Our annual festival returns with 121 Official Selections and 2 Kino Original Premieres. We’re infamous for curating a broad selection of diverse national and international shorts with delightful tangents into a variety of genres and styles. With a special focus on narrative & documentary cinematic shorts crafted exclusively by emerging talent, KLSFF is where you can discover genuine, exciting, and original independent voices.
August 28-31, 2026
Individual screening/session tickets available below. 👇
Scroll for full line-up schedule.
WATCH THE FESTIVAL TRAILER
UPCOMING PRE-FESTIVAL EVENTS
OPEN SCREEN
Tuesday 25 August | 7:00 | Strongroom Shoreditch
Register to screen your short film (10 minutes or less) in front of an audience of fifty to a hundred. Get feedback. Invite friends. Connect with peers, collaborators, and those higher up in the film industry.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
OPENING NIGHT GALA
FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST | 7:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
We return for our 7th annual edition with a collection of top shelf shorts - a sample selection of what to expect from the rest of the festival: animation, comedy, drama, and the World Premiere of our Kino Original Fish The Moon.
KINO ORIGINAL: Fish The Moon
FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST | 9:30pm | art’otel London Hoxton
A writer receives constant phone calls from his government appointed censor & becomes strangely drawn to her.
Writer/director Maddie Dai & producer Helen Spooner won our most recent round of funding with Fish the Moon.
INDUSTRY SESSION: Finding Short Film Funding
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 12:30pm | Strongroom
So you want money to make to your short film?
In this session, Kino CEO Dustin Curtis Murphy speaks about the Kino Short Film Fund and to other short film financiers including Harvey John (The Developing Room) & Christian Parton (Genera Films).
CLASS REUNION: New Works by KLSFF Alumni
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 1:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
A selection of new works from Kino community members & festival alumni. Our alums have qualified for the Best British Short BIFA in the past… why not give a BIFA to one of them this year?
INDUSTRY SESSION: Practical Effects on a Short Film Budget
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 2:00pm | Strongroom
Rebecca Wheeler is a Special Effects Makeup Artist and Prosthetics Designer whose credits include House of the Dragon, Bridgerton, Aquaman 2, Boiling Point and Kino’s own Sins of the Flesh. Discover how early collaboration with the SFX department can help filmmakers make smarter creative decisions, manage budgets and achieve stronger on-screen results.
KINO PULP
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 3:30pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Imagine Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, and Guy Ritchie all got together to make a baby. Well, they did… in the brains of these amazing emerging filmmakers who are taking on the darker side of the human experience.
INDUSTRY SESSION: Making Laughs a Livelihood
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 3:30pm | Strongroom
Writer/director/producer Izzy Mant and director Jennifer Sheridan have told comic stories across film and TV, including Peep Show, The Other Bennet Sister, Extraordinary, Toast of London, The Windsors and Trying.
They discuss their careers and how to find the funny in writing, directing actors, shooting and editing.
INDUSTRY SESSION: A Kino Original Autopsy
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 5:00pm | Strongroom
In Spring 2026, we supported Sins of the Flesh (which will premiere August 29th at 8:30pm during our Kino Kills screening block), a horror comedy from writer/director Max Ward and producer Will Butters.
In this session we’ll chat with Max and Will so you can find out what made their script rise above the competition and just how Kino supported the project in practice.
THE MANY FACES OF MODERN MASCULINITY
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 6:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Old men, young men, queer men… Men doing the right things and men doing the wrong things. From toxic takes to hold accountable bad behaviour, to portraits of positive male role models, this screening block offers a myriad of the male experience.
KINO KILLS
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 8:30pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Kino Kills is our brand new horror strain. Not just for KLSFF 2026, but also moving forward into future editions. In our inaugural cohort of short filmmakers working in the macabre, devilishly delight yourselves in their realms of body horror, serial killers, and supernatural entities. Includes the world premiere of our Kino Original Sins of the Flesh.
KINO ORIGINAL: Sins of the Flesh
SATURDAY, 29 AUGUST | 10:30pm | art’otel London Hoxton
When a bride-to-be becomes demonically possessed, a devout couple call upon a mysterious priest to perform an exorcism... but he isn't who they think he is.
World Premiere of our latest Kino Original.
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS: A Micro-Budget Showcase
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 1:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
A selection of shorts from talented emerging filmmakers who wouldn’t let the lack of a budget get in their way from making their mini-masterpieces. All works have had production budgets of under £2500.
INDUSTRY SESSION: An Invitation to Collaborate
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 1:30pm | The Garden Cinema
In partnership with Unrestricted View, we’re excited to announce the development of our unique approach to a Kino feature-length shorts anthology. This session will be lead by Felicity Wren (co-founder of Unrestricted View & VP of the International Screenwriter’s Association) and Dustin Curtis Murphy (Kino CEO).
THE DOC BLOCK
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 2:00pm | The Garden Cinema
Exploring the realities of life’s challenges, quirks, and defining moments, these emerging documentarians deliver a powerful genuineness to their subjects.
INDUSTRY SESSION: Supporting Emerging Talent with BIFA & Beyond
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 3:00pm | The Garden Cinema
In this session, filmmaker and curator Nia Childs, speaks with BIFA Springboard/Kino alumni filmmakers about their careers in short form, their journey into features, and how BIFA and Kino helped support them along the way.
I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 3:30pm | art’otel London Hoxton
A collection of shorts centred around the themes of consent, coercion, and covert/overt violations of our most private boundaries. These filmmakers explore the complexities of what we do & do not desire, and the crimes and misdemeanours others will resort to when we become the object of their obsession.
DYSTOPIAN PRESENT
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 4:00pm | The Garden Cinema
Endless screen time, online hatred, pandemics, racial divisions, escalating violence, failing healthcare systems, impending climate disaster… oh the joys of modern dystopia! This collection of shorts takes both comedic and dramatic takes on some of our most current crises. Is this just the way things are? Or can we reverse course for a better future?
INDUSTRY SESSION: From Short Film to Streaming Revenue
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 4:30pm | The Garden Cinema
Discover how short films can generate more than festival laurels. In this talk ZB Siwek will share his practical strategy for packaging shorts into commercially viable feature-length anthologies. He will reveal how he distributed and marketed his past anthologies which allowed them to consistently hit the Top 10 Prime Video charts, reach global audiences, generate revenue and create long-term opportunities for filmmakers.
IS THIS WHERE I BELONG?
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 6:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
What does it feel like to be the other? This collection of shorts weaves together depictions of refugees, immigrants, world travellers, and the homeless to deliver a myriad of perspectives on both the lighter and darker aspects of human experience.
SHE SHOOTS
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 6:10pm | The Garden Cinema
She Shoots is a curated collection of short films from emerging female filmmakers, each bringing a distinctive creative voice to the screen through bold storytelling. Whether exploring women's relationships with friends, their bodies, loved ones or the expectations society places upon them, this must-see collection offers stories that are insightful, compelling and poignant.
SHORTS SAMPLER PLATTER 1
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 8:15pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Here at Kino we’re infamous for dynamic and diverse programs featuring comedy, drama, and more all in a single screening block. This style of curation is for the bold and curious, with the only through-line being that all shorts are made by the most interesting emerging voices.
DYSTOPIAN FUTURE
SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST | 8:20pm | The Garden Cinema
With income inequality soaring, AI starting to overtake human jobs, and calloused governments acting in the best interests of corporations vs their citizens, no wonder emerging artists are using their voices to ring the warning bell. This selection of shorts will leave you pondering possible futures.
SHORTS SAMPLER PLATTER 2
MONDAY, 31 AUGUST | 1:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Here at Kino we’re infamous for dynamic and diverse programs featuring comedy, drama, and more all in a single screening block. This style of curation is for the bold and curious, with the only through-line being that all shorts are made by the most interesting emerging voices.
Awards
MONDAY, 31 AUGUST | 3:00pm | art’otel London Hoxton
Join us as we announce the winners of the BIFA Qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival in 14 categories.
A Film About Dad - Joe Murphy
A Frog Sits In Water - Dylan Friese-Greene
A King Comes To Town - Joseff Morgan
A Scent - Johnny Russell
A Time Before - Leo Metcalf
A Twist of Hate - Maddy Shenai
Admin - Shannon Sullivan
Baby On Board - Jamie Luke Milligan
Behind - Alessio Avezzano
Blisters - Alia Wilhelm, Callie Keels Ju
Bonfire - Jake Mark
Broadcast - Ewan Pollitt
Cardboard Heart- Catalina Ferreira Martin
Cleaned Out - Sam Arnold
Cuddle - Arron Blake
Cut Short - Olz McCoy
Dave Muir - 'All or Nothing' - Hugo Pettit
Deadlift - Joseph McDonagh
Death Of Fles- Zechen Huang
Deli Meat - BRICK
Dirt - Isabella Speaight
Do You Have Kids? - Tom Gentle
Doppelgänger - Zak Harney
Easy Sell - Ken Abalos, Ash Meshkati
Every Time I See A Yellow Car - Matt Chandler
Fanfare for Shame - Sophia Capasso
Far From The Plains - Luigi Sibona
Finding Home - James Trosh
Fish & Chips - Macadie Amoroso
For Better - Kitty Percy
Fractured Frame - Natalie Lauren
Friday is Mushroom Soup - Arnold T RiceItch, Joe Savage
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
G.S.W. - Jonny Durgan
Game Over - Cleo Samoles-Little
Geronto - Mark Pluck
Gesualdo - Nicholas Hulbert
Glass - James Barlow
Good Behaviour - Dan Sloan
Grandma is Thirsty - Kris Carr
Handle with Care - Dylan Blore
Heat Haze - Margarita Milne
HERE - Lilly Zhuang
Homonym - Lily Howkins
How Fast Can You Eat A Pickled Egg? - Daniel England
I Think My Dad's a Cyborg and I Think He Killed My Mum - Felix Lagers
I Am The Prize - Sai Karan Talwar
I Hate Helen - Katie Lambert
If Now Now, When? - Eliot Gelberg-Wilson
In the Clouds - Alexandra Bahíyyih Wain
Indignitas - Darcia Martin
Itch - Joe Savage
Ivanko's Childhood - Vera Graziadei
James Pearson-Howes: Sitting Still - Donell Atkinson-Johnson
K-9INE! - Elliott Power
Karim - Faten Bushehri
Kindred Spirits - Ella Faye Donley
Kitty - Lizzie Hart, James Newman
Love & Bullets - Jadey Duffield
Love Me, Hold Me, Always - Hardey Speight
Make Yourself At Home - Dean Kay-Barry / Three Shades
Matilda's Arrived - Macadie Amoroso
Marloo - Isaac Money
Mayflies - Lydia McNulty
Me to you - Frøydis Fossli Moe
Megumi - Hiroki Berrecloth
Midnight at Mickey's - Vin Wolff
(Mum) - Jake Mavity
My Golden Boy - Tomasz Frymorgen
New Ground- Louisa Rechenbach
Night Whispers - Adrian León
Not Yet - Souvid "JIJO" Datta
Nothing Sticks - Roze Elisa, Kuba Szutkowski
Old Bag - John Ferrer, Alice Guymer
On Fire for Jesus- Harry Carr
Ovary-Acting - Ida Melum
Pay In 30 Days - Lawrence Essex
Pearls - Alastair Train
pieces - Klara Schmickler
Plastic Surgery - Guy Trevellyan
Proud Dad - Kyle Jon Shephard
Revenge of the Language Master 1757B - Michael Beeson
Sage - Max Blustin
Scope - Emma Moffat
SELF+TAPE - James Cleave
Signs - Esme Allen, Hannah Beach
Signal - Zak Jarvis
Spoken Movement Family Honour - Daniel Gurton
Stinging Nettles - Jerusha West
Swim Sistas - Catherine Joy White
Tapeworm - Daniel Rands
Tell Your Face - Jill Worsley
Tess - Melville Simon
The Proudest Rose - Joshua Jacob, Giorgia Young
The Removed - Rebecca Rose
The Invisible Nature of Beauty - Juan Camilo Suarez
The Trophy King - Tighe Boudreaux Kellner
The Algorithm of Loss - Levi Eddie Aluede
The Birth of a Mall Goth - Samantha Locock
The Humbug - Cole Paviour
The Impending White Light - Ben Wicks
The Intimacy Coordinator - Louisa Connolly-Burnham
The Long Spring - Olly Ginelli
The Painting & The Statue - Freddie Fox
The Secret Assistants - Katey Lee Carson
This Conversation Has Been Removed - Andrew Nolan
Through the bath water - Willow Bidwell
Time's Up, I'm Afraid - James Button
Toad in the Hole - Ben Norris
Truckload - Aella Jordan-Edge
Turtleneck - Laurie Fahy
Twenty Twenty - Alex A. Salam
Van Kampen & The Mosquito - Scott Hurran
Voice Shift - Roberto Duque
Wavelength - Holly Warburton, Kate Auster
We Dream In Colour - Kane Wilson
We're All Black Down Here - James William Mellors
Where There's Light - Charlotte Couture
Whiteface - Julian Alexander
Wild Bear - James Hastings
Woman, Dying - Vittoria Rizzardi Peñalosa
Your Email Has Not Found Me Well - Karolina Papp