International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2027 – Oberhausen, Germany

Overview

The 73rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen will take place from 27 April to 2 May 2027 in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Founded in 1954, the festival is one of the world’s established forums for short film and has built its programme around international competition, artistic experimentation, new cinematic forms and encounters between filmmakers and audiences.

The 2027 edition is already accepting submissions, although the full public programme and selected films have not yet been announced. The festival will present five competition areas: International Competition, German Competition, NRW Competition, International Children’s and Youth Film Competition, and the MuVi Award for German music videos.

What Makes the Festival Special

Oberhausen has a strong focus on short films as an independent artistic form rather than simply treating them as introductions to feature films. Its International Competition is open to different genres and is specifically intended to present new artistic developments and emerging approaches in international short filmmaking.

The festival also has an important professional dimension. Filmmakers are invited to present their work in person, while accredited industry visitors can use the festival’s professional facilities and film library. Selected competition films are also made available through a temporary, password-protected online Festival Window on the THIS IS SHORT platform.

Films & Competition Programme

The 2027 selection has not yet been published, so specific films and filmmakers should not be treated as confirmed. Selection results for the competitions are scheduled to be announced in mid-March 2027.

The International Competition is the festival’s largest and oldest competition section. It accepts films of up to 35 minutes, with the current regulations requiring international entries to have been completed after 1 January 2026 and not previously screened at a German festival before Oberhausen.

The German and NRW competitions provide dedicated platforms for productions connected to Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia. There is also a Children’s and Youth Film Competition, where appropriate films from the international and German competitions can additionally be considered.

MuVi Award & Music Videos

The MuVi Award gives the festival a distinct connection with music-video culture. It was introduced in 1999 as the world’s first film-festival prize dedicated to music videos and focuses on the visual interpretation of musical ideas rather than simply the type or quality of the music.

For 2027, German music videos of up to 15 minutes can be submitted until 22 February 2027. The selection committee plans to nominate 10 to 12 videos, while the independent MuVi jury will determine the competition awards. The regulations specify a €2,000 first prize, €1,000 second prize and €500 audience prize.

Festival Experience

A visit to Oberhausen is built around cinema screenings, discussions, encounters with filmmakers and curated programmes rather than a single large screening event. Competition screenings give audiences the opportunity to discover films from different countries and artistic traditions, often followed by discussions with filmmakers.

The festival also develops thematic programmes beyond its competitions. Previous editions have included historical retrospectives, artistic profiles, discussions and special programmes, while the festival’s extensive archive continues to connect contemporary screenings with decades of short-film history.

Date & Schedule

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2027 runs from Tuesday 27 April through Sunday 2 May 2027. The festival’s exact daily screening timetable and individual programme schedules have not yet been published.

For filmmakers, the calendar begins considerably earlier. The general submission deadline is 18 January 2027, while the MuVi Award accepts entries until 22 February 2027. Selection results are expected by mid-March, allowing selected filmmakers to prepare for the April festival.

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Location & Venues

The festival organisation is based at Grillostraße 34, 46045 Oberhausen. One of the city’s established festival cinema locations is Lichtburg-Filmpalast on Elsässer Straße, which hosted the 2026 MuVi Award ceremony and the festival’s closing awards ceremony.

The final 2027 programme will provide the definitive list of screening venues and locations. Visitors should check the official programme once published rather than assuming that every 2026 venue will return in exactly the same configuration.

Festival History

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen was founded in 1954 and has developed into an important international meeting point for short-film culture. Its history includes competitions, curated programmes, retrospectives and a large archive of short films that continues to support distribution and research.

The festival’s international competition is described by the organisers as the world’s oldest short-film competition. Its programme has traditionally emphasised experimentation, unusual formats and new cinematic approaches, while also providing a route for filmmakers into the wider festival circuit.

In 2026, the 72nd edition received a record 7,600 submissions, selected 121 competition titles and presented nearly 450 films across competitions and thematic programmes. Around 1,000 accredited visitors attended that edition. These figures are useful as recent background, but they are not forecasts for 2027.

Getting to the Festival

Oberhausen is located in the Ruhr region of western Germany and can be reached by rail from major nearby cities including Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne. The city is also connected to the wider North Rhine-Westphalia public-transport network, making it practical to combine the festival with visits to other Ruhr cities.

Visitors arriving by air can use airports such as Düsseldorf Airport and Düsseldorf-Weeze or travel via larger regional hubs before continuing by train. Exact local transport directions should be checked against the 2027 venue programme once all screening locations are confirmed.

Where to Stay Nearby

Central Oberhausen is a practical base for festival visitors who want to remain close to the screening locations and city-centre services. Hotels and apartments around Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof and the central districts provide access to public transport as well as restaurants and shops.

Another option is to stay in neighbouring Ruhr cities such as Essen or Duisburg. This can work particularly well for visitors combining the festival with other cultural attractions in the region, although travel times should be considered when attending late screenings or evening events.

Things to Do Before or After the Festival

Oberhausen is part of the densely connected Ruhr metropolitan area, so visitors can easily extend a film-festival trip into a broader regional itinerary. The city has industrial heritage, cultural institutions and contemporary attractions, while nearby Essen, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen provide additional museums and cultural sites.

The Gasometer Oberhausen is one of the city’s best-known landmarks. Its large former gas-storage structure has been transformed into an exhibition venue and is particularly recognisable from the surrounding Neue Mitte area.

For visitors with additional time, the wider Ruhr region offers former industrial complexes, museums, galleries and converted heritage sites that reflect the area’s history as one of Germany’s major industrial regions.

Restaurants & Local Food

Oberhausen’s central districts provide a mixture of German, Turkish, Mediterranean, Asian and other international cuisines. The area around the main railway station and city centre is useful for quick meals between screenings, while the larger Neue Mitte district provides additional dining options.

Because festival programmes can involve several screenings in a single day, visitors may find it easier to choose restaurants close to their accommodation or transport connections rather than travelling long distances between meals.

Industry, Filmmakers & Professional Programme

Oberhausen is not only a public cinema event. Its professional side brings filmmakers, producers, programmers, critics and other film professionals together around new short-film work.

The festival’s Video Library gives accredited professionals access to submitted films and contact information under protected conditions. For 2027, accredited professionals who attend in person can also retain online access to the Video Library for a limited period after the festival.

The festival also has international industry relevance because it is a nominating festival for the European Film Award and ECFA Short Film Award, and a qualifying festival for the short-film Oscars and BAFTA, provided winning films meet the respective award regulations.

Ticket Information & Access

The detailed 2027 ticket prices and public ticketing arrangements have not yet been announced. The festival’s official programme and ticket pages should therefore be checked when the 2027 schedule is released.

Filmmakers should distinguish between festival admission and film submission. Submission deadlines apply months before the festival itself, and the first five submissions from an individual submitter are currently free; from the sixth submission onward, a €20 handling fee per film applies.

Official Event Information

The official festival website is the main source for 2027 programme announcements, competition selections, ticket information, accreditation and practical visitor details.

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen – Official Website : https://www.kurzfilmtage.de/en/

The festival has already confirmed the 27 April–2 May 2027 dates and opened its 2027 call for entries. The full film programme will follow after the selection process.