Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

Also known as: Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
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Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur is a six-day short film festival held each November in Winterthur, Switzerland. The programme is built around two juried competitions: an International Competition for shorts of all genres and a Swiss Competition for films by Swiss filmmakers and filmmakers living in Switzerland. Around them run a youth-juried section called Sparks, a Swiss Film School Day and curated focus programmes devoted to a region, a theme or a single filmmaker. The International Competition jury awards a Grand Prize, a Promotional Award and the Prix George for documentary form, and names the festival's short film candidate for the European Film Awards.

The festival is run by a non-profit association of the same name, which also keeps a short film archive, tours the Kurzfilmnacht short film night through Swiss towns and curates programmes for other organisers. An industry strand offers pitches, script coaching, a postproduction award and a residency. The 30th edition runs 3–8 November 2026.

Country

Switzerland

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student

Dates

3 November 2026 — 8 November 2026

Awards and prizes

International Competition (five-person jury): Grand Prize, CHF 10,000; Promotional Award, CHF 10,000; Prix George for the Best Documentary Form, CHF 5,000; selection of the Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards (EFA). Swiss Competition (three-person jury): Award for the Best Swiss Film, CHF 10,000; Award for the Best Swiss School Film, CHF 5,000. Audience Award for the International and Swiss Competitions, CHF 5,000. Award for the Best Film in the Section Sparks, chosen by a three-person youth jury, CHF 2,000. Project awards: Postproduction Award, an in-kind prize worth CHF 20,000; an invitation to The Lab – Writing Hub at SFC | Rendez-vous Industry; a place in the P.AiR.S Project Development Residency.

Festival rules

Kurzfilmtage accepts short films of all genres. The International Competition takes films up to 30 minutes long; the Swiss Competition takes films up to 40 minutes made by Swiss nationals or by non-Swiss nationals living in Switzerland. Each edition sets which completion years are eligible. Swiss Competition entries must be world premieres, except films shown in the main competition of selected major festivals. International Competition entries must be Swiss premieres, unless the festival has explicitly invited the filmmaker. Commissioned advertising or PR works are not eligible. Films previously shown at Kurzfilmtage or previously rejected cannot be submitted again. Submission is through the online entry form and is free of charge. Preview copies in languages other than English need English subtitles (English or German for the Swiss Competition). Selected films are screened from DCP.

Contacts

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