Shorts Competition

This year, we present a selection of 27 short films from sixteen countries on five continents. Divided into seven thematic blocks, these shorts explore the forces that shape our reality. From personal identity, family dynamics and past experiences to systems of power, resistance and justice.

All short films compete for an award and a cash prize of € 1.500.

Winner 2026: Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya

Jury report: “We commend the filmmaker for tackling a topic filled with brutality, by using an empowered voice that challenges the institutions both local and international, that have let her down, while celebrating the kindness of strangers who saved her. We were compelled by every line of text that filled the screen, which although deeply personal, confronted violence with the hope of humanity in us all.”

A special mention went to What If They Bomb Here Tonight by Samir Syriani.

Jana Riemann

Jana Riemann is a German-Ukrainian film programmer and curator with an academic background in film studies. She is part of the Berlinale Shorts selection committee, Head of the Short Film section at the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin, and a preselector for Docudays UA and the Kyiv International Short Film Festival.

Jess Gormley

Jess Gormley has worked in fiction and non-fiction films as a producer and executive producer for 15 years. She has worked at the Guardian since 2014; specialising in journalistic documentaries for TV, cinema and online, with projects screening at the Houses of Parliament, US Congress and the UN, as well as key international film festivals. Projects of note include Oscar winner 'Colette' (2021) and BAFTA winner 'The Black Cop' (2022)

Luuk Bouwman

Luuk Bouwman is a filmmaker and musician from the Netherlands. He studied at the St. Joost Academy of Art in Breda and graduated with a sci-fi documentary about the computer art of Remko Scha, professor in artificial intelligence and a film about the criminal history of his birth-town Oss. He has made eight feature documentaries to date, five of which had theatrical releases (It Is True But Not Here, All Against All, Gerlach, The Propagandist, The Desert of the Real). His documentaries are driven by extensive research and long-term engagement with his subjects, revealing processes and mechanisms.