Festival start: 28 November 2025
Festival end: 30 November 2025
FROM NOVEMBER 28 TILL NOVEMBER 30, 2025, THE T-SHORT FESTIVAL WILL BE HELD AT THE KINEMATHEK KARLSRUHE CINEMA, IN KARLSRUHE, GERMANY.
FROM DECEMBER 1 TILL DECEMBER 14, 2025, THE FESTIVAL WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY FOR RESIDENTS OF GERMANY, AS WELL AS FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS.
THE DEADLINE FOR FILM SUBMISSION IS UNTIL APRIL 30, 2025.
------- JURY OF THE FESTIVAL 2025 ---------
- Koji Yamamura (Japan)
- Che Marcheti (Brazil) - Winner of the 2024 festival competition program in the “Best Debut” category.
Additionally, negotiations are underway with three more jury members.
The Participant winning in competitive program of the festival 2024 in nomination "Best Debut" becomes the member of jury of following festival.
T-Short Festival for professionals from all over the world and animated movie fans in Germany.
Only short films up to 15 minutes are presented at the festival, preferably without monologues and dialogues.
T-Short Festival treats any auteur animated films with trepidation, however, it prefers abstract, experimental, and especially surreal animated films.
The festival is aimed at an adult audience only.
The festival is international and has no national awards.
National awards can only be presented by sponsors and partners of the festival.
Films are judged by our highly respected Jury.
Festival films can be watched both Online and Offline in the Cinema.
Main nominations and prizes:
• Best of the Best
• Best Storyline film
• Best Bizarre animation (experimental, abstract, surreal)
• Best Debut
• Best Student Storyline film
• Best Student Bizarre animation
• Best Musical Motive
• Additional nominations may be added at the discretion of the organizers.
Awards:
• Main prize for each nomination
• Jury Special Prize
• T-Short Special Award
• Other prizes and awards from sponsors and partners
1. About T-Short Festival 2025
1.1. From November 28 till November 30, 2025, the T-Short Festival will be held at the KINEMATHEK KARLSRUHE cinema, in Karlsruhe, Germany.
1.2 From December 1 till December 14, 2025, the T-Short Festival will be available ONLINE only for RESIDENTS OF GERMANY, as well as FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS.
1.3. The official languages of the Festival: German and English.
1.4. The Name of T-Short is a pun: T-Shirt is a well-known item of clothing and the word Short here means a short film. Similarly, a project logo emphasizes a pun in the title – a film shaped like T-Shirt.
1.5. The T-Short festival doesn’t charge any Entry fees for participation in the festival.
1.6. The Founder of the T-Short Festival: Marat Barsky – event organizer, founder and organizer of the BIMINI International Animated Film Festival (Riga, Latvia) that took place in 2003-2008.
2. The aims and concept of the Festival
2.1. The T-Short Film Festival is an annual screening of the best works of the world auteur animation.
2.2. The festival promotes the exchange of creative experiences, the search for new ideas, styles and technologies, and also promotes the popularization of auteur animation.
2.3. Another aim of the Festival is the introduction of young people into the world of professional animation of high artistic standards.
2.4. The festival will show only short films up to 15 minutes.
2.5. The festival show the films not for children. T-Short doesn’t target children’s audience and doesn’t allow movies or series that target only for children’s audience.
2.6. The festival accepts the films for adult audience and films that will be interesting to both children and adults.
2.7. The festival is international and has no national awards.
2.8. National awards can only be presented by sponsors and partners of the festival.
2.9. The winners of the festival will be chosen by the Professional Jury, Sponsors and T-Short Staff.
2.10. The Festival features the following film screenings: competition, out of competition and special programs.
2.11. The editorial board of the festival selects films for the festival themselves.
2.12. The Festival editors appoint a professional jury representing different countries.
2.13. The Participant winning in competitive program of the festival in nomination “Best Debut” becomes the member of jury of following festival.
2.14. All festival participants receive a Festival Participant Account and have the opportunity to watch films online, at the current festival and at the following festivals, for free.
3. Nominations and prizes
3.1. The films included in the Festival program are evaluated by the jury in accordance with the following nominations:
• Best of the Best
• Best Storyline film
• Best Bizarre animation (experimental, abstract, surreal)
• Best Debut
• Best Student Storyline film
• Best Student Bizarre animation
• Best Musical Motive
• Additional nominations may be added at the discretion of the organizers.
Awards:
• Main prize for each nomination
• Jury Special Prize
• T-Short Special Award
• Other prizes and awards from sponsors and partners.
4. Film selection conditions
4.1. The selection committee selects films for the Festival program. The decisions of the selection committee are indisputable.
4.2. The Festival editors reserves the right to include films of high artistic value, that for outer reasons have not been submitted for selection in due time, into the Festival program.
4.3. Only films finished after January 1, 2023 are accepted for selection.
4.4. Any completed short animated film, made in any animation technique may take part in the competition screening.
4.5. The festival accepts only short films up to 15 minutes.
4.6. The festival accepts the films for adult audience and films that will be interesting to both children and adults.
4.7. The editors of the festival have the right to change the category of the film at their discretion.
4.8. The organizer of the Festival will inform on the results of the selection until August 10, 2025.
4.9. Anyone who has been selected by the selection committee for any of the festival programs receives free access to all festival programs.
4.10. A film is allowed to participate in the T-Short festival only if the film’s copyright holder agrees to show the film in both formats of the festival.
5. Film submitting
5.1. The films must be either dubbed or embedded subtitles in English.
5.2 Dialogues for films in English should be sent via e-mail mail @ t-short.art to the editor of the T-Short. Dialogues should be with the title of the film in English.
5.3. All the films must be submitted not later than April 30, 2025 at Festhome.
5.4. The T-Short festival doesn’t charge any Entry fees for participation in the festival.
5.5. By submitting your film to the selection committee, you agree that your film will be shown both in cinemas and online as part of the T-Short Festival 2025.
5.6. If you do not agree with clause 5.5, then there is no need to submit your film for selection.
5.7. If you did not want to show your film at the online part of festival, but still submitted your film for selection, then if your film is selected for the festival, it will be shown at the online part of festival.
6. General rules
6.1. All films participating in the festival are shown only during the festival programs at a certain time.
6.2. Fragments of films (not more than 10% of the full length of the film or 3 min.) may be used in the advertising campaign of the Festival.
6.3. This regulation has been composed in English. In case of any uncertainties concerning the interpretation of the text the English version is determinant.
6.4. Participation in the T-Short festival involves complete approval of the rules and conditions stated in this regulation.
6.5. Issues that arise during the arrangement and the course of the Festival will be dealt with according to the laws of common sense.
