Haifa International Film Festival

Israeli feature competition: Best Film (fiction or documentary); Jury Award for a narrative feature; Jury Award for a documentary; Best Debut Film (fiction or documentary); Best Screenplay for a narrative feature; Best Research for a documentary; Best Acting in a narrative feature; and Artistic Achievement in editing, cinematography, sound or production design. Israeli short-film competition: Best Student Film, Best Independent Film and Best Animated Film. International competitions: the Carmel international cinema competition awards Best Film and an Honorable Mention; the Golden Anchor competition for first or second features awards Best Film and an Honorable Mention. Prize categories and amounts are subject to the festival's published regulations and funding arrangements.

2026 Israeli feature and short-film competitions The festival is produced by ETHOS, the municipal Haifa Company for Art, Culture & Sport. Submission accepts the relevant competition regulations and enters a selection process; registration does not guarantee selection. Eligibility Features: Israeli fiction and documentary films longer than 60 minutes, completed after January 2025 and not submitted for selection in an earlier year. Films must meet the Israeli Film Law 1999 and the 2005 regulations for recognition as an Israeli film. The festival screening must be the Israeli premiere: no prior Israeli theatrical distribution, VOD, television, festival, cinematheque, internet or other exhibition, including Israeli Cinema Day screenings. Shorts: independent or student films in fiction, documentary, animation or other forms, up to 30 minutes, completed after January 2025 and not previously submitted. They must satisfy the Israeli-film definition and sections 2–4 of the 2005 recognition regulations. An Israeli premiere is required, with no previous distribution, television, internet, cinematheque or festival screening, including student festivals. Exceptions may cover noncompetitive preview events required by a supporting film fund, and closed graduation screenings restricted to school staff, the production and family. An independent short must have a principal director, screenwriter or producer who graduates from a recognized Israeli film school, or an independent filmmaker whose previous work includes at least two films screened at major Israeli or international festivals. A student film is produced within an active postsecondary institution awarding a professional qualification or recognized degree in film, television, animation or digital media. Registration and selection The published registration period is 26 April–20 June 2026, ending at midnight. Late entries are excluded unless the festival announces an extension on its website; entrants must monitor announcements. Applications use only the festival website and require accurate, complete details. The festival may issue further submission instructions. Feature films are submitted by the production company or director. Independent shorts are submitted by the producer or director with a declaration of full Israeli and international distribution rights. Student films must be submitted through their recognized school as part of its curated programme, following festival instructions; individually submitted student films are automatically disqualified. The school declares that it holds the necessary distribution rights and may choose eligible entries at its discretion. Each school's submitted programme may total no more than 100 minutes. Provide an online viewing link and password. An unfinished sound mix or online edit is acceptable for selection only when explicitly identified. Entrants warrant that the submission and authorized uses comply with law and do not infringe copyright, other third-party rights, reputation or privacy. Registration information may appear in the programme, website and publicity without claims against the festival, ETHOS or the municipality. Feature-film publicity materials must likewise be cleared for use. Applicants must obtain and retain the registration confirmation number. Professional readers appointed by the festival select entries; the festival determines their identities, number and the number of films selected. Readers' assessments are confidential. The short-film rules also allow exceptions to eligibility at management's discretion. The competition producer notifies selected filmmakers. Only the festival announces selection; filmmakers must wait for its authorized announcement. Selected films and presentation Final screening copies with subtitles are required in DCP, the sole festival screening format. The 2026 regulations print 3 September 2025 as the delivery deadline; the published year conflicts with the edition year and needs confirmation from the festival. Screenings must be fully accessible in Hebrew and English, including translation of dialogue in other languages. A second subtitle language may use the festival's external projection system; filmmakers pay for correctly formatted, timed SRT files. The festival coordinates the technical service with Digititle. Feature entrants have seven days after the festival's request to update Hebrew publicity information for the press announcement, and 14 days to supply Hebrew and English synopses, three stills at 300 dpi or higher, a two-to-three-minute trailer, a digital poster and two representative clips of up to 15 seconds each for the awards ceremony if the film wins. Short-film entrants provide Hebrew and English synopses, three stills at 300 dpi or higher and an optional trailer within 14 days of the request. Screenings include paying audiences and invited guests from the festival and productions. Management determines the venues, invitations, schedule and number of screenings, and may screen selected films more than once during the festival. Shorts are presented to the jury at times chosen by management. The festival may edit submitted synopses for its catalogue and website. Juries, awards and obligations The festival appoints Israeli and/or international industry jurors and determines their number and identities. Juries choose winners and may share prizes between films. Winners are first announced at the awards ceremony, without advance notification to filmmakers. Every selected feature production must send at least two senior filmmakers to the ceremony; each selected short must send at least one, suitably dressed, regardless of the result. Feature prizes are paid to the filmmakers named on the application; short-film prizes are paid to the director named there. Management may alter, expand or reduce prize categories and allocation. Prize amounts depend on donors, funders and management and are gross amounts subject to taxes and other statutory deductions. Award-winning films grant the festival an irrevocable right to one further unpaid screening at Haifa Cinematheque after the festival, at management's chosen time and in its chosen manner. Future presentations of a winning film must include an approved slide identifying the award category and the official festival logo; the short-film rules specify Hebrew and English. Producers create the slide and obtain festival approval. General conditions Entrants bear participation expenses and cannot claim payment, compensation or indemnity from ETHOS, the municipality or their representatives. The festival accepts no responsibility for expenses or damage arising from selection, participation or rejection. It may stop the competition at any time without stating a reason, contact applicants about relevant matters, or cancel acceptance and decline a screening where management suspects noncompliance with eligibility, submission, material-delivery or cooperation obligations. Entrants indemnify ETHOS, the municipality and their personnel against loss, damage and legal expenses resulting from breached declarations or commitments concerning the film or its submission. Publicity must be coordinated with the festival's publicity department; selected filmmakers are expected to cooperate with promotion and media interviews, with full cooperation mandatory under the short-film rules. Disputes concerning the regulations, films, their use or other festival matters fall exclusively within the competent courts in Haifa. Submission fees are not specified in the published 2026 feature and short-film competition regulations.