdrawn after submission to the selection committee; the international competition regulations also exclude refunds. Submitted films, including unselected entries, may be made available to accredited programmers and buyers in the Short Film Market; inclusion depends on the submitted file being downloadable. Selection permits promotional television and internet extracts limited to 15% of the film and no more than two minutes. Award-winning films may be screened without a fee in touring screenings and in a free public screening at the following edition. Entry entails acceptance of the regulations; Belgian law applies to disputes.