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Newcastle International Short Film Festival

New South Wales, Australian and regional New South Wales (NSW) film-makers. Finalists for the best film in their regional category will b

Festival overview

About Newcastle International Short Film Festival

Physical film festival in New South Wales, Australian and regional New South Wales (NSW) film-makers. Finalists for the best film in their regional category will b with submission categories including International Shorts between 10 to 15 mins in length a

NiSFF is an IMDb registered short film festival open to submissions of short films in multiple genres and categories from international, Australian and regional New South Wales (NSW) film-makers. Finalists for the best film in their regional category will be screened at the Royal Exchange Hybrid Performance Space/Cinema in Newcastle Australia in mid November each year.

Schedule

Important Dates

Call for Entries Opens
Dec 1, 2025
Final Submission Deadline
Nov 13, 2026
Notification Date
Nov 16, 2026
Festival Starts
Nov 20, 2026
Festival Ends
Nov 21, 2026
Eligibility

Rules & Eligibility

General Rules+

  1. Newcastle premiere status is preferred.

  2. Films that have previously screened outside this region, including in Sydney or Woollongong, may submit.

  3. Films should have been completed within a five year period leading up to the festival.

  4. Films submitted to earlier editions of the festival cannot be resubmitted in future years unless they have been significantly reworked.

  5. Password protection for the online screener is the responsibility of the submitter.

  6. 1080p MP4 files are adequate and preferred.

  7. DCPs are not required and we cannot accept submissions on film.

  8. The festival will not screen directly from websites such as Vimeo or You-Tube and do not want Blu Ray discs.

  9. Copyright remains in the film-maker and the film-maker grants the festival a licence to screen their film during festival week.

  10. The Film-maker waives any right to screening fees from the festival by submitting to the festival.

  11. Films are preferably to be in English but films that are not in English may still be selected if the spoken language is not imperative for the audience's understanding of the film and may be subtitled at the discretion and expense of the film-maker.

  12. SUBTITLES NEED TO BE BURNED INTO THE IMAGE OF THE FILM

Current Categories, Deadlines & Fees

Category

International Shorts between 10 to 15 mins in length

Live action dramatic narrative, animation, doco's, experimental, comedy, unconventional, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, avant garde, art films, quirky films between 10 and 20 mins in length from film-makers based anywhere in the world

Current FeeEUR 14.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 15 minutes
Category

Australian Shorts between 10 to 15 mins in length

Live action dramatic narrative, animation, doco's, experimental, comedy, unconventional, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, avant garde, art, quirky films between 10 and 20 mins in length from film-makers based in Australia.

Current FeeEUR 14.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 15 minutes
Category

Regional NSW Shorts between 10 to 15 mins in length

Live action dramatic narrative, animation, doco's, experimental, comedy, unconventional, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, avant garde, art films, quirky films between 10 and 20 mins in length from film-makers based in NSW outside of Sydney

Current FeeEUR 14.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 15 minutes
Category

International Short Shorts between 5 to 10 mins

Live action dramatic narrative, comedy, animation, docos, experimental, avant garde, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, gothic, art,unconventional, quirky films between 5 and 10 mins in length from anywhere in the world.

Current FeeEUR 10.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

Australian Short Shorts in Any Genre between 5 to 10 mins

Australian live action dramatic narrative, comedy, animation, doco's, experimental, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, art films, quirky, unconventional films between 5 mins and 10 mins in length from anywhere in Australia.

Current FeeEUR 10.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

Regional NSW Short Shorts in any genre between 5 to 10 mins

Live action dramatic narrative, animation, doco's, experimental, comedy, horror, gothic, sci-fi, gothic, fantasy, quirky, unconventional, art films from film-makers based in NSW outside of Sydney.

Current FeeEUR 10.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 10 minutes
Category

International Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins

International Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins currently lists a maximum runtime of 5 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 8 early-bird, EUR 10 regular, EUR 12 late, and EUR 14 extended.

Current FeeEUR 8.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 5 minutes
Category

Australian Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins

Australian Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins currently lists a maximum runtime of 5 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 8 early-bird, EUR 10 regular, EUR 12 late, and EUR 14 extended.

Current FeeEUR 8.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 5 minutes
Category

Regional NSW Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins

Regional NSW Super Shorts and Phone Films in any genre up to 5 mins currently lists a maximum runtime of 5 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 8 early-bird, EUR 10 regular, EUR 12 late, and EUR 14 extended.

Current FeeEUR 8.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 5 minutes
Category

INTERNATIONAL LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS

INTERNATIONAL LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS currently lists a maximum runtime of 20 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 14 early-bird, EUR 16 regular, EUR 18 late, and EUR 20 extended.

Current FeeEUR 14.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 20 minutes
Category

AUSTRALIAN LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS

AUSTRALIAN LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS currently lists a maximum runtime of 20 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 14 early-bird, EUR 16 regular, EUR 18 late, and EUR 20 extended.

Current FeeEUR 14.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 20 minutes
Category

REGIONAL.NSW LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS

REGIONAL.NSW LONG SHORTS BETWEEN 15 & 20 MINS currently lists a maximum runtime of 20 minutes. Listed fees include EUR 12 early-bird, EUR 14 regular, EUR 16 late, and EUR 20 extended.

Current FeeEUR 12.00Early
RuntimeMaximum runtime: 20 minutes