SPIFF 2027.
A festival for films that challenge the gaze, unsettle the comfortable and refuse easy answers. Bold short cinema from India and across the world.
Cinema that stays with you.
Independent cinema. International perspective. A festival rooted in Pune.
SPIFF, the Smita Patil International Film Festival, is named after one of India's most profound screen presences, an actor who brought raw truthfulness to every frame she inhabited.
The festival carries forward that spirit: a commitment to cinema that refuses the easy, the decorative and the forgettable.
Now in its thirteenth year, SPIFF has grown into one of India's respected short film platforms, known for rigorous programming, an international competition and an audience that watches with full attention.
Both the Indian Panorama and International sections celebrate filmmakers whose work takes creative risks that matter.
If your film asks hard questions, works in unexpected forms or captures a reality that commercial cinema passes over, this is where it belongs.
Award Recipients
Selected work recognised by the SPIFF jury at the previous edition.
A slick and stylish portrait of influencer culture, capturing the seductive machinery of virality and the hidden anxieties beneath its glossy surface.
Confidently directed and deeply affecting, a quiet yet powerful portrait of displacement, responsibility and longing.
An experimental animated miniature unfolding on a single canvas where drawing itself becomes both subject and storyteller.
An adventurous, playful and sensitive portrayal of rural girls' lives using animation, contemporary sound design and folk storytelling.
A deeply thought-provoking portrait of addiction marked by a bold feminine voice and profound understanding of the human psyche.
A film of remarkable restraint and atmospheric precision, finding power in stillness, texture and small telling details.
Submission Deadlines
SPIFF accepts film submissions exclusively through FilmFreeway.
Eligibility Criteria
Film Requirements
- Runtime under 40 minutes including credits
- Completed after January 1, 2024
- Any genre, format or narrative approach
- Animation, documentary, fiction and experimental works eligible
- Student films welcome in all sections
Submission Specifications
- Submission exclusively through FilmFreeway
- Minimum resolution 1080p HD
- English subtitles required for non-English dialogue
- Subtitles burned in or SRT attached
- Separate submission required for each film
Sections & Rights
- International Competition or Indian Panorama
- Festival screening rights for SPIFF dates only
- Simultaneous festival submissions permitted
- Premiere status noted but not required
- Previously broadcast films remain eligible
How to Submit
Prepare Your Film
Make sure your screener, film information, credits and English subtitles where required are ready before submitting.
Visit SPIFF on FilmFreeway
SPIFF accepts film submissions exclusively through its official FilmFreeway submission page.
Select Your Deadline
Complete the FilmFreeway submission form, select the appropriate deadline tier and complete your entry through FilmFreeway.
Two days. Two sections. Cinema that demands your full attention.
The thirteenth edition of SPIFF brings together short films from India and across the world, selected through a rigorous curatorial process and screened before a discerning Pune audience.
Competition & Awards
International Competition
Short films from across the world selected for formal ambition, narrative courage and a distinctive cinematic voice.
Indian Panorama
A curated section celebrating bold and innovative Indian short filmmaking in any language.
Smita Patil Award
The Smita Patil Female Filmmaker Award recognises exceptional craft, sensitivity and a distinctive filmmaking voice.
answered.
Is there a premiere requirement?
Can I submit a film longer than 20 minutes?
My film is in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil or another language. Do I need subtitles?
Can I request a submission fee waiver?
When will I hear about selection?
Will selected filmmakers receive travel support?
What rights does SPIFF acquire?
Have a film that deserves to be seen?
Film submissions to the Smita Patil International Film Festival are accepted exclusively through FilmFreeway. SPIFF does not accept film submissions through email, contact forms or direct messages.
Submit Your Film