Aesthetica Film Festival

Overview

Aesthetica Film Festival’s 16th Edition: The 16th edition of the Aesthetica Film Festival will run from 4-8 November 2026 in York, UK. The Industry programme will include masterclasses, panels, networking, pitching and an opportunity for you to get involved. Selected films will screen in competition and be eligible for our coveted awards, including Best in Category and the Best of Festival Award. The festival is BAFTA and BIFA-Qualifying for short films and £5,000 of cash prizes are up for grabs. -- About Aesthetica Film Festival: The Aesthetica Short Film Festival is BAFTA and BIFA-Qualifying and takes place in York, UK. It is one of the UK’s largest and most revered film events. We love independent film. It is at the heart of everything that we do. Our programming and curation are innovative and expansive. We believe that great film is transformative, and creativity should be shared. The Official Selection includes approximately 300 shorts, Podcasts Games and VR and immersive works across 15 competitive categories. Alongside these programmes, we work with industry partners to curate guest programmes with impact. Recent organisations include BBC Comedy, New York Times, BFI Doc Society, We Are Parable, Directors' Notes, Scottish Documentary Institute and Film4, amongst others. Aesthetica is an important outlet for moving image and digital culture, creating a platform that champions film and creatives from across the world. Equality, diversity and creativity underpin the entire programme. We believe in making opportunity for filmmakers and talent development is at the core of our industry programming. Industry activity includes industry masterclasses, panel discussions, networking and pitching sessions with distributors such as Film4, BBC Films and Studiocanal. Previous guests include Dame Judi Dench, Asif Kapadia, Sally Potter, Francis Lee, Andrea Arnold, Sarah Gavron, Dick Pope, Sam Feder, Jeanie Finlay, Paul Franklin, Glenn Freemantle, Chinonye Chukwu, Maxine Peake, Philippa Lowthorpe, Rankin, Jeremy Deller, Simon Chinn as well as representatives from the likes of Aardman, Audible, BBC Films, Film4, BBC Writers Room, Framestore, Industrial Light & Magic, British Vogue, Ridley Scott Associates, and many more. -- Our curation: We are looking for bold stories that are told differently and inspire conversations. Film has the power to ignite, transform and change the world. Curation at Aesthetica is centred around powerful storytelling, compelling narratives and ideas. We programme the festival into six overarching strands, and these strands reflect the current state-of-play. These programmes are then sub-curated thematically by genre. We focus on the topics that are the most meaningful, pressing and present in our world. Film is a mechanism to understand the past and present, and it also offers a view of potential futures. Our curatorial team is comprised of 16 programmers who have a range of expertise and specialisations, having worked for some of the largest film festivals in the world. Through the curation, audiences explore new cultures, ideas and engage with the future greats of filmmaking. -- What delegates and attendees say about Aesthetica: “A festival like this re-motivates and rejuvenates the filmmaking community ... that’s why it’s so valuable.” - Mark Cousins, Filmmaker, Curator “ASFF is my favourite short film festival. Good people. Good energy. And always so well organised and curated” - Shelley Jones, Video Commissioner, NOWNESS “I must say I was blown away with the online set up and set up was and how professionally it was run. Hats off to the team.” - James Friend, Cinematographer “It was my first time attending ASFF, and what a buzzing hive of talent it was! I’ve made some wonderful discoveries of the next generation of storytellers and am privileged to have been able to participate in talks, pitches and judging some of the official competitions!” - Dionne Farrell, Development Executive, BBC Films “It was an enormous pleasure to be involved in Aesthetica. I really enjoyed it and found the whole thing deeply impressive, and it was lovely to have such an enthusiastic audience! - David M. Thompson, Producer “I can’t speak highly enough of the festival. The organisation and communication was top notch. And All the venues were great. Met a lot of great filmmakers and industry contacts. Next year’s festival is already in my diary.” - Samona Olanipekun, Filmmaker and Winner of Best Experimental at Aesthetica 2019 “I had a great time, love the festival, it’s so exciting seeing so many new filmmakers walking the streets and at events, really inspiring.” - Charlie Philips, Head of Documentaries Guardian Docs “The festival has been great. It’s great to have somewhere where everyone is like-minded. Creativity is something that should be shared." - Tracy Granger, Editor

Last updated Sep 4, 2026

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Festival Details

FilmFreeway communityGold festival

• Filmmaker

  I’m truly proud and honoured to have presented my film at the Aesthetica Film Festival. It’s a great festival in a beautiful place, with excellent organisation and a warm, passionate community.

• Filmmaker

  York is such a beautiful place. The week is always insanely busy and it always feels like the festival takes over the city. Those yellow lanyards are everywhere. I pitched to Film4, ate some pasties and met loads of old pals.

• Filmmaker

  What an experience to be in beautiful York for Aesthetica! The festival dominated the city and it was a weekend for the history books with all sorts of events and multiple screenings for our film Teddy on the Edge in the Animation category. Extremely grateful to have been invited.

• Filmmaker

  Aesthetica film festival is a real champion of short films. We screened our film DEKHO, the third time I’ve had a film there. Each experience has been one to cherish. The team are truly committed and passionate about film and filmmakers.

• Filmmaker

  What a brilliant festival! I had a brilliant time at Aesthetica, thank you! The quality of the films was incredible, the events were informative and inspiring, and I met lots of lovely, interesting people! Highly recommended!!!

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