TAURON New Horizons International Film Festival (Nowe Horyzonty)

Overview

The TAURON New Horizons International Film Festival (Nowe Horyzonty) is Poland's leading art cinema festival. The 26th edition runs July 23 to August 2, 2026, in Wroclaw, with an online extension running through August 9, 2026. The festival's International Competition awards a Grand Prix of 10,000 EUR and an Audience Award of 7,500 EUR. The 2025 edition recorded 169,737 viewers, 271 films across 628 screenings, and more than 500 invited guests.

The festival programs formally adventurous cinema that pushes beyond conventional filmmaking. Submissions are free, with a deadline of March 15, 2026. Eligible films must be over 60 minutes, completed after March 1, 2025, and must not have been publicly screened in Poland. The festival does not accept international short film submissions.

Submissions are made by email to submissions@nowehoryzonty.pl. The festival prioritizes world, international, and European premieres. There are no submission fees.

Submission Details

Submissions for the 26th edition (2026) International Competition are open. Key details:

The submission email must follow this format:

• Subject: FILM SUBMISSION: Title of Film, Name of Director, (Year)
• Body: Film title, director name, country of production, year of production, runtime, production company, contact information, screening link, and a brief synopsis

Only entries submitted by the deadline will be considered. The festival does not use FilmFreeway or other submission platforms - all submissions go through direct email.

Competition Sections

New Horizons International Competition

The festival's flagship section, dedicated to artistic cinema that challenges conventional form and expands the boundaries of the medium. Eligible films must be over 60 minutes, completed after March 1, 2025, and must not have been publicly screened in Poland. The festival prioritizes world, international, and European premieres.

The 2026 International Competition selection includes 12 films from directors including Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Sandra Wollner, Aleksandre Koberidze, Manuela Martelli, and Ivan Ostrochovsky. Films are chosen by the festival's programming team based on artistic merit and formal innovation.

Shortlist Section

A separate section for shorter-format work. The Shortlist section has its own submission process with a deadline of April 2, 2026. This section is distinct from the International Competition and has different eligibility criteria.

Non-Competitive Programs

The festival also programs:

• Retrospectives - comprehensive programs dedicated to major adventurous filmmakers, often spanning multiple screenings
• Thematic Programs - curated selections exploring specific cinematic themes or movements
• Polish Cinema - new Polish films, both features and shorts
• Special Screenings - curated sidebars and one-off events

Awards and Prizes

The 26th edition awards the following prizes:

• Grand Prix - 10,000 EUR, awarded by an international jury to the best film in the New Horizons International Competition. The jury is composed of prominent figures from the international film community
• Audience Award - 7,500 EUR, awarded to the film receiving the most audience votes in the International Competition. The Audience Award is sponsored by TAURON

The Grand Prix and Audience Award are the festival's primary competitive prizes. Additional side prizes may be awarded by partner institutions and independent juries, with the final list announced closer to the festival dates.

Festival Attendance and Scale

The 2025 edition (25th BNP Paribas New Horizons IFF) recorded the following figures:

• 169,737 viewers - a record attendance figure
• 271 films programmed across the festival
• 628 screenings conducted during the 10-day event
• 500+ guests including dozens of directors from around the world
• Online extension - the festival extends online for an additional week, reaching audiences beyond Wroclaw

The festival's primary venue is Kino Nowe Horyzonty, a dedicated art house cinema in central Wroclaw. Additional screenings take place at the Lower Silesian Film Centre and other partner venues across the city.

Festival History

Nowe Horyzonty was founded in 2001 and has operated continuously since then. The festival was originally held in a different format but settled in Wroclaw, where it has become the city's defining cultural event. The festival's naming rights have changed over the years based on corporate sponsorship: it was previously known as the T-Mobile New Horizons IFF, then the BNP Paribas New Horizons IFF (2025), and is now the TAURON New Horizons IFF (2026).

The festival's programming philosophy has remained consistent throughout its history: formally adventurous, slow cinema, essay film, and experimental narrative work are prioritized. The festival has been the primary Polish platform for introducing challenging world cinema to Polish audiences, programming directors including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Costa, and Miguel Gomes before they achieved widespread international recognition.

Wroclaw's cultural identity shapes the festival's context. The city was historically German (known as Breslau before 1945) and became a Polish center of arts and culture after World War II. Wroclaw's European Capital of Culture 2016 designation reflected its cultural ambition, and Nowe Horyzonty is central to that identity. The festival's long-form retrospective programming creates unusually deep engagement with filmmakers' complete works, distinguishing it from festivals that focus primarily on new premieres.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For filmmakers working in art cinema, essay film, slow cinema, or experimental narrative, Nowe Horyzonty is one of the most receptive festivals in Europe. The festival's 169,737-strong audience is among the most engaged art house audiences in Central Europe, and the programming team actively seeks formally challenging work that would not fit mainstream festival sections.

The free submission model is a significant advantage for independent filmmakers. Unlike most competitive festivals, there are no submission fees, which removes a financial barrier for low-budget productions. However, the email-only submission process requires careful preparation - the submission email must include all required information in the specified format, or it may not be considered.

The 60-minute minimum runtime is strictly enforced. The festival explicitly states that international short film submissions will be disregarded. Filmmakers with short films should target the Shortlist section (separate deadline: April 2, 2026) or seek other festivals.

The Poland premiere requirement means that filmmakers should plan their festival circuit to avoid Polish screenings before Nowe Horyzonty. The festival's July timing places it after Cannes (May), Berlin (February), and Rotterdam (January), meaning films that have premiered at those festivals remain eligible as long as they have not screened in Poland.

The 10,000 EUR Grand Prix and 7,500 EUR Audience Award are substantial prizes for an art cinema festival. The Audience Award is particularly meaningful given the festival's large and knowledgeable audience - winning the audience vote at Nowe Horyzonty carries significant credibility in the art cinema world.

The festival does not hold FIAPF accreditation and does not operate a formal film market. However, the festival attracts international programmers, critics, and distributors who attend to discover challenging work. The festival's industry program includes panel discussions, project presentations, and networking events, though it is smaller in scale than the industry events at Warsaw Film Festival or Berlin.

The online extension (July 23 to August 9, 2026) gives films additional exposure beyond the physical festival, reaching audiences across Poland who cannot attend in person. This extended window can increase a film's visibility among Polish art house audiences.

See Also

Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. Estimate your acceptance probability with the Festival Acceptance Odds Estimator. For the Warsaw Film Festival, see Warsaw International Film Festival. For European film markets and international sales, see International Film Markets. For festival circuit strategy and planning, see Film Festival Strategy. Submit through the New Horizons official website.