This session showcases the films that have received the highest ratings by the audience throughout the festival.

The Award winners of all competitions will be shown in one triumphant session.

How do we emancipate the human body from its politicization? In recent years, a wave of revolutions and protests around the world have reminded us that politics is embodied in every aspect of our daily lives. [...]

In a galaxy not so far away… As technology encroaches into all aspects of our lives, the separation between human beings and technology becomes increasingly blurred. [...]

Decolonizing Western climate activism starts by decolonizing cinema. The destructive forces of climate change are inherently impartial. [...]

“With dark ecology, we can explore all kinds of art forms as ecological” – Timothy Morton, The Ecological Thought Inspired by Timothy Morton’s concept of “dark ecology”, this session attempts to re-define what an ecological film looks like. [...]

Being like everyone else is just plain boring. Experience the bizarre, grotesque, and fantastic through some of our most… eccentric animated shorts. [...]

These six films have been pre-selected by our programmers and are competing for the Dutch Award.

Come and enjoy experimental films in an intimate setting at the smallest cinema room in Old School!

It’s hard to build a FÅMILY. Do you need help assembling your FÅMILY unit? [...]

Could we ever start our lives over as if it were a game?

These five films have been pre-selected by our programmers in competition for the General Award. We advise watching this session with "General Competition II", which contains four more films also competing for the General Award.

These five films have been pre-selected by our programmers in competition for the General Award. We advise watching this session with "General Competition I", which contains four more films also competing for the General Award.

Growing up hurts. Coming of age is a universal struggle, but each one of us experiences it differently. [...]

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The relationship between parent and child is anything but simple. Sometimes, the generation gap feels immense. [...]

The costs of capitalism cannot only be counted in dollars and cents. There are always concealed costs connected to our global economic activity. [...]

Making money requires major compromises. Finding stability in life often comes at a cost, and at times, one’s home, family, and identity may have to be sacrificed. [...]

As programmers, sometimes we agree to disagree on each other’s tastes, but these films are not to be missed. Content warning: graphic imagery, sexual content, nudity (16+)

Maps are far from neutral records of space. The process of mapping is always subjected to a dual representation, tinged with the prejudices of our rendering, and affected by the collective memory of how we record space. [...]

Feel the beat. The relationship between sound and image is vital to cinema and plays an essential role in its narratives. [...]

What is the relationship between movement and stasis? Cinema, or the motion-picture, has always been defined by its relationship to movement and time. [...]

Nostalgia can dangerously cloud the reality of our climate crisis. Images of wildfires in Australia, floods in Venice, and plastic pollution in the sea are becoming omnipresent. [...]

A selection of short films from this edition of Leiden Shorts.

Isn’t it all just an act? All the world's a stage and we are all in a constant act of performance. [...]

Who controls commodities, who consumes them, who bears the weight of their waste? ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’ – one of the hallmark phrases of late 20th century environmental activism [...] Content warning: graphic content

With the great power of filmmaking comes great responsibility. Documentary film presents a variety of challenges for its makers around the ethics and responsibility of representation. [...] Content warning: animals violence, suicide

A selection of short films from this edition of Leiden Shorts. Access to the screening is free, access to De Buurt is €1,50. Seats are limited and registration is required via Eventbrite.

A session of animated shorts that will make your kids’ imagination soar! Curated exclusively for young children (ages 3 to 10), this session tells a story without the use of language or subtitles. [...]

How does our personal experience shape our view of the world? We may all live in the same world, but we all experience it differently. [...]

These five films have been pre-selected by our programmers to compete for the Student Award.

How does the stillness of an image become a marker of time? Cinematic time moves differently than lived experience, conjoining the past and the future through the frame. [...]

Girls just want to have fun...damental rights. The embodied reality of a womxn is constantly being affected by the gaze of society. [...] Content warning: graphic images