Encounters Film Festival

Encounters Film Festival Encounters Film Festival is the UK’s foremost short film and animation festival Celebrating 30 years in 2025!

Encounters is a globally renowned short film festival that takes place each September on the beautiful harbourside in Bristol, a UNESCO City of Film. Encounters is a qualifying festival for BAFTA, BIFA and the European Film Awards.

🎬 Calling all film lovers!Join us as a volunteer pre-selector for Encounters Film Festival 2026.Watch 100-250 short film...
21/01/2026

🎬 Calling all film lovers!

Join us as a volunteer pre-selector for Encounters Film Festival 2026.

Watch 100-250 short films (your choice), help shape our BAFTA-qualifying programme, and gain hands-on curation experience.

You'll get:
✨ Film programming experience at a leading UK festival
🎟️ Free pass to Encounters 2026
🌟 Access to our film community

Flexible, remote role (Feb-June 2026). Open worldwide.

⏰ Apply by 5pm, 30 January
🔗 Link in bio

We're in great company this weekend! 🎬Head over to the European Film Academy website and check out 8 curated shorts pro...
05/12/2025

We're in great company this weekend! 🎬

Head over to the European Film Academy website and check out 8 curated shorts programmes - including films from past editions of Encounters and Zinemaldia · Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastián. We are honoured to be the UK's nominating festival for the EFA's European Short Film - Prix Vimeo 🏆

Call for entries to the 2026 Encounters Film Festival are now open. Read more on our website.

🏆 AND THE WINNERS ARE... 🏆The 30th Encounters Film Festival competition has wrapped! We're thrilled to announce our 2025...
27/09/2025

🏆 AND THE WINNERS ARE... 🏆

The 30th Encounters Film Festival competition has wrapped! We're thrilled to announce our 2025 award winners:

🎬 GRAND PRIX WINNERS:
• Brief Encounters: The Last People (Nicolás Pindeus)
• Animated Encounters: Two Black Boys In Paradise (Baz Sells)
• Documentary Encounters: Incident (Bill Morrison)

The Last People will also

🇬🇧 BEST OF BRITISH:
• Live Action: There Will Come Soft Rains (Elham Ehsas)
• Animation: Dédé (Ancestor) (Yasmine Djedje-Fisher-Azoume)

🌟 Special mentions also go to We Had Fun (Linda Lô), Hurikán (Jan Saska), and Alo (Xenia Glen) for their outstanding contributions!

👥 AUDIENCE AWARD: Hunting (Lea Favre)

🎯 90-SECOND DEPICT WINNER: Full of Sh*t (Clarissa Kumala)

👶 CHILDREN'S JURY WINNER: Notes From Planet Three (Simon Ellis)

Thank you to our 2,000 guests, 650 industry delegates, and everyone who made this celebration of cinematic magic possible in Bristol, our UNESCO City of Film.

We hope to see you in September 2026 for our 31st edition! 🎭✨

Just a few of the many highlights from Day 2, when the beautiful autumn sunshine smiled upon us here on Bristol's Harbou...
26/09/2025

Just a few of the many highlights from Day 2, when the beautiful autumn sunshine smiled upon us here on Bristol's Harbourside! ☀️

🎨Buzzing "Stop Mo Have a Go" workshop getting hands-on with stop motion animation

🎭 Fascinating talk from Dan Ojari about his work on "Over the Garden Wall" and the film "An Elephant Never Forgets"

🐕 Slow networking social event featuring dog life drawing - sketch pads and drinks in hand!

🌟 Michel Gondry's "Maya Give Me a Title" had its premiere, with an inspiring Q&A from Michel hosted brilliantly by Jess Wheeler

🎥 Competition screenings continued with the UK premiere of Eva HD and Charlie Kaufman's "How to Shoot a Ghost" among many other incredible films

🎬 Special showcase and drinks reception celebrating the launch of WIA UK, kindly sponsored by Aardman.

🏆 Multiple award-winning animator Chris Shepherd presented his new work "Anfield Road"

🍻 Away from the cinemas the BAM x Festivus x Encounters social over at The Three Tuns carried the good vibes well into the night

So many laughs, so much fun, and such an incredible community of animation lovers! Thank you to everyone who made Day 2 absolutely magical, and see you today for so much more.

📸Photos by Charley Williams Photo (www.charley-williams.com)

Day one at Encounters 2025 is in the can! 🎬See you tomorrow for a feast of fantastic films. Highlights include a packed ...
24/09/2025

Day one at Encounters 2025 is in the can! 🎬

See you tomorrow for a feast of fantastic films. Highlights include a packed day of amazing shorts playing in competition, the UK premiere of Michel Gondry's Maya Give Me A Title, the ever popular DepicT! showcase and riotous intergalactic adventure with Le***an Space Princess.

There'll be talks, panels and masterclasses on all sort of aspects of animation, social events including the launch of WIAUK, a meetup with our friends at BAM and Festivus. Get stuck in with our dog life drawing class or have a go at stop mo, guided by the fab Laura Tofarides.

All that and more at 2025.encounters.film

📸 Photo credit: Charley Williams Photo (www.charley-williams.com)

Join us for our OPENING DAY as we celebrate 30 years of Encounters Film Festival, we can't wait to see you all! Here are...
24/09/2025

Join us for our OPENING DAY as we celebrate 30 years of Encounters Film Festival, we can't wait to see you all!

Here are a few highlights for today:

☕Enjoy a coffee and a pastry with us from 10am in Watershed after collecting your pass

🎬Catch our first competition programmes

💥Industry programme highlights include: Your Route to Greenlight from BFI Network SW with Nida Manzoor, a creative masterclass from Bad Wolf and festival drinks with the Estonian Embassy

✨Opening Night at Bristol Beacon with Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman in conversation with a screening of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

For the full schedule and tickets head to 👉 https://2025.encounters.film/schedule

🎨 2025 poster design by Marta Zubieta

Animated Encounters is back with a day dedicated to all things animation! This year, discover a series of inspiring talk...
22/09/2025

Animated Encounters is back with a day dedicated to all things animation! This year, discover a series of inspiring talks and events across the harbour at Arnolfini.

❤️ Skwigly Editor Ben Mitchell and Dr. Laura-Beth Cowley will host a panel discussion on their new book, Intimate Animation, exploring the role that animation has played in presenting elaborate and complex concepts relating to love and sexuality.

🎨 Multi-award-winning artist, writer, and filmmaker Chris Shepherd, presents his stunning debut graphic novel, Anfield Road.

🌏 Bafta-nominated directors Karni and Saul, Dane Winn, Director and Creative Lead at Blue Zoo, and the director, writer and animator Neeraja Raj will examine the power of climate storytelling in animation in a panel discussion presented in association with Climate Spring.

💥Discover the secrets of turning comics, graphic novels and different forms of IP into compelling screen stories. Hosted by award-winning Animation Director, Author and Illustrator Tanya Scott, Tanya will be joined by Ana Emdin, Katie Barba, and Greg Basterfield. This panel will give you the tools and insights to transform visual storytelling into your next big project.

📅 Thurs 25 Sept
📍 Arnolfini
🎫 https://2025.encounters.film/schedule

17/09/2025

🎥 The 2025 festival trailer is here!🎥

5 days. Multiple venues. 100+ incredible films. From emerging voices to cinema legends like Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry - Encounters 2025 has something for every film lover.

Join our community of creators, connect with fellow cinephiles, and be among the first to discover the future of cinema.

Your creative adventure starts here 👇
🎟️ 2025.encounters.film

Trailer made by robot-dinosaur.co.uk

After their sellout BFI IMAX premiere in May, Straight 8 brings their latest top films to Encounters!Each film is made ...
16/09/2025

After their sellout BFI IMAX premiere in May, Straight 8 brings their latest top films to Encounters!

Each film is made on a single roll of super 8 - no post-production, just pure in-camera editing magic. The quality? Outstanding. ✨

This selection was shaped by an incredible jury including Encounters alumni Asif Kapadia, Mark Jenkin and more top filmmakers like Rachel Clark and Robbie Ryan.

Since 1999, straight 8 has challenged filmmakers to create cinema on the smallest film format. Their 2026 edition is open now - come get inspired and grab an exclusive audience discount!

📍 Watershed Cinema 3
📅 Friday 26th September, 6:30pm

Introduced by the straight 8 family.

14/09/2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A fizzy animated film with loads of laughs
and a lot of heart... a magical, joyful gem" - The
Guardian

We're thrilled to present this award-winning Australian animated gem that's been
winning hearts across the festival circuit!

Saira finds herself thrust out of her sheltered life and into an inter-gay-lactic quest to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend from the Straight White Maliens.

Winner of the Teddy Award for best LGBT Feature Film at this year's Berlin Film Festival.

🎬 WHEN: Friday 26th September at 9pm
📍 WHERE: Watershed
🎟️ TICKETS: £8 or included in any festival pass

"A little jewel of q***r joy that promises a less fraught
future" - The Guardian

With the support of and

BAFTA-winning writer-director and actor, Adjani Salmon, will join Bristolian filmmaker Michael Jenkins to discuss his aw...
13/09/2025

BAFTA-winning writer-director and actor, Adjani Salmon, will join Bristolian filmmaker Michael Jenkins to discuss his award-winning storytelling at Encounters this year!

Adjani will explore his route into filmmaking, looking at his progression from shorts to long-form work and critically acclaimed comedy series Dreaming Whilst Black.

This masterclass is part of Break Through, a day full of impactful, inspiring and support-led events.

📅 Fri 26 Sept
📍 Watershed
🎫 Link in bio

Find out more about Last and First Men by Neon Dance from choreographer Adrienne Hart. Set in a distant future where th...
12/09/2025

Find out more about Last and First Men by Neon Dance from choreographer Adrienne Hart.

Set in a distant future where the human race teeters on the brink of extinction, the last remnants of humanity reach back across two billion years in a stage performance that combines 16mm film with live performances from three dancers and seven musicians.

A one-of-a-kind live event fusing music, film and dance, Last and First Men by Neon Dance comes to Bristol Beacon in partnership with Encounters Film Festival for its UK premiere with live score, the only chance to experience this extraordinary performance with live music in the UK.

https://ayoungishperspective.co.uk/2025/09/10/in-conversation-with-adrienne-hart/

📆 Fri 26 Sept | 8pm
📍 Bristol Beacon
🎫Tickets now on sale, this event will be available to Festival Passholders subject to availability.

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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