The 42nd Uppsala Short Film Festival will take place 23-29 October 2023. Founded in 1982, the festival has since become Sweden’s main arena for short film and one of the most important short film festivals in Europe. Every year the festival screens more than 300 short films in different sections exploring the diversity and richness of the short film – from new film to retrospective programmes, from fiction film, documentaries and experimental film to animations, and welcoming hybridity beyond these categories. Films are submitted to either of the three competetive sections, awarding prize money amounting to 20 000 EUR. Submitted films also make up the base for out of competition programmes, including recurring programmes on Fantastic Film, queer films and comedies.
Uppsala Short Film Festival is recognised by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that winning the international or national competition at the festival may make a film eligible for a nomination for an Oscar. The festival is also recognised by the European Film Academy and BAFTA. Screening at the festival qualifies Swedish short films for Guldbagge nominations.
Taking place in the university city of Uppsala, in the city’s classic cinema district, the Uppsala Short Film Festival is a meeting place for audience and film industry. During the seven days of the festival, 300 short films are screened in four cinemas. Among the cinemas are Slottsbiografen, where the famous Swedish director Ingmar Bergman discovered cinema as a child. Buyers, distributors and festival representatives have access to a video library during the festival. The festival offers filmmakers many opportunities to meet their audience, and discussions are held both at the screenings and at special director’s talks.
The festival is a meeting point for the Swedish and international industry, bringing together emerging and established Swedish and international filmmakers in networking and social events and parties, where collaboration can begin. The industry events include Uppsala Talks, which is the festival focus on seminars, talks and workshops and Uppsala Talent Days, a national meeting for filmmakers on the verge of entering the professional film industry. The meeting is a unique opportunity to make contact with filmmakers from all over the country and to start creating a professional network
Uppsala Short Film Festival is recognised by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that winning the international or national competition at the festival may make a film eligible for a nomination for an Oscar. The festival is also recognised by the European Film Academy and BAFTA. Screening at the festival qualifies Swedish short films for Guldbagge nominations. Films are submitted to either of the three competetive sections, awarding prize money to the amount of 20 000 EUR.
1. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2023. Entries that arrive later than deadline will not be considered.
2. Short films of all genres with a running time of no more than 40 minutes are accepted for consideration.
3. Entries must have production year 2023 or 2022.
4. A film can be submitted only once, including if it's submitted as a work in progress. A work in progress should have an introductory still frame detailing the work still to be done.
5. Preview copies with other than English or Swedish dialogue/commentary must come with hardcoded subtitles in English, or they will not be considered.
7. The festival charges no entry fee for entering the National Competition. The entry fee for the Children’s Film Competition is 5 euros. The entry fee for the International Competition fluctuates according to the below levels. This excludes any possible administrative fees charged by the submission platforms. In the event of withdrawal, cancellation or incorrect or ineligible submission, entry fee will not be refunded.
8. All entries for the International Competition and National Competition may be considered for the Children’s Film Competition. Films with Sweden as production country should submit to the National Competion or, if applicable, the Children's Film Competiton. All entries for the National Competition will be considered for the International Competition.
9. All preview copies and submitted entry information may be available for viewing in a video library by accredited industry guests.
10. All preview copies may be stored in the festival archive and used for research purposes.
11. Decisions regarding the selection of films will be reached by September 15, at which time a full list of the selected films will be published on the website.
12. The festival office do not have the possibility to answer questions about status of entries or progress of selection.
13. In case of selection, the festival reserves the right to use stills and excerpts from the films for promotional purposes, not exceeding 10 % of the running time, or a maximum of 3 minutes.
14. Entrants are not entitled to claim screening or rental fees for the screenings of their films in competition.
15. Eligible formats for screening copies of selected films to be screened during the festival is MP4 or .MOV file, h264 or h265 codec.
16. Screening copies with language/commentary other than English should have English subtitles. The subtitles must be embedded in the screening file. Separate .srt files are not permitted.
17. Screening copies of selected films must be delivered to the festival no later than October 9.
18. The festival is recognised by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, BAFTA and The European Film Academy. The awards are the following:
