Clermont-Ferrand, France
Clermont-Ferrand Shorts
The World's Largest Short Film Festival, Full Stop
Tier 1In plain English
Clermont-Ferrand is the undisputed capital of short film globally, drawing over 160,000 attendees annually to a dedicated market and competition that no other shorts-only festival can match in scale or industry weight. It is the only festival in the world where short films are the main event, not an afterthought, with a professional market (Marché du Film Court) that connects filmmakers directly with international distributors, broadcasters, and buyers. Animators, experimentalists, narrative short filmmakers, and documentary short directors with completed works of genuine artistic ambition should prioritize this festival above nearly all others.
Score breakdown
SovereignScore™ dimensions
Great for
- ✓ Unmatched short film market access — the Marché du Film Court is the single best place on earth to sell or license a short film to international distributors and TV buyers
- ✓ Genuine prestige for short-form work: a Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prix carries real career weight and opens doors at Cannes, BAFTA, and beyond
- ✓ Exceptional curatorial range across animation, fiction, and experimental — the festival programs adventurously and rewards originality over conventional storytelling
Not worth it if
- ✗ Completely irrelevant if you make features — the festival is 100% short-form and there is no pathway or programming for feature-length work
- ✗ Extremely competitive acceptance rates in the international competition (roughly 1-2% of submissions), making it a long shot for first-time or emerging filmmakers without a distinctive formal voice
- ✗ Geographic and logistical challenges for non-European filmmakers — Clermont-Ferrand is a mid-sized French city, expensive and inconvenient to reach, and the festival offers limited travel support for international guests
Best for these genres
Filmmaker tips
- Submit to the Labo (experimental) section if your work is formally daring — it is less overwhelmed than the main international competition and programmers there actively seek boundary-pushing work
- If selected, register for the Marché du Film Court immediately and prepare a proper sales package (stills, synopsis in French and English, technical specs) — the market is where real distribution deals happen and unprepared filmmakers waste the opportunity
- French-language or francophone films have a slight edge in the national competition, but the international competition genuinely rewards non-French perspectives — do not Frenchify your film artificially, lean into your own cultural specificity
Notable alumni films
- Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel — retrospective/canonical screening, historic association)
- La Maison en Petits Cubes (Kunio Katō, 2008 — screened en route to its Academy Award win)
- Bear Story (Gabriel Osorio, 2014 — Oscar-winning Chilean animation that gained major exposure here)
- Logorama (H5 / François Alaux, 2009 — Grand Prix winner before its Academy Award)
- The Danish Poet (Torill Kove, 2006 — Oscar-winning short with strong Clermont profile)
Submission details
- Typical deadline
- October
- Festival month
- February
- Short submission fee
- $15
- Feature submission fee
- $0
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