2026 Kaohsiung Film Festival Announces International Short Film Competition Selections
2026 Kaohsiung Film Festival will take place from October 9 (Friday) to October 26 (Monday) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This year, the competition received 2,715 submissions from 97 countries, with 40 International shorts and 20 Taiwan shorts selected for the Short Film Competition.
This year’s Short Film Competition brings together 14 film professionals from the fields of directing, screenwriting, acting, editing, film criticism, and festival programming. The nine-member Selection Committee includes filmmakers Ray WU and LEE Yi-shan, animation director YEH Hsin-hsuan, editor-director LIU Ren-feng, screenwriter and editor TSAI Yu-fen, film critics Estella HUANG, Ye Lang, and MrGeckoBiHu, as well as Jill CHEN, coordinator of KFF’s 1st Short Film Competition.
The five-member Final-Stage Jury is chaired by Iranian New Wave master Amir NADERI, joined by Taiwanese author and screenwriter Essay LIU, Malaysian filmmaker CHONG Keat-aun, Taiwanese editor and director SHIEH Meng-ju, and acclaimed actress WANG Yu-xuan.
The 60 selected films include 11 world premieres, 5 international premieres, and 13 Asia premieres, and will compete for major awards including the Golden Fireball Award, Formosa Human Rights Award, and Asian New Wave Award, with a total prize pool of over TWD 1 million. In addition, 10 films nominated by international film festivals around the world will compete for the Children’s Jury Award.
The International Shorts section features 24 narratives, 8 documentaries, 6 animations, and 2 experimental films, including 19 works from Asia. The selection explores intimate relationships, social realities, and bold experiments in genre and form. Among them, 4 world premieres are presented: Iranian film Gazelle by Saman HOSSEINPUOR, a Kurdish nocturne of grief, myth, and a mysterious hoofed boy; Vietnamese film Moonfish by TRẦN Thị Hà Trang, a seaside fable of waiting, loss, and fragile hope; Philippine film The Cat Is A Wide-Eyed Night by Patrick PANGAN, a dreamlike portrait of brotherly intimacy and unease; and French film The Scarecrow by Grégoire PONTÉCAILLE, a childhood summer tale unsettled by adult fears. Together, these films bring distinct cultural perspectives to universal experiences of love, loss, family, and the uncertainties of contemporary life.
The Taiwan Shorts section features 10 narratives, 5 animations, 3 documentaries, and 2 experimental films, including 7 student works. The films move between everyday relationships, local memory, fantastical encounters, and formal experimentation. Among them, 7 world premieres are presented: A Plot of Fate by Ocean CHIN, a mother-daughter clash with an unexpected twist of fate; A Touch of Love by CHENG An-chun, a deadpan ghost comedy of hookups and old-fashioned love; Dreaming While Awake by YAN Ting-hung, a looping reunion of memories, silences, and what-ifs; Lāu Tsa-Pôo (Before We Say Goodbye) by Jyun LAI, a bathhouse portrait of two older men and an unspoken bond; SHOW/TIME by HOU Chi-jan, a glimpse into a Monga tea-house where everyday life becomes performance; The tail of Hans by HUANG Shi-rou and Teresa DALEY, a mermaid tale beyond binary gender; and Through the Dust of Time by LIN Wan-chen, a tender depiction of friendship and fading Hakka village life. From personal memories to social realities, these films reveal the diversity and vitality of contemporary Taiwanese cinema.
The Children’s Jury Award includes 6 narratives, 2 animations, 2 documentaries, with two of these making their Asian premiere. The Belgian short film I'd Love to See You follows four children visiting a jail, highlighting family absence and longing. The Portuguese short film Rui Carlos takes audiences back to the summer of 1980 for a coming-of-age story of young boys. The remaining eight films offer a rich variety of global stories. The Children’s Jury, a panel of 9 to 12-year-old children, will determine the winner of the Grand Award and Special Award.
The full list of nominees is available on the official Kaohsiung Film Festival website under the International Competition, Taiwan Competition, and Children’s Jury Award sections. The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on October 18.
