CITTADOR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (4)

Festival start: 14 December 2025      Festival end: 21 December 2025

The Cittador International Film Festival in Vienna is an annual event that presents international, European and Austrian independent feature-length film and short films. Our festival is addressed to all filmmaker who love inspirational, high quality, engaging, original, and imaginative films.

Our Film Festival was created with the goal of showcasing emerging film talent, inspiring and entertaining audiences, as well as motivating filmmakers and inspiring film lovers. We aim to discover and highlight current cinematic themes and endeavors worldwide in film.
Therefore, we show films as a palette from all film genres, so that a comprehensive cinematic picture can be created for the film audience.

Cittador International Film Festival considers feature-length up to 120 and short films up to 30 minutes running time.

The live cinema screenings of the winning films with a live award ceremony will take place at the Lugner Kino in Vienna, Austria.

SCREENINGS
The screening will take place from December 14 to 21, 2025, either as a live screening in the cinema or as an online screening. This means that all best-of awarded short films will be shown in the cinema and all best-of feature-length films will be shown online. The full schedule will be published on the CIFF website.

After the screenings in the cinema, filmmakers, crew, cast members, and film enthusiasts in attendance will be invited to participate in video interviews. These videos will be featured on our website under “Cittador’s Talks” and shared on social media. Please note that the festival does not cover travel and accommodation costs for attending the screening.

LIVE AWARD CEREMONY
The award ceremony will take place live at the Lugner Cinema on December 14, 2025. During the ceremony, the award-winning films will be presented, filmmakers will be invited to make a statement, and the official certificates will be handed out.

Filmmakers are requested to confirm their attendance at the award ceremony via email after the jury’s decision to ensure they are included in the program. Please note that travel and accommodation costs for attending the screening will not be covered by the festival.

Those filmmakers who cannot be present will be asked to send a video message (max. 2 minutes) to be shown during the ceremony.

The first part of the screening will follow immediately after the awards ceremony. As the festival also serves as a networking opportunity for industry professionals, a meet-and-greet will take place after the screening. During the meet-and-greet, filmmakers, team members, and film enthusiasts will be interviewed on video. These videos will be published on the CIFF website under the “Cittador’s Talks” series and shared on social media.

Filmmakers will receive further details about the awards ceremony via email, so we kindly ask you to ensure your contact details remain up to date.

FEATURE-LENGTH FILM AWARDS:

Best INTERNATIONAL Film
Best EUROPEAN Film
Best AUSTRIAN Film

Also:

Best Action Film, Best Animated Film, Best Arthouse Film, Best Comedy Film, Best Coming-of-Age Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Drama Film, Best Environmental Film, Best Experimental Film, Best Family Film, Best Fantasy Film, Best Feminist Film, Best Historical Film, Best Horror Film, Best Inspirational Film, Best LGBTQ+ Film, Best Mystery Film, Best Romance Film, Best Sci-Fi Short, Best Thriller Film

SHORT FILM AWARDS

Best INTERNATIONAL Short
Best EUROPEAN Short
Best AUSTRIAN Short

Also:

Best Action Short, Best Animated Short, Best Arthouse Short, Best Comedy Short, Best Coming-of-Age Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Drama Short, Best Environmental Short, Best Experimental Short, Best Family Short, Best Fantasy Short, Best Feminist Short, Best Historical Short, Best Horror Short, Best Inspirational Short, Best LGBTQ+ Short, Best Mystery Short, Best Romance Short, Best Sci-Fi Short, Best Thriller Short

SPECIAL AWARDS FOR FEATURE-LENGTH FILM AND SHORT FILM

Emerging Director Award
Remarkable Screenplay Award
Acting Art Award
Cinematography Art Award
Outstanding Editing Award
Momentous Film Music Award
Sound Design Art Award

1. SUBMITTED FILM

Cittador Film Festival accepts short films in all languages and from all over the world with a running time of up to 30 minutes and feature-length films with a running time of up to 120 minutes. The submitted film must have a minimum resolution of Full HD (1080p).

2. SUBTITLES

All films must have English subtitles – including films in English.

3. FEE

The submission fee is non-refundable. The film festival does not pay a fee for the screening of the winning films.

4. SHORTLISTING NOTIFICATION

Due to the large number of submissions, we are required to issue a shortlisting notification that also considers the technical requirements of the submitted films. Shortlisted films must provide a screening-ready file in advance.

Once a film is shortlisted, the submitter will be notified via email. Please note that the shortlisting notification does not constitute an official selection or a guarantee of screening. Submitters are requested to provide a video file in the highest available resolution, with a minimum of Full HD 1080p (DCP ready).

The jury’s final decision will be announced on the notification date.

5. SCREENING

Only the short films that have received a “Best of” award will be screened live in the cinema. Only the feature-length films that have received a “Best of” award will be screened online. Films that have received a special award or any other recognition will not be shown.

6. WITHDRAWAL

No festival fee will be refunded if the film is withdrawn. After the announcement of the jury’s decision, it is no longer possible to withdraw the film.

7. TERMS

Submission period: December 20, 2024 – November 1, 2025

Shortlisting notification: December 20, 2024 – November 1, 2025

Selection date: November 15, 2025

Notification date: November 15, 2025

Event date: December 14 – 21, 2025, Lugner Kino Vienna

8. DISCLAIMER

You confirm that you have obtained all necessary permissions to participate in the Cittador International Film Festival and that the film does not infringe the rights, including copyright, of any third party.

9. AGREEMENT

By submitting your film, you agree that the Cittador International Film Festival may use portions of your film (including trailers/teasers/film posters/film stills) for promotional purposes. By submitting to the Cittador International Film Festival, you agree to abide by all rules of the Film Festival and grant the Cittador International Film Festival unrestricted permission to screen the submitted film at the sole discretion of the festival. The festival has the right to refuse the film without giving any reason. The event date and location as well as the number of awards are subject to change.