Brussels Short Film Festival
About
Founded in 1998, the Brussels Short Film Festival is presented annually each spring by the non-profit Un Soir … Un Grain. It is Oscar-qualifying for both Best Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film since 2018, programming approximately 300 shorts annually and drawing 25,000 visitors.
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Type
Film Festival
Time of Year
April
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About Brussels Short Film Festival
The Brussels Short Film Festival was founded in 1998 and is presented annually by the Belgian non-profit Un Soir … Un Grain. It is held across multiple Brussels venues — the Flagey Building, Vendôme cinema, Cinema Galeries, and Mont des Arts. The festival has run every year since its inaugural edition, with the single exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When and Where the Festival Runs
The festival typically runs in spring — April or May — though the 2021 edition shifted to a late-summer slot from 28 August to 5 September in response to pandemic constraints. The Brussels venue spread is part of the festival's identity: rather than concentrating all programming in a single cinema, the festival uses the city itself as its programming environment, which suits the short-film emphasis.
Programming scale is substantial for a short-form festival: approximately 300 short films are screened annually, with around 100 entered in the competitive sections. The festival draws roughly 25,000 visitors per year.
Programming Sections
The festival's competitive programme is organised around three primary sections:
- International Competition — open to short films worldwide
- National Competition — for Belgian short films
- Next Generation Competition — student short film work
Oscar Qualification
The festival has been Oscar-qualifying since 2018 for both:
- Best Animated Short Film
- Best Live Action Short Film
The qualification across both categories is the festival's most strategically consequential feature for shorts filmmakers. Many qualifying festivals are scoped to one Oscar category or the other; Brussels qualifies for both, which makes it a particularly useful single stop within an Oscar campaign strategy.
The festival also presents the European Short Film Audience Award (launched in 2019 in collaboration with nine other European festivals) — a programmatic relationship that situates Brussels within the broader European short-film festival circuit.
Submitting to the Festival
Filmmakers should review the official festival guidelines for current deadlines, eligibility, and category-specific criteria. Filmmakers planning Oscar campaigns through Brussels should pay particular attention to qualifying-festival rules, which are stricter than the festival's general eligibility criteria.
Strong submissions tend to share standard characteristics: a polished screener, an accurate synopsis, a director's statement that articulates the work's perspective, and complete production credits. The Next Generation Competition is the most direct entry point for student and emerging filmmakers; the International Competition is the principal section for shorts from outside Belgium.
Awards Overview
Brussels has been Oscar-qualifying since 2018 for both Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film. The dual qualification across both Oscar short-film categories makes Brussels unusually strategic for shorts filmmakers — most qualifying festivals are scoped to one category or the other.
Beyond Oscar qualification, the festival presents the European Short Film Audience Award (launched 2019), which is jointly programmed with nine other European festivals — a collaborative recognition that connects Brussels to the broader European short-film circuit.
Festival Leadership & Programmers
Brussels Short Film Festival is guided by a dedicated team of programmers and arts administrators who collectively bring deep knowledge of world cinema to the selection process. The festival's programming team works year-round reviewing submissions, attending international festivals, and cultivating relationships with filmmakers from around the world.
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