Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen

Overview

Go Short is the only Dutch festival exclusively dedicated to short film. The 18th edition ran April 7 to 12, 2026, screening 300+ short films across more than 100 film programs over six days at LUX Nijmegen, the city's independent cinema. The festival is Academy Award-qualifying across four competition categories, BAFTA-qualifying, and generates candidacy for the European Film Awards. It is also recognized by the Student Academy Awards (SAA).

For short film filmmakers, Go Short is one of Europe's most strategically valuable festivals. Winning the European Competition (Fiction, Documentary, or Animation) or the Dutch Competition automatically qualifies a film for Academy Award consideration in the Short Film category. The 2026 European Film Awards candidate from Go Short was L'mina by Randa Maroufi. The festival's industry program attracted 500+ professionals from 33 countries in 2026, with 40+ events and 400+ one-on-one meetings, making it a serious networking platform for European short film producers, distributors, and programmers.

Submissions are accepted via FilmFreeway or the festival's own Filmchief portal. Entry fees start at EUR 12. The 19th edition is scheduled for April 6 to 11, 2027, with submissions opening approximately mid-July 2026.

Key Sections

• European Competition - fiction, documentary, and animation short films from European creators. Three separate jury awards, all Academy Award-qualifying. Films must be of European geographic origin, directed by a European, or primarily financed by a European country. Maximum running time: 30 minutes.
• Dutch Competition - new Dutch short films. Academy Award-qualifying. The primary domestic platform for Netherlands-based short filmmakers.
• New Arrivals Competition - student films, selected in collaboration with Breaking Ground, the Dutch student film platform. The Go Short New Arrivals Award for Best Student Film is recognized by the Student Academy Awards.
• Youth Award - best youth film, decided by jury
• Senior Award - best senior film, decided by jury
• Best of the Fests - non-competitive programs including International Highlights, Comedy Shorts, Oscar Shorts, Award Winners, and Audience Favorites from the global festival circuit
• Industry Program - three-day program (April 9 to 11 in 2026) with masterclasses, talks, panels, speed dating, and 1:1 meetings for film professionals

What Filmmakers Should Know

Submission Process and Fees

Go Short accepts submissions via FilmFreeway or its own Filmchief portal. The Filmchief portal charges a lower fee (EUR 10 in 2025) compared to FilmFreeway (EUR 17 in 2025). For the 2027 edition (19th), the 2026 deadlines were:

• Early Bird Deadline: September 15, 2025 - EUR 12
• Regular Deadline: November 15, 2025
• Late Deadline: December 15, 2025

Fees include VAT and payment processing charges. The fee is non-refundable after submission. Distributors, film institutions, and schools can request a discount for multiple submissions by contacting program@goshort.nl.

The 2027 edition (19th) runs April 6 to 11, 2027. Submissions for international projects open approximately mid-July 2026.

Eligibility Requirements

• Maximum running time: 30 minutes
• European Competition: the origin of the film must be European (geographic), the director is European, or the film was mainly financed by a European country
• Dutch Competition: films must be Dutch productions
• Films must be completed within the eligibility window defined by the festival (typically the prior calendar year, with specific cutoff dates for each deadline tier)
• DCP is the accepted screening format for selected films (must be unencrypted and theatre-tested)
• Online screener required for preview (no DVD or Blu-ray screeners)
• Non-English films must have English subtitles
• The festival does not pay screening fees to films selected in competition. A small screening fee is paid to films screened solely in out-of-competition programs.

Academy Award Qualification Path

Go Short is Academy Award-qualifying in four categories:

1. Best European Short Fiction (European Competition)
2. Best European Short Documentary (European Competition)
3. Best European Short Animation (European Competition)
4. Best Dutch Short Film (Dutch Competition)

Winning any of these awards automatically qualifies a film for Oscar consideration in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, or Documentary Short Subject category, depending on the film's form. This eliminates the need for a separate qualifying theatrical run.

Go Short is also BAFTA-qualifying and generates candidacy for the European Film Awards, making it one of the few short film festivals worldwide that provides qualification paths to all three major award bodies.

Industry Program

The Go Short Industry Program is the most substantial short film industry event in the Netherlands. The 2026 edition (April 9 to 11) featured:

• 500+ industry professionals from 33 countries
• 40+ events including panels, talks, masterclasses, and workshops
• 400+ one-on-one meetings
• Producers Campus: a four-day training trajectory for 12 producers (6 Dutch, 6 international) in partnership with CineSud and Screen Talent NL
• Dutch Short Film Pitch: 10 short film projects in development pitched to a jury, with awards for Best Film Plan, most innovative film idea, and special mentions
• Market screenings showcasing completed works
• Breakfast Meetings with programmers from Venice Film Festival, Berlinale Shorts, DOK Leipzig, Reykjavik IFF, ARTE, VPRO, NPO Docs, Netherlands Film Fund, and Flanders Audiovisual Fund
• Programming Dimensions: a one-day conference on short film curation

Notable 2026 industry attendees included Lorenzo Meloni (Venice Film Festival), Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck (Berlinale Shorts), Annina Wettstein (DOK Leipzig), Catherine Colas (ARTE), and representatives from the Netherlands Film Fund, Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg, and Glasgow Shorts.

Festival Context

Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands, with a population of approximately 180,000. It is home to Radboud University, one of the Netherlands' leading research universities. The university and the city's arts community provide an engaged, film-literate audience. All screenings take place at LUX Nijmegen, an independent cinema and cultural center.

Go Short also operates Go Short Arnhem, a smaller satellite festival focused on local talent from the Gelderland province, and contributes to THIS IS SHORT, a year-round European short film platform.

Major Awards

• Go Short Award for Best European Short Fiction - Academy Award-qualifying, European Film Awards candidacy
• Go Short Award for Best European Short Documentary - Academy Award-qualifying, European Film Awards candidacy
• Go Short Award for Best European Short Animation - Academy Award-qualifying, European Film Awards candidacy
• Go Short Award for Best Dutch Short Film - Academy Award-qualifying
• Go Short New Arrivals Award for Best Student Film - Student Academy Awards recognized
• Go Short Award for Best Youth Film
• Go Short Award for Best Senior Film
• Audience Award - decided by audience vote across all competition films

Festival History

Go Short was founded in 2009 and held its first edition in Nijmegen. The festival was created to fill a gap in the Dutch film landscape: while the Netherlands had feature film festivals and general cultural events, no festival was exclusively dedicated to short film. The festival has grown from a regional event into one of Europe's most important short film festivals, screening 300+ films annually and attracting 550+ film professionals.

The festival's Academy Award-qualifying status has made it a regular destination for European short filmmakers seeking Oscar eligibility. Its industry program has expanded significantly, with the 2026 edition hosting the first Programming Dimensions conference on short film curation and the first national short film sector meeting (Kortefilmsectoroverleg), bringing together 35 key representatives of the Dutch short film industry.

Go Short is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, the Municipality of Nijmegen, and Creative Europe MEDIA. The festival operates as a project of the Go Short Foundation.

See Also

For short film production budgeting, see Production Budget Calculator. For festival submission strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. To calculate the return on festival submission spending, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For the official regulations, see the Go Short 2026 Competition Rules (PDF).