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Years running: 4 (since 2023)

Ural Shorts

International Short & Debut Film Festival on the border of Europe and Asia

About

Now open: Submissions for IV Ural Shorts 2026/2027!

Grand Prix: 100,000 rubles.

Ural Shorts is an IMDb Qualifying Award Event. All Ural Shorts Winners of the Year — both films and filmmakers — are granted dedicated pages on IMDb, the world's leading film database. For those already listed on IMDb, their Awards section is updated to reflect their Ural Shorts win.

Ural Shorts is an International Short & Debut Film Festival with a quarterly Official Selection, Live Screenings every summer, autumn, winter and spring, and an Annual Award Event.

Four times a year we conduct live screenings of the season's winning films in cinemas and on television for all to see. Once a year, we welcome the creators of winning films, who contend for the coveted top honors and Grand Prix, with competitive screenings and an esteemed award ceremony.

You can submit your film in any of the Main Categories and automatically your film will be considered for all Technical and Performances Categories with no extra cost. You don’t need to pay any additional category fee!

Main Categories in the Short Film Section: Fiction Short, Documentary Short, Docudrama, Animated Short, Experimental Short, One Person Film, Student Short, Debut Short, Micro Film (up to 180 sec), Music Video, New Media (mobile and drone-video, web-series, Ai-films).

Main Categories in the Feature Film Section: Fiction Film, Documentary Film.

Technical and Performances Categories: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing.

Every Season the selection committee watches privately the submitted short films and chooses the Official Selections in the Short Film Section. All selected films enter the competition for the Season Awards. Within 10 days after the Official Selection list is published the jury announces the Season Winners. The winning shorts enter the Screening Program in cinemas and on television for all to see.

The Official Selection for the Feature Film Section is determined solely at the end of the year, without division into seasons.

The winners of the four seasons in the Short Film Section and the feature films included in the year's shortlist comprise the festival's annual competition program. And receive an invitation to the Annual Award Event.

The Ural Shorts Annual Event takes place in August in the 300-year-old city of Nizhny Tagil, on the border of Europe and Asia, which is called the "Russian Manchester" in the middle of the Ural Mountains. Annual Award Event consists of a cultural and educational program, the annual awards ceremony, screenings, TV interviews, workshops, and other activities.

Awards

All selected films receive the Official Selection laurels and enter the competition for the Season Awards.

All Season Winners receive the Winner laurels, the Certificate of Achievement (digital format) ready for printing, and get the opportunity to be screened in a cinema theatre and / or on television.

All Season Winners enter the competition for the Annual Awards and receive an invitation to the Annual Award Event.

The winners of the annual awards receive the Ural Lion — the main prize of Ural Shorts, inspired by the tilework style of Ural-Siberian painting of the 18th century — and the winner's diploma. The winner of the Grand Prix will receive a main prize, a diploma and a cash prize of 100,000 rubles. To award special prizes and diplomas from the jury, the festival directorate, partners and sponsors is possible. Full conditions are available in the Festival Regulations on the website.

Rules

Short films with a running time of up to 40 minutes and debut feature films (defined as the director’s first or second independent feature-length work) with a running time of 40 to 150 minutes are eligible for submission.
There are no restrictions on genre, production year, country of origin and premiere status. Your film may be available online and/or be shown earlier at other festivals.
An entrance fee is required for all the Main Categories. All Technical & Performances Categories are free of charge and are included by submitting your film in any Main Category. Each short film must be entered for at least one of the main categories.
Multiple entries in Main Categories from the same submitter are accepted. The same film can be submitted in several Main Categories and qualify for several prizes.
Films with spoken dialogues in languages other than Russian and English are accepted only with English subtitles.
Entrants are responsible for securing all rights and permissions from copyright and other holders relating to their short.

The applicants of submitted films that have been selected will be notified via e-mail. The Official Selection list will also be published on our website https://uralshorts.com and on our social media. The Winners list will be published no later than 10 days after the official selection notification.

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Documents

Submission Наши фестивали

Submission Festhome

Submission FilmFreeway

Entry Form (online)

Place

Russia
Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk Region

Official Website

uralshorts.com

Contacts

uralshorts@gmail.com

Contact Emails

uralshorts@gmail.com

Social Networks

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Dates & Deadlines

Opening Date
August 26, 2026
Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026
September 25, 2026
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026
October 25, 2026
Late Deadline Autumn 2026
November 25, 2026
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027
December 25, 2026
Regular Deadline Winter 2027
January 25, 2027
Late Deadline Winter 2027
February 25, 2027
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027
March 25, 2027
Regular Deadline Spring 2027
April 25, 2027
Late Deadline Spring 2027
May 25, 2027
Notifications
June 25, 2027
Event Dates
5 — 8 August 2027

Categories & Fees

Fiction short

Narrative, any genre, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Documentary short

Documentary film, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Animated short

Animation (including Stop-Motion and Time-lapse), under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Student short

short film made by student(s), any genre, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Music video

Dance, Musical or Fashion Films, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

New Media

made with smartphone and/or drone, vertical format, web-series, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Experimental short

Non-narrative, under 40 min

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Micro film

Any genre, up to 180 sec

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $23
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $29
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $35
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $23
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $29
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $35

Feature: Documentary film

A non-fiction film longer than 40 minutes that is the director's first or second full-length work

Earlybird Deadline Autumn 2026 — $70
Regular Deadline Autumn 2026 — $70
Late Deadline Autumn 2026 — $70
Earlybird Deadline Winter 2027 — $70
Regular Deadline Winter 2027 — $70
Late Deadline Winter 2027 — $70
Earlybird Deadline Spring 2027 — $70
Regular Deadline Spring 2027 — $70
Late Deadline Spring 2027 — $70

One Person Film

Projects in which the same person performs at least four of the five main roles in the production process: director, writer, cinematographer, editor, producer. Under 40 min