International Short Film Festival Oberhausen

Overview

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen is a FIAPF-accredited short film festival held annually in Oberhausen, Germany. The 72nd edition runs April 28 to May 3, 2026, screening approximately 500 films across five competitions and curated programs. The festival awards nearly 45,000 EUR in total prize money. The Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen, worth 8,000 EUR, is one of the most respected awards in international short film.

Submissions are free for the first five works by a single submitter. From the sixth submission onward, a handling fee of 20 EUR per film applies. The submission deadline for all competitions is January 19, 2026 (date of receipt). An Early Bird deadline of October 10, 2025 applies only to the International Competition, with decisions communicated in November 2025. The MuVi Award for German music videos has a separate deadline of February 22, 2026.

Oberhausen has a particular reputation for experimental, avant-garde, and politically engaged short filmmaking. The festival's programming team seeks work that pushes the boundaries of what cinema can do, making it the primary destination for artists working at the intersection of film and visual art. The festival's proximity to Dusseldorf, Cologne, and other Rhineland cultural centers means that curators, gallerists, and art world professionals attend alongside traditional film industry delegates.

Key Sections

• International Competition - short films of all genres up to 35 minutes, from productions outside Germany; must not have screened at any German festival before Oberhausen; Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen worth 8,000 EUR
• German Competition - short films produced or co-produced in Germany, up to 45 minutes; Prize of the German Competition worth 5,000 EUR
• NRW Competition - films from North Rhine-Westphalia; Prize worth 1,000 EUR
• International Children's and Youth Film Competition - films for young audiences selected from both International and German submissions; Children's Jury and Youth Jury prizes of 1,000 EUR each
• MuVi Award - best German music video, established in 1999 as the world's first festival prize for music videos; 1st Prize worth 2,000 EUR, 2nd Prize worth 1,000 EUR

Submission Details

Submissions are made via the Oberhausen festival website, not through FilmFreeway. Submissions must be made online using the festival's entry form.

Eligibility Rules

• Films must be completed after January 1, 2025
• International Competition: films must not have screened at any German festival before Oberhausen
• German Competition: films produced or co-produced in Germany (seat of the production company)
• Co-productions with Germany must be submitted to the International Competition and will be considered for both competitions
• Repeated submissions are not possible (a film cannot be resubmitted if previously submitted)
• Submissions cannot be withdrawn once the submitter has confirmed participation in writing

Major Awards

The 72nd edition (2026) awards nearly 45,000 EUR across 24 prizes in four competitions, plus three MuVi Award prizes.

International Competition Awards

German Competition Awards

NRW Competition Awards

Children's and Youth Film Competition Awards

MuVi Award (Music Videos)

The 2026 Grand Prize winner was Igor Zelic's Opera (Croatia, 19 min 39 sec), an experimental study of light, space, and perception. The film also won the 1st Prize of the NRW Ministry of Culture and Science and the FIPRESCI Prize.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Oberhausen is the oldest short film festival in the world with FIAPF accreditation. It accepts open submissions and is particularly receptive to experimental, non-narrative, and formally adventurous short work. Filmmakers whose work does not fit conventional short film categories will find Oberhausen one of the most hospitable festival environments available.

The festival invites all filmmakers whose films are selected for the on-site competitions to attend Oberhausen in person. This is a significant benefit: the festival covers the filmmaker's attendance, providing direct access to curators, gallerists, and art world professionals who attend from across the Rhineland and internationally.

The International Competition requires that films have not screened at any German festival before Oberhausen. This is a German festival premiere requirement, not a world premiere requirement. Films that have screened at festivals outside Germany remain eligible.

The 1st Prize of the NRW Ministry of Culture and Science (5,000 EUR) also serves as the European Film Awards 2026 Short Film Selection, meaning the winner becomes eligible for the European Film Awards.

For the MuVi Award, only music videos whose director or production is based in Germany are eligible. The award was launched in 1999 as the world's first film festival prize for music videos.

Festival History

Oberhausen was founded in 1954 as the West German Short Film Days. The festival's most significant historical moment came in 1962, when 26 young German filmmakers signed the Oberhausen Manifesto at the festival. The declaration proclaimed "The old film is dead. We believe in the new." This directly inspired what became the New German Cinema of Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders, and Schlondorff.

The festival has maintained its commitment to cinematic innovation and political engagement throughout its 72-year history. The Children's and Youth Film Competition was established in 1978. The MuVi Award for music videos was introduced in 1999. The NRW Competition, the youngest of the five competitions, presents films from North Rhine-Westphalia alongside student work.

The 72nd edition in 2026 screened films from over 40 countries. The festival appoints its own selection committees and juries for each competition. The Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen has been awarded annually since the festival's early years and remains one of the most recognized awards in short film globally.

Past Winners (Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen)

Recent Grand Prize winners and where the films landed:

• 2024: *Spring 23* (China), dir. Wu Yue. Won the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen. A Chinese experimental short exploring memory and displacement.
• 2023: *Chornobyl 22* (Ukraine). Won the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen. A Ukrainian documentary examining the ongoing consequences of the Chornobyl disaster.
• 2022: *Weathering Heights* (Sweden). Won the Grand Prize of the City of Oberhausen. A Swedish experimental film exploring climate and landscape.

Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up

Oberhausen has launched the careers of many significant filmmakers. Selected premieres and their outcomes:

• The Oberhausen Manifesto (1962) - The festival was the launching site for the revolt against Papa's Cinema that led to New German Cinema. Signed by young German filmmakers including Alexander Kluge, the manifesto declared the old cinema dead and pledged to create a new language. This is one of the most significant moments in film festival history.
• *Werner Herzog - Had early work featured at Oberhausen, including Precaution Against Fanatics* (1969). The festival has a history of showcasing filmmakers who go on to major international careers.
• *George Lucas* - Had work featured at Oberhausen early in his career, demonstrating the festival's role in identifying emerging talent.
• *Apichatpong Weerasethakul* - The Thai filmmaker who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (2010) had work featured at Oberhausen, showing the festival's eye for future masters.
• *Miranda July* - The American filmmaker and artist had work featured at Oberhausen, demonstrating the festival's commitment to cross-disciplinary work.

Submission Tips Specific to Oberhausen

1. Max 35 minutes for International Competition. All genres are accepted (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental). Rare exceptions are made for longer films. Films must be completed after January 1 of the festival year. No German festival premiere before Oberhausen.
2. First five submissions are free. From the sixth submission by the same submitter, the fee is EUR 20 per film. This is one of the most generous fee structures of any major festival.
3. Early bird for International Competition. Submit by September 10 for early consideration, with decisions announced in November. Regular deadline is January 19 for all competitions. MuVi Award (music videos) has a separate deadline of February 22.
4. Multiple competition tracks. International Competition (all genres, max 35 minutes), German Competition (for productions where the main production company is in Germany), Children's and Youth Film Competition (no festival premiere required), and NRW Competition (for productions from North Rhine-Westphalia). Double submissions to multiple competitions are not accepted.
5. All submitted films are previewed. Unlike many festivals that pre-screen, Oberhausen previews all submitted films for every appropriate festival program. This means your film will be watched, even if it is not selected.

Industry Reputation Notes

• World's oldest short film festival. Founded in 1954, Oberhausen is the oldest short film festival in the world and one of the most important international platforms for short form. It is FIAPF-accredited as an independent festival.
• Experimental and avant-garde focus. Unlike other short film festivals that concentrate on glossy fiction films as calling cards for directors with feature ambitions, Oberhausen features experimental, artist, and avant-garde works alongside traditional productions. The festival should be simultaneously righteous and dreadful, with an ethos to continually subvert, astound, surprise, and challenge mainstream.
• Scale and reach. Around 7,000 submissions from almost 100 countries annually. Approximately 500 films in the festival program. Over 1,100 accredited professional visitors. Prizes worth over EUR 51,000 total.
• Distribution arm. The festival operates a non-commercial short-film distribution service with one of the oldest and most important short film collections worldwide. It purchases around 50 new works annually and sends films on worldwide tours.
• MuVi Award. Oberhausen introduced the world's first film festival award for music videos in 1999, awarded exclusively to directors for visual quality. This demonstrates the festival's commitment to expanding the definition of short form.
• Comparison to Clermont-Ferrand and Krakow. Clermont-Ferrand is larger and more commercial. Krakow focuses on documentaries and animation. Oberhausen is the most experimental and artist-focused of the three, with the strongest historical significance as the birthplace of New German Cinema.

Watch

See Also

For experimental filmmaking concepts, visit the Filmmaker Glossary. For short film production budgeting, use the Production Budget Calculator. To evaluate the return on investment of festival submissions, use the Festival ROI Calculator.