Odesa Film Festival starts accepting films for 2026

The Odesa International Film Festival has started accepting applications from potential participating films for 2026.

According to the OIFF press service, this year's festival will take place from August 27 to September 4 and will be held in Kyiv for the third time.

The competition programs of the Odesa International Film Festival will include the National Competition Program and the International Competition Program. There will be Pitchings within the Film Industry Office section, as well as non-competitive special screening programs.

Applications for participation in the OIFF 2025 competition programs open on January 15 and last until May 15. The National Competition Program is open to Ukrainian and Ukrainian co-productions (feature films, documentaries, animation, experimental) of all genres completed in 2025 or 2026. The winners of the National Competition Program are determined in the following nominations: "Best Ukrainian Feature Film, Best Ukrainian Documentary Feature Film. The winner of the Diploma of the International Federation of the Film Press FIPRESCI will also be determined.

The International Competition Program is open to international feature films (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental) of all genres completed in 2025 or 2026. The winner of the International Competition Program is determined in the Best International Feature Film nomination. The winner in the Grand Prix nomination (based on the results of the audience vote) is determined among the films of the National Competition Program and the International Competition Program.

Last year, the main festival prize, the Grand Prix, was awarded to the film You Are Space directed by Pavlo Ostrikov.

The 15th Odesa International Film Festival was also held in Kyiv. At that time, 12 films were screened in three locations.

In 2023, the festival was held in Chernivtsi, and only special programs were screened in Odesa.

In 2022, the Odesa Film Festival was held in a different format than usual and in several countries around the world.

Кирило Бойко