About the competition
Cinema produces experiences. Film theorists are lured by phenomenology which focuses on experience rather than the image. Film artisans learn through repetition and search, conducting experiences. The collective urge to decipher cinema is fueled by the viewer’ s experience.
In 2026 we are looking for impulses, theories and explorations. We screen sudden failures and unpredictable outcomes. At SmallShorts, on 0; collect experiences: attempts and errors, sensations and traces that emerge from our encounters with cinema.
About the festival
SmallShorts is a Student Festival of Screen Arts that has been exploring triumphs and errors of student filmmaking for 7 years. We embrace constants and temporalities of cinema and the world, creating a professional platform for young film enthusiasts.
Nominations
Screen I. Fiction film
For works that follow conventions of fiction filmmaking, in which you learn to create engaging stories and manage a team.
Screen II. Documentary film
For works that let reality uncover itself through thought and contemplation.
Screen III. Experimental video and video art
For film-tricks, cine-tales and formalist practices.
Screen IV. Animation
For works that go frame by frame originating from any techniques or materials.
Requirements to projects
Duration: up to 20 min.
The work should be created by a student or a recent graduate of any film school, creative laboratory or course.
Requirements to participants
The work should be created by a student or a recent graduate of any film school, creative laboratory or course. No age or nationality restrictions apply.
Stages of the competition
Deadline for application: February 28, 2026
Festival’ s short list will be published in May 2026.
The works selected by the jury members (approx. 10-15 films) will be screened in May 2026, during the Telling Stories DAFES Festival.
References
Jury
In the jury we bring together directors, critics, artists and other creators. 2026’ jury board will be known later.
Awarding the winners
The awards ceremony will take place at the festival’ s final screening in May 2026. Prize winners will receive books from the festival’ s partners, external storage devices and other gifts from the festival’ s partners. The date of the final screening will be announced later. The screening will take place at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre.
Contact us
HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL Moscow, Malaya Pionerskaya st., 12 creativeopen@hsedesign.ru
SmallShorts smolshortsfest@gmail.com