Just Film Youth and Children's Film Festival

Just Film Youth and Children's Film Festival

Also known as: Just Film
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Just Film is the youth and children’s film festival of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in Tallinn, Estonia, held each November within the main festival’s dates. It runs its own international competitions for youth, children’s and juniors’ feature films, an ECFA competition for European children’s films and the #youngfilmmaker competition for short works by filmmakers aged 7–19. Feature-length entries are fiction, animation or documentary films with at least an international premiere. Juries of children and teenagers, in age groups of 7–9, 10–13 and 14–18, award prizes alongside an international jury of film specialists, an ECFA jury and a #youngfilmmaker jury.

The festival screens around 50 films a year, with side programmes that include DOC@Just, Just Anime and a children’s rights programme, and works closely with schools and teachers in Estonia; its main audience is aged 13–25. The 26th edition runs from 6–22 November 2026, with ten world or international premieres in the International Youth Competition.

Country

Estonia

Focus

For Kids

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Feature, Short

Dates

6 November 2026 — 22 November 2026

Awards and prizes

Just Film Grand Prix, International Youth Competition (grant of 3,000 euros) Just Film Youth Jury Best Film Award Just Film Children's Jury Best Film Award Just Film Juniors' Jury Best Film Award ECFA Award for the Best European Children's Film Just Film #youngfilmmaker's Jury Best Film Award (grant of 1,000 euros) One Special Mention per competitive programme

Festival rules

Regulations for the 2026 edition (6–22 November 2026). Programmes: - International Competition of youth feature films - International Competition of children's feature films - International Competition of juniors' films - #youngfilmmaker International Competition - Non-competitive and informative programmes, retrospectives and special presentations Eligibility: feature-length films (50 minutes and over) – fiction, animation or documentary – completed after 1 January 2026, with at least an international premiere. Screening copies in DCP, in English or with English subtitles. Competition films may also be shown in the non-competitive section of the PÖFF main programme. #youngfilmmaker: films up to 20 minutes by young filmmakers aged 7–19. Russian films are considered only if made without financial support from the Russian state or businesses tax-resident in Russia; film schools count as state-funded. Juries: three domestic juries of children and teenagers (juniors 7–9, children 10–13, youth 14–18), an international jury of three film specialists, an ECFA jury of three ECFA members, and a #youngfilmmaker jury of at least three industry experts and programme representatives. Films are submitted only through the festival's FilmFreeway page; entries by post or e-mail are not accepted without prior agreement. For 2026, submissions ran from 9 February to 24 August 2026 in regular, extended and final periods.

Contacts

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