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Toronto Shorts International Film Festival (14)

Deadlines

01 Nov 2025
Call for entries

27 Mar 2026
Early deadline

08 May 2026
Standard deadline

05 Jun 2026
Late deadline

03 Jul 2026
Final deadline

20 Jul 2026
Notification date

27 Aug 2026
30 Aug 2026

Address

317 Dundas St West, M5T 1G4, Toronto, ON, Canada

Festival description

Short film festival 50'<

Festival requirements

Film festival

Fiction

Documentary

Animation

Fantastic

Terror

Experimental

Music Video

Other

Any Genre

Any Theme

Has submission fees

International Festival

Physical Location

January 2025

Production countries: Any

Shooting countries: Any

Director nationalities: Any

Debut Films

School projects

Short Films 50'<

AI Tools

Any language

Subtitles
English

Share on Social Networks

Facebook
Tweet

English

Festival description (Edition: 14)

Festival start: 27 August 2026 Festival end: 30 August 2026

Toronto Shorts International Film Festival is the largest short film festival in Canada.

Toronto Shorts is a non-profit organization that provides a showcase for the best short films from filmmakers around the world.

TORONTO SHORTS FILMS WILL CONTINUE THEIR FESTIVAL JOURNEY IN NEW YORK.

We believe that short-form cinema and its creators should have their own premier film festival in Toronto deserving similar recognition given to the feature film.

Toronto Shorts is where films from all genres intersect. The heart of the festival is the quality and scope of extraordinary film programming which consists of a wide spectrum of categories from high to low budget films under 45 minutes.

Now in our 14th year, the festival has become a career stepping stone, establishing a tradition of discovering and promoting filmmakers who have gone on to Academy Awards Nominees, including :

2021 Oscar Nominee 'The Present' by Farah Nabulsi
2019 Oscar Nominee ‘Weekends’ by Trevor Jimenez
2018 Oscar Nominees 'Watu Wote - All of Us' (Germany) and 'The Eleven O'Clock' (Australia)

Toronto stands as the largest media market in Canada, it boasts the world-renowned Royal Ontario Museum, the massive Art Gallery of Ontario, the Soulpepper Theatre Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Toronto Shorts international Film Festival.

We showcase the best short films and its filmmakers from around the world.

Prizes and qualifications

Best of the Festival
Best International
Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Animation
Best Documentary
Best Experimental
Best Sci-Fi
Best Horror
Best Music Video
Best Web Series

Three Canadian films will be selected to screen at the New York Shorts International Film Festival *A qualifying film festival for the Canadian Screen Awards.

If any award category does not meet the standard deemed award-worthy by the judges, it’s possible there will be no award given in that category.

Rules

2026 REQUIREMENTS

Films must have been completed after Jan. 1, 2025

All non-english films must have english sub-titles.

Works-in-progress will be considered, provided they will be completed prior to the festival.

You may submit more than one film, but you must complete a separate entry form and pay the entry fee for each film.

Film selection for the festival will be made by the screening committee.

All filmmakers will be notified via email of acceptance.

Canadian Shorts

Short Films 50'<

Fee

-8%

PRO 18%

Early 44$ 40.48$ 36.08$ 27 Mar 26

Standard 55$ 50.6$ 45.1$ 08 May 26

Late 66$ 60.72$ 54.12$ 05 Jun 26

Extended 77$ 70.84$ 63.14$ 03 Jul 26

Get an Annual Pass and get the maximum discount on festival and submission fees

Submissions deadline
03 Jul 26

Save up
9.9$

Submit

Open to filmmakers based in Canada with shorts filmed (principal photography / film production) in Canada. All genres are accepted with total running time under 50 minutes.

International Shorts

Short Films >1' 50'<

Fee

-8%

PRO 18%

Early 44$ 40.48$ 36.08$ 27 Mar 26

Standard 55$ 50.6$ 45.1$ 08 May 26

Late 66$ 60.72$ 54.12$ 05 Jun 26

Extended 77$ 70.84$ 63.14$ 03 Jul 26

Get an Annual Pass and get the maximum discount on festival and submission fees

Submissions deadline
03 Jul 26

Save up
9.9$

Submit

Open to filmmakers based in Canada with shorts filmed (principal photography / film production) in Canada. All genres are accepted with total running time under 50 minutes.

Toronto Shorts

Short Films 50'<

Fee

-8%

PRO 18%

Early 44$ 40.48$ 36.08$ 27 Mar 26

Standard 55$ 50.6$ 45.1$ 08 May 26

Late 66$ 60.72$ 54.12$ 05 Jun 26

Extended 77$ 70.84$ 63.14$ 03 Jul 26

Get an Annual Pass and get the maximum discount on festival and submission fees

Submissions deadline
03 Jul 26

Save up
9.9$

Submit

Open to Canadian filmmakers living in Toronto. Shorts must have been filmed (principal photography / film production) in The Greater Toronto Area. All genres are accepted with total running time under 50 minutes.

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