BIDFF #11 OPEN CALL: Short Dance Films

Submissions for the 11th edition of Bucharest International Dance Film Festival are now open! Filmmakers, dance artists, animators, visual artists and digital art makers are invited to submit their works for the International Short Film Competition of the festival set to take place between September 11–14, 2025, under the theme “Keep Calm and Keep On Moving”. For the first time, BIDFF is also looking for VR experiences that use movement as their main language or the body as their main subject.

The 11th edition of BIDFF, “Keep Calm and Keep on Moving”, aims to create a space for dialogue by bringing to the forefront the affective and emotional crisis in which today’s society finds itself, and by trying to capture the spirit of resilience and reinvention, proving that even in times of uncertainty, movement remains a transformative force. Contemporary dance is created in the present time, with means of the present. It infuses other art forms with new meanings, it has a major potential to transform our relationship with the body and it enriches the way we communicate and express ourselves. Over the four festival days, dancers, choreographers, visual artists, directors, virtual reality creators, theoreticians and producers are engaged in more than 20 events structured in five sections (Films, VR, Expand, Exchange, Community) characterised by diversity, multiplicity and openness.

Deadlines
→ Regular: June 22, 2025
→ Late: July 12, 2025
All applicants will be informed about the outcome of their submission by August 1, 2025.
 

Awards & Prizes
BIDFF awards excellence, novelty and courage in filmmaking with a prize pool of 1500 euros.
Awards:
→ Best International Film
→ Best VR Experience
 

Rules & Terms
The competitive section is dedicated to short films only. The board will take into consideration fiction, documentary and animation films and VR experiences that either use movement to explore an idea or speak about issues related to the body and the world of dance and performance. We also highly encourage you to apply if you have a short film that explores the future of art, questioning issues related to the ethics of collaboration, communication, and co-existence.

We are looking for:
→ short dance films of a maximum of 20 minutes, produced in the last two years;
→ short dance films in the genres of dance film, screen-dance, dance for camera and musical, animation, fiction or documentary shorts about the body or the world of dance, experimental shorts conceptually oriented around the idea of movement;
→ short dance films with a minimum quality of Full HD (1920 x 1080);
→ each director can submit a maximum of two films.

We are NOT looking for:
→ music videos, trailers or recordings of performances, films already submitted in the previous years to BIDFF, one-minute films, commercials, home-made videos.

We offer:
→ money awards for Best International Film and Best Romanian Film;
→ free entry to all the events of the festival, excluding workshops that require a previous application.

BIDFF is organized by the Tangaj Collective Association.

About BIDFF

Bucharest International Dance Film Festival is a platform for exquisite films that use movement as their main language or the body as their main subject. Faced with the camera lenses, the body becomes the main focus of cutting-edge arthouse films with a sometimes transparent, sometimes coded meaning, but always challenging the viewer to a playful exchange of information about social life, politics, extreme emotions, interesting places and oddly beautiful aesthetics. The festival takes place each year in September, in multiple locations from Bucharest, Romania. Besides film screenings, BIDFF organizes panels, exhibitions, public presentations and film production labs.

Contact details: contact@bidff.ro