Overview
The Cambridge Film Festival (CFF) is one of the UK's longest-running film festivals. Founded in 1977, it returns in 2026 for its 45th edition, running 22 October to 1 November at the Arts Picturehouse and partner venues across Cambridge. The 2026 edition marks the festival's Sapphire Anniversary, celebrated with a year of special events from April through December, including quiz nights, community screenings, fundraising dinners, and anniversary screenings.
The 44th edition (2025) ran 23 October to 2 November and presented the festival's largest collection of world and UK premieres in recent years. The opening film was Bugonia and the festival closed with The Rental Family. The festival runs for 11 days and programmes features, documentaries, shorts, Q&As, and special events.
Cambridge Film Festival is a BAFTA-qualifying, BIDA-qualifying, and Grierson-qualifying festival. It is operated by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity (no. 1120059). The festival's venue base is the Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge's independent cinema, which provides a quality screening environment and year-round film culture.
Submission Details
CFF accepts submissions through FilmFreeway. Submissions for the 45th edition are open.
Submission Deadlines:
| Deadline | Date |
|---|---|
| Early deadline | 15 June 2026 |
| Regular deadline | 18 June 2026 |
| Final deadline | 29 July 2026 |
| Notification date | 16 September 2026 |
Eligibility:
- Feature Films (60+ mins): Must not have been released in the UK in any format, including online. UK premiere required. UK premieres are eligible for Audience Awards. Exceptions may be made for films of exceptionally high quality or those that premiere at the London Film Festival, at the discretion of Festival staff.
- Short Films (under 30 mins): No premiere requirement, but must not be publicly available online in the UK. All short films are eligible for Audience Awards.
- All films must have been completed within 18 months of the festival start date.
- Non-English language films must include embedded English subtitles. Closed Captions are encouraged for accessibility.
- Films previously submitted to CFF will only be considered if significantly reworked.
- All rights, permissions, and clearances must be obtained before submission.
Submission Fees and Waivers:
CFF is a non-profit charity and offers several fee reductions:
- Free submissions for filmmakers based in Cambridgeshire (proof of address required)
- Free submissions for directors or producers who have screened at CFF previously
- 25% discount for Global Majority directors
To request a waiver, email submissions@cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk with the subject line "(FILM TITLE) - (DISCOUNT/WAIVER)". No other waivers are available. Fees are non-refundable.
Screening Format: Selected films must be available as a DCP for in-cinema presentation. No other formats are accepted. DCPs must be received at least one month before the festival begins. The festival does not cover costs of format transfers or subtitling.
Filmmakers must not withdraw their film from the CFF programme after selection has been confirmed, and the film must not be screened elsewhere before its presentation at the festival.
Key Sections and Programme Strands
- Feature Film Programme - international and British features, including UK premieres and preview screenings
- Documentary Programme - nonfiction features from the UK and internationally
- Short Film Programme - curated short film selections from British and international filmmakers
- Short Fusion Strand - contemporary short films from around the world
- Contemporary German Strand - presenting established and new talent from German cinema
- Industry Day - talks, panels, and workshops led by industry figures for filmmakers at all career stages
- CFF Youth Lab - initiative led by young programmers aged 16 to 24, including workshops, industry mentoring, and the Youth Lab Jury Award
- Retrospectives and Classics - programs dedicated to major filmmakers and restored prints
What Filmmakers Should Know
Cambridge Film Festival's Industry Day is its primary filmmaker development platform. It features talks, panels, and workshops led by respected industry figures and functions as a networking hub for filmmakers at all stages. The festival also operates a volunteer film reviewer pool for those not submitting but wishing to participate.
The CFF Youth Lab is a notable initiative: young programmers aged 16 to 24 participate year-round in workshops, industry mentoring, and festival programming, including awarding the Youth Lab Jury Award. This creates a unique programming perspective that runs alongside the main festival curation.
The festival's commitment to accessibility and inclusion is structural. Many screenings include relaxed formats, descriptive subtitles, and BSL interpretation. The festival champions underrepresented voices both on screen and off, and works year-round to remove barriers to participation.
Cambridge's identity as a university city shapes the audience. The festival programmes films that reward attentive viewing and engage with cinema as intellectual and artistic work. Filmmakers whose work is formally ambitious or intellectually demanding will find a receptive audience here.
CFF does not provide individual feedback on submissions due to volume. Selected filmmakers will be contacted by 16 September 2026 and listed publicly in the full festival programme. The festival requests that no press materials be sent with submissions; these should be provided only after acceptance.
Major Awards
CFF presents a range of jury and audience awards. In 2026, the following awards will be presented:
- Golden Punt Jury Award - Best Discovery Feature Film. Named after Cambridge's distinctive river punts, this is the festival's highest honor, awarded to the outstanding discovery feature film in the programme. Selected by an invited jury of critics, curators, and filmmakers. Previous jury members include Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian), Professor Tanya Horeck (ARU), and filmmaker Mara Polgovsky.
- Audience Awards - voted by festival audiences across all UK premieres:
- Best Fiction Feature
- Best Documentary Feature
- Best Short Film
- Youth Lab Jury Award - awarded by the CFF Youth Lab team of young programmers aged 16 to 24
- Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award - presented to a filmmaker or industry figure whose work has had a lasting impact on film culture
Festival History
Cambridge Film Festival was founded in 1977, making it one of the UK's oldest film festivals. It started with a handful of screenings and a borrowed cinema. Over four and a half decades, it has grown into an 11-day festival attracting filmmakers from across the world, with BAFTA, BIDA, and Grierson qualifying status.
The festival is operated by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity (no. 1120059). Its base is the Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge's independent cinema, which provides the main screening venue and year-round film culture infrastructure.
The 2026 Sapphire Anniversary celebrations run from April through December, including the Big Birthday Film Quiz at Cambridge Junction (4 June), quarterly anniversary screenings at the Arts Picturehouse, free community screenings at Clay Farm and Brown's Field Community Centre, a festival launch event in August, a family film screening at Cambridge City Library (27 September), and the flagship 45th Cambridge Film Festival from 22 October to 1 November 2026.
The festival has built a reputation for championing bold, original, and imaginative cinema. Its 2025 edition presented its largest collection of world and UK premieres in recent years, with Bugonia as the opening film and The Rental Family as the closing film.
Past Winners
Golden Punt Jury Award - Best Discovery Feature:
- 2025: Sleepless City (Ciudad sin sueño) (dir. Guillermo Galo)
- 2024: Nebelkind - The End of Silence (dir. Tereza Kotyk)
- 2023: Creatura (dir. Elena Martin Gimeno) - also won the Audience Award
- 2022: Little Nicholas, Happy As Can Be (dirs. Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre)
- 2019: Castle of Dreams (dir. Reza Mirkarimi)
- 2018: Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda) - also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes
Audience Award - Best Fiction Feature:
- 2025: Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (dir. Ivona Juka)
- 2024: Nebelkind - The End of Silence (dir. Tereza Kotyk)
- 2023: Creatura (dir. Elena Martin Gimeno)
Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award:
- 2024: Daniel Kaluuya - actor and director
- 2023: Asif Kapadia - director and documentarian
- 2022: Emma Thompson - actor and screenwriter
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
- Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018) - won the Golden Punt Audience Award at CFF 2018. Also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
- Creatura (dir. Elena Martin Gimeno, 2023) - won both the Golden Punt Jury Award and the Audience Award at CFF 2023. Also won Best European Film at Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Won six Gaudi Awards and received three Goya nominations.
- Larceny (dir. Christopher Nolan, 1996) - Christopher Nolan's student short was selected at CFF early in his career. Nolan went on to direct The Dark Knight trilogy and won the Academy Award for Best Director for Oppenheimer.
- Wasp (dir. Andrea Arnold, 2006) - the Oscar-winning short was selected at CFF. Arnold won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. She later won the Jury Prize at Cannes for American Honey.
- Boy From Heaven (dir. Tarik Saleh, 2022) - screened at the 41st CFF. Won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes. Selected as Sweden's Oscar submission for Best International Feature.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
CFF is BAFTA-qualifying, BIDA-qualifying, and Grierson-qualifying. Short films selected for the programme become eligible for BAFTA consideration. This makes CFF a practical submission target for short filmmakers seeking awards eligibility.
Feature films must be UK premieres and must not have been released in the UK in any format, including online. Exceptions may be made for films of exceptionally high quality or those that premiere at the London Film Festival, at the discretion of festival staff.
Cambridge's identity as a university city shapes the audience. The festival programs films that reward attentive viewing and engage with cinema as intellectual and artistic work. Filmmakers whose work is formally ambitious or intellectually demanding will find a receptive audience here.
Free submissions are available for Cambridgeshire-based filmmakers and for directors or producers who have previously screened at CFF. A 25% discount is available for Global Majority directors. Email submissions@cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk to request a waiver.
Only DCP format is accepted for in-cinema presentation. DCPs must be received at least one month before the festival begins. The festival does not cover costs of format transfers or subtitling.
Industry Reputation Notes
Compared to the London Film Festival, CFF is smaller and more focused on discovery films. LFF programs major premieres and awards contenders. CFF's Golden Punt Award specifically honors "discovery" features, positioning the festival as a platform for emerging talent rather than established names.
Compared to the Edinburgh International Film Festival, CFF has a similar regional focus but a stronger university-city identity. Edinburgh has a larger industry footprint and broader international profile. CFF's BAFTA-qualifying status gives it practical value for short filmmakers seeking awards eligibility.
The festival is one of the UK's oldest, founded in 1977. Its longevity gives it credibility, though it operates on a minimal budget compared to larger UK festivals. The Cambridge Film Trust (charity no. 1120059) runs the festival with support from the Arts Picturehouse and partner venues.
The Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award has been presented to major figures including Emma Thompson, Asif Kapadia, and Daniel Kaluuya. This award signals the festival's ability to attract high-profile industry guests despite its regional scale.
Watch
See Also
For festival submission strategy and budgeting, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For UK independent cinema, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies. For festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy.
