Sofia International Film Festival

Overview

The Sofia International Film Festival (Sofia IFF) is the biggest competitive film festival in Bulgaria and one of 15 FIAPF Competitive Specialised accredited festivals in the world. The 30th anniversary edition runs March 12 to 22, 2026, in Sofia, with additional programming through March 31 in Plovdiv, Burgas, and Varna. The 2026 program includes 145 feature-length fiction, documentary, and animated films plus 19 short films from 60 countries across six continents. The festival is funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the EU, the Sofia Municipality, the Bulgarian National Film Center, and the Ministry of Culture.

Sofia IFF is included in the FIPRESCI calendar and was announced by Variety as one of the top 50 unmissable film events in the world. The festival opens on March 12, 2026 at Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture with the Bulgarian premiere of It Was Just an Accident by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes and nominated for two Academy Awards. Panahi, a long-standing friend of the festival who was a special guest in 2002 and 2004, will also receive the FIPRESCI Platinum Award at the 30th edition.

The 23rd Sofia Meetings industry event runs March 18 to 30, 2026, providing a co-production market and networking platform for international producers, distributors, and sales agents. Part of the festival program is available online through Neterra.tv/plus, giving audiences across Bulgaria access to selected festival films.

Submission Details

The festival accepts submissions through its Eventival platform. Submission fees and deadlines for the 30th edition (2026):

Foreign Entries:

• Early Bird Deadline: October 1, 2025 - 35 EUR submission fee
• Regular Deadline: November 20, 2025 - 45 EUR submission fee

Bulgarian Entries:

• Deadline for Bulgarian Features and Short Films: November 1, 2025 - no submission fee

The festival regulations are available on the official website. The submission form is accessible through the Eventival portal.

Competition Sections

• International Competition for First or Second Feature Films: The festival's main competition. Open to directors presenting their first or second feature film. The winner receives the Sofia City of Film Award (Grand Prix).
• Balkan Competition: Films from the Balkan region competing for Best Balkan Film.
• International Documentary Competition: Documentaries from around the world competing for Best Documentary.
• Bulgarian Short Films Competition: Now in its 24th consecutive year. The 2026 edition selected 12 films from 65 applicants. The award is worth 9,500 EUR (1,500 EUR cash prize plus 8,000 EUR in post-production services), provided by Doli Media Studio. The international jury selects the winner.
• Teen Competition: Films programmed for teenage audiences.
• Cinema Today - Masters: New films by established international directors, outside competition.
• Kaleidoscope: Curated international cinema outside competition.
• New Bulgarian Cinema: Showcase of contemporary Bulgarian feature films.
• VR Screenings: Virtual reality installations (by invitation only), presented in partnership with Sofia Meetings at the immersive space VIDENIE.
• Tributes and Retrospectives: Homage programs honoring filmmakers and movements.
• Cinema Gourmet, Cinema and Fashion, SFF Green, SFF for Kids, SFF for Blind People: Themed sidebar programs.

Industry Program: Sofia Meetings

The 23rd Sofia Meetings runs March 18 to 30, 2026, as the festival's industry component. It is a co-production market and networking event connecting international producers, distributors, sales agents, and festival programmers. The program includes project presentations, pitch sessions, and one-on-one meetings. The press center is located at the Polish Institute in Sofia, hosting public talks and meetings with special guests.

Partners include the British Council, Italian Cultural Institute, Goethe-Institut, Czech Centre Sofia, Liszt Institute (Hungarian Cultural Center), Instituto Cervantes, NATFA (National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts), and others.

Major Awards (2025 Winners, 29th Edition)

• Sofia City of Film Award (Grand Prix): Honeymoon (Zhanna Ozirna, Ukraine) - also won the Young Jury Award
• Special Jury Award: Cat's Cry (Sanja Zivkovic, Serbia/Canada/Croatia)
• Best Director: Koya Kamura for Winter in Sokcho (France/South Korea)
• Special Mention: Bella Kim for Winter in Sokcho
• Best Bulgarian Feature Film: Windless (Pavel G. Vesnakov, Bulgaria/Italy) - also won the FIPRESCI Award
• Best Bulgarian Short Film: Nicole (Elena Toncheva, Bulgaria)
• Best Balkan Film: Traffic (Teodora Ana Mihai, Romania/Belgium/Netherlands); Special Mention: Triumph (Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Bulgaria/Greece)
• Best Documentary: Dear Beautiful Beloved (Juri Rechinsky, Austria); Special Mention: Silent Observers (Eliza Petkova, Bulgaria/Germany)
• Audience Award: Flesh (Dimitar Stoyanovich, Bulgaria)
• Youth Audience Award: The Story of Frank and Nina (Paola Randi, Italy/Switzerland)
• FIPRESCI Award: Windless (Pavel G. Vesnakov)
• Award of the Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics: Triumph (Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov)
• Sofia Award for Contribution to the Art of Film: Iossif Sarchadzhiev (Bulgaria), Rajko Grlic (Croatia)

The 2025 jury was composed of directors Patricia Mazuy (jury chair), Pia Marais, Veit Helmer, Andrey M. Paounov, and actress Jaana Saarinen. The 29th edition screened 171 films from 58 countries.

Regional Expansion

The festival extends beyond Sofia to three additional Bulgarian cities:

• Sofia IFF on the Coast (Burgas): March 19 to 27, 2026
• Plovdiv edition: March 20 to April 5, 2026
• Varna edition: March 20 to 22 and March 28 to 29, 2026

This regional expansion allows films from the main Sofia program to reach audiences in Bulgaria's second, third, and fourth largest cities, extending the festival's cultural impact beyond the capital.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For international filmmakers: The International Competition is restricted to first or second feature films, making it an ideal platform for emerging directors. The 35 EUR early bird submission fee is modest compared to major Western European festivals. Films that have premiered at Sundance or Berlin are eligible, as the March timing allows Sofia to program acclaimed films seeking Eastern European exposure.

For Bulgarian filmmakers: Submission is free for Bulgarian features and short films, with a deadline of November 1, 2025. The Bulgarian Short Film Competition offers a 9,500 EUR award (1,500 EUR cash plus 8,000 EUR in post-production services from Doli Media Studio). The New Bulgarian Cinema section provides a dedicated showcase for domestic feature films outside the international competition.

For Balkan/regional filmmakers: The Balkan Competition provides a dedicated platform for films from Southeast Europe. The Sofia Meetings co-production market is the primary industry event for regional projects seeking international co-production financing.

For documentary filmmakers: The International Documentary Competition is open to documentaries from any country. The 2025 winner was Dear Beautiful Beloved by Austrian-Ukrainian filmmaker Juri Rechinsky.

Festival History

The first Sofia International Film Festival was held in 1997. The festival grew through Bulgaria's post-communist cultural transformation and EU integration, establishing itself as the country's most important cultural event and a recognized competitive festival on the international circuit. The festival is organized by Art Fest, in partnership with Atlantis Studio, under the patronage of the Sofia Municipality.

The Bulgarian Short Film Competition has run for 24 consecutive years, supported by Doli Media Studio for the seventh year in 2026. Over the years, leading names in contemporary Bulgarian cinema have participated, including Dragomir Sholev, Andrey Paounov, Boris Despodov, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Petar Valchanov, and Pavel Vesnakov. The long-term support of this program by Jameson Irish Whiskey has contributed to the development of short filmmaking in Bulgaria.

The 30th anniversary edition in 2026 is funded in part by the European Union's NextGenerationEU program and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, as part of the "Capital of Culture - The Pulse of Sofia" project.

See Also

For understanding Eastern European cinema and co-production markets, see International Film Markets. For festival circuit planning, see Film Festival Strategy. To calculate the return on your festival submission spending, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For budgeting a co-production, use the Indie Film Budget Calculator.