Call for Entries: Sahar International Short Film Festival 2025 Opens for Submissions
Online, 12–20 December 2025
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The 12th Sahar International Short Film Festival has officially opened its call for submissions. Set to take place online from 12 to 20 December 2025, the festival invites filmmakers across all genres to submit their short films free of charge.
Founded and organized by Mandana Ansari, Sahar Ansari, and Martin Gleeson, the festival has built a reputation as a platform for poetic, artistic, and boundary-pushing short films from around the world. It particularly encourages submissions from emerging talents in fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental cinema.
This year’s edition will stream only the trailers of the selected films, while the full list of official selections will be announced during the festival dates.
Films must be between 1 and 22 minutes long and can be in any language, provided they include English subtitles. The festival accepts HD, 2K, 4K, and mobile formats. While there are no restrictions on production year, priority is given to recent and premiere films.
Awards
Each selected film will receive an Award Certificate, with honors in the following categories:
Best Poetic Film
Best Fiction Film
Best Documentary
Best Animation
Best Music Video
Audience Award
Critic’s Award
Deadline for submissions: 20 November 2025
To submit, filmmakers should send their film and trailer via Dropbox, Vimeo, or YouTube, along with the completed submission form, to:
saharfest2025@gmail.com / saharfestival2024@gmail.com
Official website: saharfilmfestival.wixsite.com/sahar-film-festival