Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz is devoted to idiosyncratic, contemporary and socially engaged auteur cinema from Europe. Every spring since 2004 it shows around 120 to 140 fiction, documentary and short films over six days in Linz, Upper Austria. Its juried competitions are reserved for first and second European fiction features and for documentaries of social relevance, both screened as Austrian premieres; a youth jury judges a further competition chosen by young programmers. Panorama sections bring films from the international festival season to Austrian audiences, next to themed strands on working worlds, architecture and society, and European fantastic film.
The Local Artists competition presents recent films and music videos of any length connected to Upper Austria. The 23rd edition runs from 28 April to 3 May 2026.
Awards and prizes
Competition Fiction (first and second European fiction features): CROSSING EUROPE Award – Best Fiction Film, given by a jury, and CROSSING EUROPE Audience Award – Best Fiction Film.
Competition Documentary: CROSSING EUROPE Social Awareness Award – Best Documentary Film, given by a jury.
YAAAS! Competition: CROSSING EUROPE Award – YAAAS! Jugendjury, given by a youth jury to one of the European features selected by the YAAAS! Young Programmers.
MIOB New Vision Award: given by the festival network Moving Images – Open Borders to an innovative European first or second feature.
Competition Local Artists: CROSSING EUROPE Award – Local Artist, given by a jury, and CROSSING EUROPE Innovation Award – Local Artist for a work of animation art in the section, initiated by ANIMA PLUS.
Festival rules
European program sections (competitions, European Panorama, Working Worlds, Architecture and Society): feature-length fiction and documentary films of 60 minutes or more, produced in the year before the festival or in the festival year. A film counts as European if it was (co-)produced in a country of the European continent and tells stories from, related to or about Europe. An Austrian premiere at the festival is required. Competition Fiction is open only to a director's first or second feature. Short films are not accepted for these sections.
Local Artists: films of all genres, formats and lengths, including music videos, produced in the year before the festival or in the festival year, with a connection to Upper Austria: a director who was born or grew up there or lives, works or studies there, Upper Austrian funding, a production company based in Upper Austria, or a clear reference to the region; for music videos, musicians from Upper Austria. No screening fees are paid for this section.
Entry is free and is made through the online submission form on the festival website with a Crossing Europe account. Selected films are shown in the original version with English subtitles; the standard screening format is DCP.
