Rules

Deadline · December 18, 2026

Courts d’un soir Festival · Montreal International Short and Series Festival offers competitions for short films, short series and music videos.

Since its creation in 2017, the Courts d’un soir Festival has experienced dazzling growth, becoming a major event for the representation of the short format in Quebec. It is now recognized as a Canadian Screen Award Qualifying Festival.

While the festival has strong roots in Quebec, its vocation is international. The festival showcases works from around the world. It stands out in Montreal for the originality of its programs, the diversity of its activities, the quality of its professional activities and the festive feel of its parties.

Its main mission remains the democratization of the short format among Montreal audiences and the recognition of emerging talents, but its commitment goes beyond the simple showcase of short films:

• Professionalizing young filmmakers
• Educating the next generation on the short format
• Federating the short film industry by encouraging collaboration between the various players, whether they come from short films, short series or music videos

Courts d’un soir Festival promotes short cinema in all its forms. Much more than a short film festival, Courts d’un soir is the first Montreal festival to bring together talents from the world of short films, short series and music videos within the same festival.

The festival offers several competitions as official selection:

• Official competition · short films
• Series competition
• Short series competition
• Digital series competition
• Emerging Short Series Competition
• Aspiring Filmmakers Competition
• La Fête du Clip · Competition of national music videos

In 2026, Courts d’un soir Festival awarded 11 prizes for a total value of $27,750. The list of prizes and their value for the 12th edition of the festival will be unveiled during the festival’s press conference in March 2027.

The festival also offers industry programming through the Series Market, the first professional event entirely dedicated to series, as well as a wide range of public activities such as 5 à 7 gatherings, carte blanche screenings, cinema talks, and parties.

To submit your projects, please visit our FilmFreeway page.

Please note that we do not accept project submissions by email or in any other form. All submissions must be made through our FilmFreeway page.

12th edition of the Courts d’un soir Festival · April 8 › 15, 2027

Eligibility Conditions

A. General Conditions

• All works (fiction, animation, documentary, experimental) are eligible
• The Festival will only consider complete submissions (information, preview copies/screeners, submission fees paid). It is not the responsibility of the programming team to notify the person responsible for the project in the event of missing materials
• The Festival reserves the right to accept late submissions, if justified
• Once the selection is announced, those responsible must accept or decline the selection within 8 business days. After this deadline, the film will be removed from the selection
• All submitted projects are reviewed by our preselection committee. Final decisions for each project will then be made by our Programming Director
• The Programming Director reserves the right to choose in which category the submitted film will be considered
• Works in a language other than French must be subtitled in French or English. The absence of subtitles on the preview copy automatically disqualifies the film. It is not the responsibility of the programming team to notify the person responsible for the project in the event of missing materials
• Works of an advertising, propagandistic, or promotional nature are not eligible
• Failure to comply with these regulations will result in the disqualification of the work without refund of submission fees

B. Our Competitions

In Official Competition

• Official competition · short films
• Series competition
• Short series competition
• Digital series competition

In Parallel Selection

• Aspiring filmmakers
• La Fête du Clip
• Emerging Short Series Competition
• Out of Competition Projects

Please read the following sections carefully for the description of each competition and the eligibility criteria. These criteria were updated in 2027, so we invite you to read them carefully.

C. Eligibility Criteria

C.1. Eligibility Criteria · Official Competition · Short Film

• Only short films under 30 minutes are eligible
• Student short films are eligible for the official competition if they meet all eligibility criteria
• Only short films produced after January 1, 2026 will be considered
• However, only short films presented as a Montreal premiere will be eligible for the Golden Hourglass Award
• Films previously submitted in past years are not eligible
• To be eligible for the Jury’s Favorite Award, short films must have been directed by a filmmaker whose main place of residence is Quebec or produced by a Quebec company
• To be eligible for the Golden Hourglass Award, short films must have been directed by a Canadian filmmaker or permanent resident of Canada
• Films from all other countries will be eligible for the International Grand Prize

C.2. Eligibility Criteria · Official Competition · Series

The Series Competition is intended for series over 120 minutes (more than 2 hours), created for the web, television, or platforms.

• The submitted season must have been produced after January 1, 2026
• All episode lengths accepted
• All season lengths accepted
• This competition is open to national and international series. The season may have been directed or produced in any country
• To be eligible for the National Series Grand Prize, series must be produced by a Canadian company or directed by a Canadian filmmaker or permanent resident
• Series produced in other territories will be eligible for the International Series Award
• The number of episodes screened is at the festival’s discretion
• Series previously submitted in past years are not eligible

C.3. Eligibility Criteria · Official Competition · Short Series

• The submitted season must have been produced after January 1, 2026
• The season must have a maximum duration of 120 minutes (2 hours maximum)
• This competition is open to national and international series. The season may have been directed or produced in any country
• To be eligible for the Short Series Grand Prize · Best National Series, short series must have been directed by a Canadian filmmaker or permanent resident, or produced by a Canadian company
• Short series produced in any other territory will be eligible for the International Series Award
• The festival has no premiere policy. However, premiere status and screenings in other Montreal festivals will be taken into account by the programming committee and programming direction
• To be eligible for the National Series Grand Prize, series must be produced by a Canadian company or directed by a Canadian filmmaker or permanent resident
• Series produced in other territories will be eligible for the International Series Award
• Furthermore, only series offered exclusively will be screened in full (all episodes). Series already available online and/or previously broadcast will be considered and may be selected in programs (a few episodes per series)
• Series previously submitted in past years are not eligible

C.4. Eligibility Criteria · Official Competition · Digital Series

• The submitted season must have been produced after January 1, 2026
• The season must have a maximum duration of 120 minutes (2 hours maximum)
• This competition is open to national and international series. The season may have been directed or produced in any country
• To be eligible for the National Series Grand Prize, series must be produced by a Canadian company or directed by a Canadian filmmaker or permanent resident
• Series produced in other territories will be eligible for the International Series Award
• The number of episodes screened is at the festival’s discretion
• Series previously submitted in past years are not eligible

C.5. Eligibility Criteria · Parallel Selection · Emerging Short Series

To be considered an emerging short series, the series must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have been produced within a school program in cinema, television, or audiovisual studies
• Have been self-produced, meaning produced without institutional funding

• The festival reserves the right to request proof of eligibility if it is not clear that the short series meets one of these criteria. If needed, you may contact us at contact@courtsdunsoir.com to determine your eligibility
• The submitted season must have been produced after January 1, 2026
• The season must have a maximum duration of 120 minutes
• The festival has no premiere policy. However, premiere status will be considered by the programming team
• Series previously submitted in past years are not eligible
• Emerging short series qualify only for the Emerging Short Series Award, regardless of country of production

C.6. Eligibility Criteria · Parallel Selection · Young Filmmakers

• Only films under 15 minutes are eligible
• Short films must have been directed by filmmakers under 21 years old. Eligibility is determined by the festival dates; participants must be under 21 in April 2027
• Filmmakers must prove their age by sending identification to the festival at contact@courtsdunsoir.com
• Only short films produced after January 1, 2026 will be considered
• The festival has no premiere policy. Information regarding the film’s premiere is collected for statistical purposes only
• Films previously submitted in past years are not eligible

C.7. Eligibility Criteria · Parallel Selection · La Fête du Clip

• Canadian and international music videos are eligible
• Only music videos under 15 minutes are eligible
• Only music videos produced after January 1, 2026 will be considered
• The festival has no premiere policy. Information regarding the film’s premiere is collected for statistical purposes only
• Music videos previously submitted in past years are not eligible
• The Audience Award will be given by vote of the audience present during La Fête du Clip. Votes will be collected through an online form, the link to which will only be available on the evening of the event

C.8. Eligibility Criteria · Out-of-Competition Projects

• Works presented out of competition may come from the call for projects or may have been selected through curation by the programming team, the programming direction, or a third party presenting an activity
• The final decision to select a film in competition or out of competition belongs to the programming direction

D. Juries and Awards

• The Festival establishes four juries responsible for awarding prizes: the Short Film Jury, the Series Jury, the Music Video Party Jury, and the Audience Jury
• Jury decisions are final
• The Festival will contact the rights holder regarding prizes won at the festival
• The festival team reserves the right to modify prizes and eligibility criteria as presented in these regulations, depending on partner participation and opportunities that may arise
• In case of uncertainty regarding a work’s eligibility for any prize, the final decision rests with the Festival team

D. Screening Copies

• Depending on venues and activities, the festival may request digital copies in Apple ProRes 422 HQ or HD-H264 in stereo with embedded subtitles in French or English, as applicable
• The festival may request DCPs if necessary
• No physical screening copies will be accepted, and the Festival will not return physical copies if received

E. Screening Rights

The person responsible for submitting the work acknowledges that they are responsible for securing all rights and authorizations necessary for the screening of the work. The festival cannot under any circumstances be held responsible and will refer any complaints on this matter to the person responsible for the work, namely the person who submitted the work to the festival.