Our latest Live screening Event took place on May 18th - May 19th at LA CASA DEL CINEMA in the stunning city of Venezia! Check out our photos above 📸.

The city of Venezia is well known for its loving relationship with cinema. The independent and artistic filmmakers scene has taken place, for years, in LA CASA DEL CINEMA.

Venezia shorts has rapidly turned into a favorite between independent filmmakers. This festival, in a few years, has become part of the 15 most popular, and the 100 best reviewed worldwide and IMDb qualifying.

We are committed to screen the complete official selection of films at our live event, where filmmakers and guests will participate of the Q&A’s and panels, enhancing the opportunity for networking with directors, cast, crew and people from the industry. An amazing opportunity to submerge yourself in other visual artists' works! During the year, we will award the best films with cash prizes for a total of USD 3.500 🏆

ALL TECHNICAL AND PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES FOR FREE BY SUBMITTING YOUR FILM IN ANY COMPETITION.🎬

Some of our recent winners include a new wave of amazing uprising directors as Andoni Betbeder, Ivan Maria Friedman, Sylvain Begert, Nicolaj Kopernikus, Jesse Boyle, Asta Wellejus, Teddy Kristiansen, Marios Papageorgiou, Gilles Bovon, Eléna Weiß and so many more! These new talented Italian directors: Letizia Borficchia, Andrea Walts, Francesco Massimiliano Gozzo, Frank Dell'Oro. And Student Academy Awards Winners: Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma from USA, Pascal Schelbli from Germany, Maren Klakegg from Norway, Percival Argüero Mendoza from Mexico and German Golub from Estonia.

Furthermore, the festival will select a number of films as semifinalists. All semifinalist projects will be invited to our Virtual Screening Event, where they will be awarded semifinalist laurels.
After the online event, we will choose the best film of the Online Event which will receive a USD 1000 cash prize.

All the Winners will receive the Official Laurels and the winning-category achievement certificate after the Live Event. Jury will choose from the Official Selection a film that will receive the JURY'S DISTINCTION AWARD with a cash prize of USD 1.500.🏆 This winner will be revealed at the Live Event in the city of Venezia.

All OFFICIAL SELECTION films will be screened at our public Live Event.📽 At the Live Event the Audience will vote for their favorite film and the winner will be granted a cash prize award of USD 1000.

Awards & Prizes

JURY

To keep the Awards fair and transparent, we invite independent judges from all around the world who enjoy the experience and assess each category.

Each short film will be reviewed at least for three judges after the film is scored by our screening team. Our judges team includes artists from the United States, Canada, Austria, Spain, Argentina and Sweden.

You can submit your film in any of the Main Competitions and automatically your film will be considered for all Technical & Performances Categories with no extra cost. You don't need to pay any additional category fee.

Our event will hold 10 COMPETITIONS by movie genre.
We proudly announce our MAIN COMPETITIONS:
* NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
* FOREIGN SHORTS COMPETITION
* DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
* ANIMATION SHORTS COMPETITION
* NEWFILMMAKERS SHORTS COMPETITION
* EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS COMPETITION
* STUDENT SHORTS COMPETITION
* HORROR SHORTS COMPETITION
* MUSIC VIDEOS COMPETITION
* COMEDY SHORTS COMPETITION

TECHNICAL AND PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES
These categories are all complimentary.
When you enter a MAIN COMPETITION, your film is automatically considered in all Technical and Performance Categories. Simply check all of the free categories you want to be considered and enter the names of the artists in the Custom Form.
Best Producer
Best Female Director
Best Male Director
Best Female Student Director
Best Male Student Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Production Design
Best Sound Design
Best Original Score
Best Screenwriting

Rules & Terms

* In order to submit a film, you must own the rights or have permission from the owner.
* The VENEZIA SHORTS relationship will exclusively be related to the film submitter.
Any film that is not in English must have English subtitles.
* All fees are non-refundable.
* VENEZIA SHORTS will not be responsible for damaged copies.
* A downloadable high definition link (.mov or .mp4) of the film is required in case the movie is selected to be screened with English subtitles embedded if needed.
* Students must present a valid Student ID in order to receive our student discount.
* Not all the submissions are selected for the official competition. Our Judges are free to make their own choices and no feedback will be given about not selected films.
* VENEZIA SHORTS can consider any film to be disqualified if the festival considers the content inappropriate. If you have any question regarding this decision you might contact us at our email address
* A fee is required for all the Main Competitions. For payment structure visit FilmFreeway website
* All Technical & Performances Categories are free of charge and are included by submitting your film in any Main Competition. For payment structure visit FilmFreeway website
* The applicants (submitters) must accept VENEZIA SHORTS Rules and Terms.
* Filmmakers are requested to add the name of the person and the category. When you submit your movie in a Main Competition, you can choose your film to be considered in any Technical & Performance Categories you want. Please tick all free categories you want to be considered and add the names of the artists in the Custom Form.
* By submitting your movie, you authorize VENEZIA SHORTS to use, distribute and share the film poster, trailer, synopsis and movie stills in our social media.
* Maximum length allowed is 40 minutes.
* We do not require premiere status.
* When submitting your film, you are consenting to our Privacy Policy. We are committed to respecting each filmmaker's preferences. We might contact you through your email or social media provided in the submission page to communicate updates on your submission status, screening and DCP requirements, events ticket confirmation, as well as to provide information about events, services, promotions that we think you might be interested in. You can unsubscribe from any marketing or advertising newsletter from us or any partner festival simply by clicking unsubscribe.
Even when unsubscribing from a marketing newsletter, you can still receive any communication regarding your submission status through the FilmFreeway system. For more information about our associated event, please refer to veneziashorts.com. If you need further information, please contact us via [email protected], and we will be happy to help you.

95 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jonas Alexander

    Such a great festival to be a part of!

    June 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks for your feedback Jonas and for paticipating with you film Nymphose. All the best of luck in your future projects!

  • Klaas Diersmann

    Great festival and programme, very grateful to be part of the festival with our short film.
    Thanks to Tere and her amazing team for being so welcoming.

    June 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Dear Klaas, thank you so much for your kind words and for being a part of our festival. We are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the festival and our programme.
    We are dedicated to creating a welcoming and enriching experience for all participants, and your gratitude means a lot to us. It was our pleasure to showcase your short film, and we look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

  • CYPRIAN HERCKA

    Venezia Shorts is one of those little gems that are worth discovering.
    Admittedly, it is still quite a small festival in terms of size and length. But it certainly makes up for this with the quality of the selected films and, above all, with the passion and dedication that the small team has put into this high-quality indie festival. And this warmth and great organisation was not only present on site, but also in the exchange and communication beforehand. All in all, a highly recommendable festival that could do with a little more audience and attention! So hand it in and then off to Venice - the festival, people, film programme, interesting Q&As, a great little cinema with plenty of ambience and of course the city itself - it's worth it!
    Thank you for allowing me to be part of the programme this year and thank you for honouring my little work. Thanks so much!

    June 2024
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    Response from festival:

    CYPRIAN, Thank you so much for your heartfelt and encouraging review. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your experience at Venezia Shorts and appreciated the passion and dedication our team has put into the festival. Your kind words about the quality of our film selections, the warmth of our team, and the overall organization mean the world to us. We strive to create a memorable and enriching experience for all our participants, and it’s truly gratifying to know that our efforts resonated with you.

    We are also grateful for your recommendations and will continue to work towards growing our audience and reaching more film enthusiasts. It was an honor to showcase your work, and we look forward to seeing more of your creative projects in the future.
    Thank you once again for being a part of Venezia Shorts this year and for sharing your positive feedback. We hope to welcome you back soon!

  • Apoorva Gaitonde

    I'm super grateful to the Venezia shorts festival for including my short film, Fitting In in their impressive lineup. I'd love to collaborate again in the near future and visit the beautiful city of Venizia.

    June 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Apoorva, Thank you so much for your kind words and for being a part of the Venezia Shorts Festival with your short film, Fitting In. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to showcase your work in our lineup.
    We would love to collaborate with you again in the near future and welcome you to visit the beautiful city of Venice. Your creativity and talent are truly valued, and we look forward to seeing more of your work.

  • Richard Fenwick

    I was only selected for the online aspect of this festival, but I've got to say the presentation of the films, and the way the festival was communicated was first-class. Everything ran very smoothly online and from the number of likes for the films on display it seemed to be well attended 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

    June 2024
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    Response from festival:

    Richard, Thank you for your kind words! We're delighted to hear that you had a positive experience with the online aspect of our festival. It's wonderful to know that you found the presentation and communication first-class and that everything ran smoothly.
    We appreciate your participation and hope to see your work in future editions, perhaps even in person!