Kaohsiung Film Festival

Overview

The Kaohsiung Film Festival (KFF) is an annual film festival in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, and the largest film event in southern Taiwan. Founded in 2001 by the Kaohsiung City Government's Information Bureau, it ranks behind only the Golden Horse Film Festival and Taipei Film Festival in size and visibility within Taiwan. The 26th edition runs October 9 to 26, 2026.

KFF is the only festival in Taiwan that runs an international short film competition and a separate XR (extended reality) competition. The short film competition receives over 2,000 submissions annually and has built alliances with major short film festivals internationally, including a long-running collaboration with Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia in Tokyo since 2011, and an invitation to the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival market in 2015. The 2025 edition reported a record-breaking NT$3.5 million in box office revenue, and the 2024 edition attracted over 20,000 attendees.

For filmmakers submitting short films or XR works to Asian festivals, KFF offers free short film submission (only a Shortfilmdepot platform stamp is required) and a structured XR competition with tiered fees. The festival does not require premiere status for short films, though it prefers world, international, or Asian premieres for XR projects.

Key Sections

• International Short Film Competition - open to Asian directors or films produced mainly in Asian countries; films under 25 minutes; no premiere requirement; submitted via Shortfilmdepot
• Taiwan Short Film Competition - open to Taiwanese directors or films produced in Taiwan; includes a Taiwan Student Award and a Children's Jury Award
• XR Competition - VR, AR, MR, VR360, and multimedia works; submitted via FilmFreeway; early deadline $30 USD, final deadline $80 USD
• Feature Film Program (Non-Competition) - narrative features 70 minutes or longer, completed after January 1, 2025, not previously premiered in Taiwan
• Special Programs - retrospectives, tributes, and themed selections

Submission Details

Short Film Competition (International and Taiwan Sections)

• Submission platform: Shortfilmdepot only
• Submission fee: Free (the platform may charge its own fee for the stamp)
• Deadline: June 10, 2026
• Eligibility: Films completed after June 1, 2025; under 25 minutes including credits; any genre (fiction, documentary, experimental, animation)
• Premiere status: Not required
• Notification date: August 31, 2026
• Restrictions: Films submitted to previous editions are not accepted, even in a new version or title. Films cannot be submitted to more than one section. Taiwanese productions can only be submitted to the Taiwan Section. International co-productions with Taiwan can apply to either section.

XR Competition

• Submission platform: FilmFreeway (plus a required Google Form)
• Early deadline: April 1 to April 30, 2026 (GMT+8) - $30 USD
• Final deadline: May 1 to June 10, 2026 (GMT+8) - $80 USD
• Eligibility: Works completed between January 1, 2025 and June 10, 2026; must include a headset-based viewing experience
• Premiere status: Not required, but world, international, or Asian premieres receive priority
• Notification date: August 31, 2026

Feature Films (Non-Competition)

• Submission platform: FilmFreeway
• Eligibility: Narrative features 70 minutes or longer, completed after January 1, 2025, not previously premiered in Taiwan
• Submission period: Opens April 1, 2026

Submit via FilmFreeway for XR projects and features. Submit via Shortfilmdepot for short film competition entries. Full regulations are available on the KFF regulations page.

Major Awards

• Golden Fireball Award - top prize in the International Short Film Competition
• International Section Jury Award
• Asian New Wave Award - for films directed by Asian nationality holders or produced mainly in Asian countries
• Taiwan Section awards - Best Taiwan Short Film, Taiwan Student Award, Children's Jury Award
• XR Competition awards - jury prizes for immersive works

What Filmmakers Should Know

KFF is a practical submission target for short filmmakers working in Asia or producing films in Asian countries. The free submission for shorts (you only pay the Shortfilmdepot platform fee) makes it a low-cost addition to a festival strategy. The 25-minute maximum runtime is standard for short film festivals, and the lack of a premiere requirement means you can submit even if your film has screened elsewhere.

For XR and VR creators, KFF is one of the few festivals in Asia with a dedicated competitive XR section. The $30 early bird fee is reasonable compared to major European XR competitions. The festival requires both a FilmFreeway submission and a Google Form submission, and failing to complete the Google Form invalidates the entry.

The feature film program is non-competitive and curated. If you have a feature that has not premiered in Taiwan, KFF offers a platform to reach southern Taiwanese audiences, though it does not offer the market access or industry networking of larger Asian festivals like Busan or Hong Kong.

The festival does not have an attached film market. It is not an Academy Award-qualifying festival for shorts. Filmmakers looking for market attachment or sales agent connections should consider KFF as a visibility and audience-building stop rather than a market destination.

Festival History

The first Kaohsiung Film Festival was held in 2001, organized by the Kaohsiung City Government's Information Bureau. The inaugural edition screened 37 films from Korea, Japan, India, and Thailand at the San Do Cinema, with tickets priced at NT$99 per screening. The Kaohsiung Film Archive was established in November 2002 along the Love River and took over festival organization in 2003.

In 2007, the festival introduced a themed annual program to differentiate its programming identity. In 2011, the festival launched its International Short Film Competition, inviting submissions of films under 25 minutes from worldwide, and began forming alliances with international short film festivals. The XR competition was added later, making KFF the only festival in Taiwan with a competitive immersive works section.

The festival is hosted by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government, and the Kaohsiung Film Archive. Over its 25 editions, KFF has grown from a small city festival screening Asian films into Taiwan's primary platform for short film and XR competition, with over 2,000 annual short film submissions and a growing international profile.

See Also

For festival submission strategy and budgeting, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For understanding Taiwanese and Asian cinema markets, see International Film Markets. For general festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy.