Lille International Short Film Festival
The short film event in all its forms
2026
About Lille Short Film
The Lille International Short Film Festival is organized every autumn by the Rencontres Audiovisuelles association. Over ten days, it hosts both national and international competitions covering fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental films, alongside screenings for young audiences, a live-scored film concert, the Short Film Marathon, and the Animation Night. Screenings take place at Gare Saint Sauveur, L'hybride, and the Théâtre Sébastopol, and it is the audience that acts as the jury, with their votes determining the award winners.
Lille Short Film — edition 2026
The 26th edition of the Lille International Short Film Festival takes place from September 17th to 27th, 2026, at Gare Saint Sauveur, L'hybride, and the Théâtre Sébastopol. 30 short films are competing in the national and international categories, with the audience voting to award 5 prizes. The program also features the "Visions d'avant-garde" cine-concert by Olivier Longre, a masterclass with Arnaud Demuynck, the 20th edition of the Short Film Marathon, and the Animation Night, running from 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM on Saturday, September 26th. Screenings at Gare Saint Sauveur are free of charge.
26th edition, from September 17th to 27th, 2026
The International Short Film Festival returns to Lille from September 17th to 27th, 2026, across three venues: Gare Saint Sauveur, L'hybride (18 rue Gosselet), and the Théâtre Sébastopol. The association Rencontres Audiovisuelles is organizing the event for the 26th time.
The official selection features 30 short films, divided into 6 programs and two categories, national and international: animation, fiction, documentary, and experimental. The jury is the audience itself: spectators vote to determine the 2026 winners, with 5 prizes (Grand Prix, 1st and 2nd International Prize, 1st and 2nd National Prize) announced during the closing ceremony on Sunday, September 27th, at the Théâtre Sébastopol. Several screenings are followed by a Q&A session with the guest directors.
Les Films du Nord, guest of honor
The Franco-Belgian production house is the guest of honor for this edition. Arnaud Demuynck, its co-founder, producer, and director, will give a masterclass on Sunday, September 20th, at 2:00 PM at L'hybride, and 5 programs from their catalog will be screened from September 19th to 26th. Special Kids screenings are dedicated to them, celebrating the 10th anniversary of La Chouette du Cinéma.
The Short Film Marathon celebrates its 20th anniversary
From Friday, September 18th, to Sunday, September 20th, registered teams have 48 hours to shoot and edit a film of up to 4 minutes based on a randomly drawn theme. Each team brings their own equipment. The films will be screened on Sunday, September 27th, at 2:00 PM at the Théâtre Sébastopol and judged by a panel of audiovisual professionals; the winners will be announced that same evening.
After the festival
The Children's Village extends the festival on Saturday, October 3rd, and Sunday, October 4th, at the Site Minier d'Arenberg – La Porte du Hainaut: two days of workshops, screenings, and an exhibition for families, suitable for ages 3 and up.
Highlights Lille Short Film 2026
- 26th edition, from September 17th to 27th, 2026, between Gare Saint Sauveur, L'hybride, and the Théâtre Sébastopol
- 30 short films in competition (13 national, 17 international), divided into 6 programs — the audience votes and awards the 5 prizes
- Les Films du Nord, guest of honor: masterclass by Arnaud Demuynck on Sunday, September 20th, at 2:00 PM at L'hybride
- "Visions d'avant-garde" cine-concert by Olivier Longre, Friday, September 18th, at 8:30 PM, outdoors on the esplanade of Gare Saint Sauveur
- Animation Night, Saturday, September 26th, from 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM at the Théâtre Sébastopol, breakfast provided at dawn
- Short Film Marathon, 20th edition: 48 hours to make a 4-minute film, from September 18th to 20th
- Children's Village on October 3rd and 4th at the Site Minier d'Arenberg – La Porte du Hainaut, for ages 3 and up
Programme Lille Short Film 2026
Screening Schedule
Two competition events return every evening: outdoors on the esplanade of Gare Saint Sauveur from Saturday, September 19th, to Thursday, September 24th (8:00 PM on weekdays, 8:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday), with simultaneous screening in the Cinema Hall; and at L'hybride from Saturday, September 19th, to Friday, September 25th, at 8:00 PM, in duo sessions combining two consecutive programs, totaling over 2.5 hours of films. The distribution of the 6 competition programs night by night has not yet been published: the detailed schedule is not online as of mid-August 2026.
Thursday, September 17th
- 7:30 PM — Opening Night: Regional Creation · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall). Recent productions from the Hauts-de-France region, including animation, documentary, and fiction, in the presence of the film crews. In partnership with Pictanovo.
Friday, September 18th
- 4:30 PM — Short Film Marathon: team check-in · L'hybride
- 6:00 PM — Short Film Marathon: announcement of the randomly drawn theme · L'hybride
- 8:30 PM — "Visions d'avant-garde" cine-concert · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade). A tribute to 4 pioneers of experimental cinema—Alice Guy, Germaine Dulac, Maya Deren, and Marie Menken—composed and performed by multi-instrumentalist Olivier Longre, outdoors, for the European Heritage Days. In the first part, the City of Lille highlights its cooperation with Nablus, a twin city in Palestine: a speech and screening of a film made during a workshop conducted with residents of Nablus by Rencontres Audiovisuelles in 2023.
Saturday, September 19th
- 2:30 PM — Preview "Première page", season 3 · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall). 8 short films in which young directors recently graduated from French animation schools animate excerpts from Colette's work. A Scalaé Productions production in association with France Télévisions.
- 4:00 PM — Special Kids: "La Chouette entre veille et sommeil" (ages 3+) · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall)
- 6:00 PM — Best-of animation schools · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall). Screenings and meetings with directors from European animation schools.
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
- 8:30 PM — Outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade), with deckchairs and a large screen, simultaneous screening in the Cinema Hall
Sunday, September 20th
- 10:30 AM — Special Kids: cine-tales "La Voix des Oiseaux" (ages 4+) · L'hybride. The festival website announces this show at L'hybride on the guest of honor page and at Gare Saint Sauveur in the young audience screening list; Gare Saint Sauveur only opens at 4:00 PM that day according to the City of Lille.
- 2:00 PM — Masterclass by Arnaud Demuynck, co-founder, producer, and director of Les Films du Nord · L'hybride
- 4:30 PM — Special Kids: preview "Le Monde à l'envers" (ages 3+) · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall)
- 4:30 PM > 6:00 PM — Short Film Marathon: film submission · L'hybride
- 6:00 PM — Best-of animation schools · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall)
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
- 8:30 PM — Outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade)
Monday, September 21st
- 8:00 PM — Outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade)
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
Tuesday, September 22nd
- 8:00 PM — Outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade)
- 8:00 PM — Best-of animation schools · L'hybride
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
Wednesday, September 23rd
- 4:00 PM — Special Kids: "Le Vent dans les roseaux" (ages 5+) · Gare Saint Sauveur (Cinema Hall)
- 8:00 PM — Outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade)
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
Thursday, September 24th
- 8:00 PM — Last outdoor competition session · Gare Saint Sauveur (Esplanade)
- 8:00 PM — Duo competition session · L'hybride
Friday, September 25th
- 10:00 AM > 5:30 PM — Talents en court, professional day for young cinema talents from the region · L'hybride. Pitches for short film projects "La première des marches" #fiction-animation, experience sharing, screening of films from the Short Film Marathon and 54h Chrono in the presence of the filmmakers, meetings with professionals. Co-organized with Acap – regional image center.
- 8:00 PM — Last duo competition session · L'hybride
Saturday, September 26th
- 10:30 AM — Special Kids: "La Chouette en toque" (ages 4+) · L'hybride
- 2:30 PM — Screening of films to be discussed at the Café des Réals · Café Les Sarrazins (Lille – Wazemmes)
- 4:30 PM — The Café des Réals: meeting with the competition directors present at the festival · Café Les Sarrazins (Lille – Wazemmes)
- 9:00 PM > 6:00 AM — Animation Night · Théâtre Sébastopol. 9 hours of screenings dedicated to animated films: premieres, favorites, short films, music videos, and feature films. Breakfast provided at dawn.
Sunday, September 27th
- 2:00 PM — Screening of the Short Film Marathon entries, followed by jury deliberation · Théâtre Sébastopol. Free admission.
- 7:00 PM — Closing night: 2026 awards, presentation of the official competition and Short Film Marathon prizes, followed by a screening of the winning films · Théâtre Sébastopol. Free admission.
Saturday, October 3rd and Sunday, October 4th — Children's Village
- Site Minier d'Arenberg – La Porte du Hainaut. 2 days of creative workshops, screenings, and an exhibition for the whole family, ages 3 and up.
The 30 films in competition
National competition (13 films)
- Another Earth — Ben Russell (France)
- Easter Day — Mykola Zasieiev (Ukraine, France)
- Frágil como una Bomba — Tomas Cali (France)
- I want my people to be remembered — Hélène Giannecchini (France)
- Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot — Kiana Naghshineh (Germany, France)
- Intersecting Memory — Shayma' Awawdeh (France, Palestine)
- Je veux danser — Lomane de Dietrich (France)
- Larzan Karné — Bastien Dupriez (France)
- Le Bain des Sirènes — Lola Degove (France, Belgium)
- Les Visas — Diako Yazdani (France)
- Like a fairy tale — Kirill Khachaturov (France, Luxembourg)
- Normal Planet — Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc'h (France)
- Yonne — Julietta Korbel, Yan Ciszewski (Switzerland, France)
International competition (17 films)
- Air Horse One — Lasse Linder (Switzerland, Belgium)
- Arguments in Favor of Love — Gabriel Abrantes (Portugal)
- Citizen-Inmate — Hesam Eslami (Iran)
- Daria's Night Flowers — Maryam Tafakory (Iran, United Kingdom)
- Daughters of the Late Colonel — Elizabeth Hobbs (United Kingdom, Germany)
- Dollhouse Elephant — Jenny Jokela (Finland)
- Dying of the Young Deer — Angelika Cygal (Poland)
- Falling Mist — Yu-Jin Zhuang (Taiwan)
- Les Imatges Arribaren A Temps — Jaume Carrió (Spain)
- Little House — Nika Jurman (Slovenia)
- Paleontology Lesson — Sergueï Loznitsa (Netherlands)
- POINT — Ari Sohn (United Kingdom)
- Ride Your Horse — Dongxu Song (China)
- The Recce — Daniel Mann (United Kingdom, Germany)
- Things that I was gathering — Ekaterina Zhuzhleva (Finland, Belgium, Portugal)
- Una Vez en un Cuerpo — María Cristina Pérez (Colombia)
- When the Geese Flew — Arthur Gay (New Zealand)
Around the festival
- Immersive L'hybride — Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. In 2026, L'hybride opened the first immersive video mapping room in the Hauts-de-France region; its programming is discovered through sessions, with each thematic program bringing together several short formats projected from floor to ceiling.
- School screenings — from October 2026 to May 2027. Over 5,000 students discover a selection of short films accompanied by explanations, with an educational kit provided to teachers. Registration: [email protected]
Prices Lille Short Film 2026
Théâtre Sébastopol, Sunday, September 27th: screening of the Short Film Marathon entries (2:00 PM) and closing night (7:00 PM) are free of charge.
Short Film Marathon: €42 per team, €32 per team until August 20th inclusive. Online registration required before Friday, September 18th, 6:00 PM; number of teams is limited.
Prices for L'hybride screenings and the Animation Night on September 26th have not yet been published: neither the price page nor the ticketing for the 2026 edition are online as of mid-August 2026.
Practical information — Lille Short Film
Practical information
Venues
- Gare Saint Sauveur — 17 boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas, 59000 Lille. Metro line 2, Lille Grand Palais or Mairie de Lille stations; V'Lille stations on boulevard Louis XIV or Jean-Baptiste Lebas. Outdoor screenings on the esplanade and indoor screenings in the Cinema Hall.
- L'hybride — 18 rue Gosselet, 59000 Lille. Competition screenings, masterclasses, Special Kids sessions, and professional day.
- Théâtre Sébastopol — place Sébastopol, 59000 Lille, +33 3 20 54 44 50. Animation Night and closing ceremony.
- Café Les Sarrazins — Wazemmes district, Lille. The Directors' Café, for meetings with filmmakers.
- Site Minier d'Arenberg – La Porte du Hainaut — Children's Village, held as an extension of the festival.
By train
The Lille Flandres and Lille Europe train stations are just a few minutes away from Gare Saint Sauveur by metro or on foot.
Prices and ticketing
Screenings at Gare Saint Sauveur are free of charge. Prices for indoor screenings, the Animation Night, and booking procedures are published annually on the festival website.
Short Film Marathon
Participation is by team, with mandatory online registration subject to availability. Teams must bring their own equipment. Rencontres Audiovisuelles helps connect participants looking to complete their teams with a network of volunteer actors. Information: [email protected]
Contact
Rencontres Audiovisuelles, 18 rue Gosselet – BP 1295, 59014 Lille Cedex. Phone: +33 3 20 53 24 84. Email: [email protected]. School registrations: [email protected]
Short films in Lille: 26 years and counting
The International Short Film Festival is organized in Lille by Rencontres Audiovisuelles, the association that also runs L'hybride, a Lille-based venue dedicated to short films and new media. Every September, the festival dedicates ten days to the short format, spanning fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental works.
A competition judged by the audience
The official selection is divided into two categories—national and international—open to films under 30 minutes produced within the last two years. The films are presented in various programs, both outdoors and in theaters. The audience serves as the jury: spectators vote after each screening to decide the winners, who are announced at the closing ceremony. Many screenings are followed by Q&A sessions with the visiting directors.
Festival highlights
- Outdoor screenings at Gare Saint Sauveur, on the esplanade, featuring deckchairs and a giant screen, with simultaneous broadcasts in the Cinema Hall.
- The Animation Night at the Théâtre Sébastopol: 9 hours of non-stop screenings until dawn, including premieres, staff picks, short films, music videos, and feature films, with breakfast provided at daybreak.
- The Short Film Marathon – 48 hours to live: Registered teams have 48 hours to shoot and edit a film of up to 4 minutes based on a randomly drawn theme, using their own equipment. A jury of professionals awards the best entries.
- Special Kids screenings, with age recommendations provided for each session, and the Children's Village, a weekend of family workshops and screenings at the Site Minier d'Arenberg – La Porte du Hainaut.
- Best of Animation Schools: Screenings and meetings with directors from European animation schools.
- Regional creations, featuring an opening night dedicated to recent productions from the Hauts-de-France region in partnership with Pictanovo, and Talents en court, a professional day for young regional filmmakers.
- A guest of honor, featured through a masterclass and several screenings.
Venues
- Gare Saint Sauveur, 17 boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas: outdoor screenings and Cinema Hall.
- L'hybride, 18 rue Gosselet: competition screenings, masterclasses, young audience sessions, and professional day.
- Théâtre Sébastopol, place Sébastopol: Animation Night and closing ceremony.
Year-round
Rencontres Audiovisuelles extends the festival with school screenings from October to May: over 5,000 students discover a selection of short films accompanied by educational commentary, with teachers receiving a pedagogical guide.
Where does it take place — Lille Short Film
Lille Short Film in brief
History of Lille Short Film
Edition 2025 Sep 2025Other festivals near Lille
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