Desenzano Film Festival 2026: Three Days of Short Films, Sept. 25–27
The Desenzano Film Festival 2026 returns from September 25 to 27, marking its eighth edition, with screenings, concerts and masterclasses in Desenzano del Garda between Teatro Alberti and Palazzo Todeschini. The festival will present short films from 72 countries and, for this year, will not use the traditional competition categories for fiction, documentary, animation and experimental work.
More than 1,000 short films were submitted, with 16 selected for the main competition, coming from the UK, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Cuba, the United States, Haiti, Australia, Spain, China and Chile. Alongside the main contest, a new section debuts—“Composizioni Sinestetiche”—focused on the relationship between sound and image, with nine works selected from Italy, France, Germany, Syria, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and Austria. The programme also includes “Cinema Lombardia” for regional productions and films addressing topics such as the environment, work, geopolitics and new technologies.
The 2026 jury includes director and screenwriter Federico Francioni, director and producer Giulia Grandinetti, and philosopher, writer and digital artist Francesco D’Isa. Masterclasses with the jurors and a presentation on critic Piero De Giovanni’s book about new directing rules are scheduled at Palazzo Todeschini. The festival will award €1,000 in total across the Jury Grand Prize, the Cinematographic Experimentation Prize and the Audience Prize, plus additional recognitions for audiovisual composition, criticism, young filmmakers and Lombardy productions; the black marble trophies are made by Marmi Ghirardi. Screenings run Friday (from 21:00), Saturday (16:30–18:30 and 21:00–23:00) and Sunday (15:00–17:00 and 18:00–20:00), followed by the awards ceremony at 20:00 on September 27.
Italian Version
