> REGULATIONS FOR ALL FEATURE-FILM SUBMISSIONS
The 2026 Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival will be held from 25 September to 4 October. It is organised by Les Films du Spectre, a non-profit making association dedicated to genre film.
The Festival hosts 6 feature-film sections: 4 competitive sections and 2 non-competitive. Descriptions and submission information are laid out below.
1. The International Fantastic Film Competition
Screens fantastic films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prizes: the Golden Octopus, the optional Special Jury Mention, the Audience Award.
2. Crossovers Competition
Screens international thrillers, action films, black comedies, films noir.
Prizes: Crossover Grand Prix, optional Special Jury Mention.
3. International Animated Film Competition
Screens animated feature films.
Prizes: the Golden Stork, optional Special Jury Mention.
4. The Silver Méliès Competition
Screens fantastic films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prize: The Silver Méliès for the best European fantastic feature.
This competition is organised by the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF, https://melies.org), represented in France by the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. The Strasbourg winner of the Silver Méliès will automatically compete in the Golden Méliès competition, held annually at the Sitges – International Cinema Festival of Catalonia, in Spain. This competition is open to European films only, defined as follows:
- if the director is not a European national, the financing must be entirely European. The languages and settings of the film are not taken into account;
- if the director is a European national, part of the funding must be European, and co-productions can be considered.
Europe refers to the “Member States” of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. See https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/members-states
5. Midnight Movies (non-competitive)
Screens horror, fun gore, over-the tops and disturbing films of a darker kind.
6. Special Screenings (non-competitive)
Screens documentaries pertinent to cinema, directorial tributes, new productions out of competition.
Selection criteria: All films in a feature-film section must:
- have been completed within 24 months prior to the start of the Festival;
- be at least 60 minutes long;
- be in the original language version, subtitled in either French or English;
- films presented in the competitive sections must be unreleased in France.
Submission information on feature films
Deadline: Films must be submitted from 15 February to 7 June, inclusive (late comers will be handled individually).
Fees: The submission fee is €30 (thirty euros). Films should be submitted on the platform Festhome (festhome.com/festival/feffs) or on the platform FilmFreeway (filmfreeway.com/festival-feffs).
Selection committee: The committee will determine the section in which films will be screened.
Promotional and translation materials: Once agreement is reached on a selected film, you will be asked to provide the following:
- a selection of HD stills (pdf, jpg, tiff) preferably in landscape;
- a poster of the film in HD, preferably in portrait format (pdf, jpg, tiff);
- a press kit in English or French;
- a trailer, with English or French subtitles, if available;
- a dialogue list and a downloadable file of the film for the translator;
- photo and bio of the director;
- a visa number, if available.
Transport: the Festival will cover round-trip transport; however, if the film is to be sent to another festival or organisation, we will cover inbound transport only.
Agreement: Once agreement is reached, films may not be withdrawn. The rights-holders of the selected film authorise its screening at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. By submitting a film to the festival, the rights-holders certify that they hold all authorisations to distribute the images and music.
> REGULATIONS FOR ALL SHORT-FILM SUBMISSIONS
The 2026 Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival will be held from 25 September to 4 October. It is organised by Les Films du Spectre, a non-profit making association dedicated to genre film.
The Festival hosts 5 sections for short films: 4 competitive and 1 non-competitive. Descriptions and submission criteria are laid out below.
1. The International Competition
Screens fantastic short films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prizes: the Golden Octopus, the Audience Award
2. International Animated Film Competition
Screens fantastic animated short films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prize: Best Animated Short-Film Award
3. Made in France Competition
Screens French productions of fantastic films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prize: Best Short Film Made-in-France
Films in this section must be of French origine, defined as follows:
- if the director in not a French national, the financing must be entirely French;
- if the director is a French national, then a French co-production, with one or two other countries can be considered.
Note that there will be a Student Jury Prize for the three above sections combined.
4. The Silver Méliès Competition for European Fantastic Short films
Screens fantastic films, widely-defined as fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and films with elements of surrealism, magic realism, etc.
Prize: Silver Méliès for the Best European Fantastic Short Film
This competition is open to European films only. It is organised by the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF, https://melies.org), represented in France by the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. The Strasbourg winner of the Silver Méliès will automatically compete for the Golden Méliès competition, held annual at the Sitges International Fantastic Films Festival, held in Sitges, Spain. A European film is defined as follows:
- if the director is not a European national, the financing must be entirely European. The languages and settings of the film are not taken into account;
- if the director is a European national, part of the funding must be European.
Europe refers to the “Member States” of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. See https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/members-states
5. Midnight Shorts (non-competitive)
Screens horror, fun gore, over-the tops and disturbing films of a darker kind.
Selection criteria: All short films must:
- have been completed within 24 months prior to the start of the Festival;
- not exceed 30 minutes (25 minutes for Méliès films);
- be in the original language version, subtitled in either French or English.
Submission information for all short-film sections
Deadline: Films must be submitted from 15 February to 7 June, inclusive (late comers will be handled individually.)
Fees: The submission fee for shorts is €20 (twenty euros). Films should be submitted on the platform Festhome (festhome.com/festival/feffs) or on the platform FilmFreeway (filmfreeway.com/festival-feffs).
Selection committee: The committee will determine the section in which films will be screened.
Promotional and translation materials: Once agreement is reached on a selected film, you will be asked to provide the following:
- a selection of HD stills (pdf, jpg, tiff) preferably in landscape;
- a poster of the film in HD, preferably in portrait format (pdf, jpg, tiff);
- a press kit in English or French;
- a trailer, with English or French subtitles, if available;
- a dialogue list and a downloadable file of the film for the translator;
- photo and bio of the director;
- a visa number, if available.
Transport: The Festival will cover round-trip transport; however, if the film is to be sent to another festival or organisation, we will cover inbound transport only.
Agreement: Once agreement is reached, films may not be withdrawn. The rights-holders of the selected films authorise its screening at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. By submitting a film to the Festival, the rights-holders certify that they hold all authorisations to distribute the images and music contained in the film.
> REGULATIONS FOR ALL VR-FILM SUBMISSIONS
The 2026 Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival will be held from 25 September to 4 October. It is organised by Les Films du Spectre, a non-profit making association dedicated to genre film.
The VR Film Corner, housed in the non-competitive section Connexions, offers immersive experiences of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 360 video.
Submission criteria: VR films submitted to the Festival must:
- have been completed within 24 months prior to the start of Festival;
- not exceed 25 minutes;
- be in the original language version, subtitled in either French or English.
Submission deadline and fees: Films must be submitted from 15 February to 7 June, inclusive, of the current year, for an entry fee of €20 (twenty euros).
They should be submitted on the platform Festhome (festhome.com/festival/feffs) or on the platform FilmFreeway (filmfreeway.com/festival-feffs).
Materials: If your film is selected, you will need to provide us with the following:
- a downloadable digital file of the film;
- a selection of HD stills, preferably in landscape (pdf, jpg, tiff);
- a poster in HD, preferably portrait format (pdf, jpg, tiff);
- a press kit;
- a trailer, with French or English subtitles if available;
- a photo and short biography of the director.
Transport: the Festival will cover round-trip transport; however, if the film is to be sent to another festival or organisation, we will cover only inbound transport.
Agreements: Once agreement is reached, the film may not be withdrawn. The rights-holders of the selected film authorise the Festival to screen the film at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. By submitting a film to the Festival, the rights-holders certify that they hold all authorisations to distribute the images and music contained in the film.
