March 16–21, 2027 · Toronto, Canada

Toronto
Short Film
Festival

13 Years of Extraordinary Short Cinema

Submit your film 2026 Winners

The Paradise Cinema marquee and neon blade sign glowing at night for the Toronto Short Film Festival — Paradise CinemaToronto

Since 2015

The biggest short festival in Toronto.

Since 2015, the Toronto Short Film Festival has showcased hundreds of short filmmakers to sold-out Toronto cinema audiences.

The festival is a hub for local filmmakers to celebrate their premieres, thank their cast and crew, and meet their fans. International filmmakers travel to Toronto to represent their films to a genre-savvy Toronto audience.

Toronto Short screens over 100 short films every year, and every film is selected from FilmFreeway submissions.

13th

edition in 2027

100+

short films screened each year

Any

country welcome

< 50

minutes running time

From the festival

The weekend,
frame by frame.

Scroll

Audience members stand in the aisles of a cinema auditorium while the T.O Short Film Festival 2026 title card glows on the screen. — Doors open2026

A packed auditorium seen from behind the seats, facing the illuminated festival screen under pink and blue light. — Full house2026

A filmmaker smiles up at the glowing T.O Short Film Festival 2026 marquee on a city sidewalk at night. — Marquee at night2026

The Paradise Cinema's vertical neon blade sign and marquee board reading T.O Short Film Festival 2026, seen from below against bare trees and an overcast sky. — Marquee by day2026

A seated audience in maroon cinema seats faces the camera with hands raised and smiles. — Hands upAudience

Projector light flares across a full cinema auditorium, seen from the screen towards the back of the house. — Lights downParadise Cinema

Four filmmakers pose in front of a T.O Short Film Festival backdrop; one holds a wrapped bouquet. — At the backdropFilmmakers

Seven people stand in a line in a cinema lobby in front of a T.O Short Film Festival pull-up banner, with film posters on the wall behind them. — In the lobbyFilmmakers

Three filmmakers pose together in front of a T.O Short Film Festival backdrop. — At the backdropFilmmakers

Six filmmakers stand together in front of a black T.O Short Film Festival backdrop; one wears a festival Filmmaker badge. — PhotocallFilmmakers

A large group of about twenty people pose in front of a white T.O Indie Film Festival backdrop, a woman kneeling in front holding a bouquet. — EveryoneFilmmakers

The 2027 edition

Our lucky 13th year.

We'll be back at the Paradise Cinema, 1006 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON, from March 16–21, 2027, for another week of short films in every genre — drama, comedy, documentary, horror, sci-fi, animation, experimental, LGBT stories and music videos.

Submit your film

Recent award winners

Winners 2026

Full 2026 programme →

Best Short Film
Brave Rebel Army
by Michelle D’Alessandro Hatt
Best Student Film
Tyrone
by Shavoy Alcock
Best Comedy Short
The Magnificent Gyno
by Emily Callahan, Julia Ettlinger, Glenna Walters, and Adeel Shamsi
Best Short Documentary
The Lines She Carries (Indigenous Geographic)
by Crystal Martin
Best Short Documentary: Festival Director’s Award
Generational: The Story Of Asian Roots Collective
by Marc Rende
Best LGBT Short
So Happy For You
by Katrina Reynolds

Past festivals

2026

12th edition · 14 awards

2025

11th edition · 10 awards

2024

10th edition · 14 awards

Submissions open for 2027

Your film belongs on a Toronto screen.

Every film at Toronto Short is selected from FilmFreeway submissions. Short films from any country, under 50 minutes.