Международный фестиваль короткометражного кино ’КиноМышь’ (5)

Festival start: 25 December 2026      Festival end: 25 December 2026

The Movie Mouse International Short Film Festival is an annual short film competition featuring an official award ceremony. The festival organizers reserve the right to hold the award ceremony in any format—whether in person at the festival venue, online, or simply by announcing the results on the festival website and mailing diplomas and awards to participants.

The festival was created with the objective of identifying talented filmmakers and promoting short films. The festival organizers are the film production company "Mouse and Husband Production" /

www.mimproduction.info.

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE FESTIVAL WILL
OPEN ON FEBRUARY 1, 2026*. THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOVEMBER 1, 2026.

The result announcement dates (PUBLICATION ON THE OFFICIAL FESTIVAL WEBSITE) for the stages are:

OFFICIAL SELECTION (LONGLIST), SEMIFINAL (SEMIFINAL) — December 1 to 15, 2026.

FINAL (SHORTLIST), NOMINEES, WINNERS — December 15 to 25, 2026.

The date and location of the upcoming award ceremony (if held) are indicated on the official film festival website.

Categories:

Feature films · Animation films · Documentaries

Nominations:

1. DRAMA — Best short film of the drama/melodrama /psychological drama genre, with a running time between 10 and 40 minutes.

2. SUPER-SHORT — Best short film of the drama /melodrama /psychological drama genre up to 10 minutes in duration.

3. ACTION / COMEDY — Best short film of the detective/horror/comedy/action genre.

4. SPORTS — Best short film with a sports theme.

5. SILENT — Best short film of the SILENT CINEMA genre.

6. DOC — Best short documentary film of any genre.

7. ANIMATION — Best short animated film of any genre.

8. DEBUT — Best debut film and student feature film.

9. KIDS — Best short film for children and adolescents (0+ category).

10. RISING STAR — Best short film made by children and adolescents (0+ category).

Submitted projects are reviewed and evaluated by a professional jury, which includes at least three Russian and international film experts each season.

Stages:

1. All films submitted by filmmakers are reviewed by the jury members, after which some of them, separately in each category, are included in the official selection (LONGLIST).

2. Depending on the number of films that pass the official selection, additional selection stages are formed in each category: quarterfinal (QUARTERFINAL), semifinal (SEMIFINAL), finalists (SHORT LIST), award nominees (NOMINEE), and winner (WINNER) — Festival Grand Prix.

3. The festival organizers reserve the right to carry out the selection process sequentially through all stages, or to omit some of them, depending on the number of participants in each category.

4. Semifinalists and finalists in each category are invited to the award ceremony (if held in person), which will be announced on the festival website. All filmmakers who have submitted a film to the competition program have the right to request attendance at the official award ceremony from the festival organizers.

5. The Grand Prix winner in each category (the category winner) is announced from among the nominees.

1. Authors of films included in the official selection/longlist may download official selection laurels from the festival website.

2. At each stage, authors who have had the opportunity to advance further in the competition (quarterfinals, semifinals, final, award nominations) may also download the corresponding stage laurels from the festival website.

3. Semifinalists receive diplomas, finalists and nominees receive diplomas and commemorative awards, and Grand Prix winners in each category receive diplomas and festival statuettes.

4. The list of finalists, nominees, and winners will appear on the festival website after the final results are announced.

5. To receive an award at the official award ceremony (if held), semifinalists, finalists, nominees, and winners must be represented by at least one member of the filmmaking team listed in the project's credits.
Participants unable to attend the official award ceremony may, if they wish, receive their statuettes and commemorative awards by mail (shipping costs will be covered by the participant).

6. The distribution of gifts and other prizes to winners, nominees, and finalists is at the discretion of the organizers and will not be announced in advance.

7. If an official ceremony is held, the organizers will independently compile the list of films to be screened that day and reserve the right to modify it, as well as the screening schedule, at any time based on changes in regulations and other circumstances. The organizers are not obligated to notify authors of the inclusion of their works in the final screening schedule for the festival day.
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Please read all Terms and Conditions carefully before submitting your film. By submitting your film to the festival, you agree to comply with all provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

To participate in the film festival, applicants must submit their application before the deadline and pay the entry fee established by the organizers.

Submissions can be made through the Festhome platform or on the official website of the Film Festival.

Short films from all over the world are accepted.

Films shot in any language other than Russian or English must have Russian or English subtitles.

Short films of all genres and types are accepted.

Films with a running time between 2 and 40 minutes, including credits, are accepted.

Films containing sexual scenes, violence, smoking, profane language, and other content unsuitable for minors must display an "18+" rating tag at the beginning.

Submitted materials must not violate the legislation of the Russian Federation, including the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Mass Media Act, and the Advertising Act.

A film does not need to be a premiere to participate in the festival. Films that have been screened at other festivals or are publicly available online are accepted.

Films with a production date no earlier than January 1, 2016 will be accepted. The release date will be considered as specified in the application, corresponding to the release date shown in the end credits.

There is no limit to the number of submissions per director. Each submission requires a separate entry fee.

A director's first film can be considered their debut film, as can their second film if they were a co-director on the previous work.

A film submitted under the "Debut Film" category may also be submitted separately under the "Best Feature/Short Film" category (drama/romance, horror/mystery, action/comedy, children's film, or sports film). A new entry fee must be paid with the application.

The festival organizers do not accept unfinished copies of films.

All modifications and additions to submitted films after submission will only be accepted with the consent of the organizers.

Participants submitting a film to the Film Festival are fully responsible for obtaining all rights and permissions from copyright holders related to their submission and guarantee that they do not violate the rights of third parties, including copyright, personality rights, and trademark rights, and also indemnify the Film Festival organizers against any third-party claims related to the screening and any other use of the film during the Festival.

The festival organizers do not accept claims or complaints from individuals or organizations appearing in the submitted works.

The festival organizers are not responsible for the content or artistic quality of the submitted works.

The festival organizers reserve the right to reject an applicant's participation without providing an explanation. Such rejection will be accompanied by a notification sent to the applicant's email address.

The festival organizers reserve the right to disqualify a film that does not meet the festival requirements or move it to another competition category (at the discretion of the organizers).

All entry fees are non-refundable.

The jury's decision is final and binding.

By submitting a film to participate in the competition program, the author grants the festival organizers the right to use, for non-commercial purposes, any excerpt or clip of the film for display on the Festival website, in promotional materials, including press releases, festival brochures, etc., and guarantees that the festival organizers are authorized to screen the film at the film festival.

The festival organizers reserve the right to publish posters and trailers of submitted films on the official festival website, its YouTube channel, and its social media pages. The festival organizers do not intend to make the full submitted films publicly available.

In addition to the required information and materials in the application, festival participants may submit a trailer for their film, which, at the discretion of the organizers, may be screened on the festival day.

Submitting a trailer independently for the competition program is not allowed.

The film festival organizers reserve the right to update or change the festival terms and policies without prior notice to applicants, but must publish any changes on the official festival website no later than the effective date.

Technical Requirements:

1. Participants must send the festival organizers a link to a copy of the film uploaded to a file-sharing service in .mp4, .mpeg, or .mov format, along with a download password if applicable. Works submitted for competition may also be published on YouTube or Vimeo in "Public" or "Unlisted/Link access" mode.

When submitting a work through the Festhome platform, additional links to the film or posters are not required if the film's page on this platform already includes them.

2. Participants must submit a film poster in .jpg or .png format. The poster must include the film title in its original language or in English. Films without a poster will not be accepted.

3. Links to materials must remain active and accessible until the announcement of the Film Festival results is completed.

4. Video resolution is preferably 1920*1080 (Full HD, 1080p), but not lower than 720*576.

5. Each film must have credits including a list of all project participants, as well as the release date of the film.

6. Subtitles may be embedded into a copy of the film or submitted separately as a link to the same file-sharing service or as an .srt file.

7. Participants may, if they wish, send the festival organizers a link to a trailer (teaser) of the film uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo in "Public" or "Unlisted/Link access" mode.