Nazra Film Festival 2026 call for submissions is now open
We are thrilled to announce that the 7th edition of the festival will take place in Italy during the month of October, 2026.
ABOUT
Nazra Palestine Short Film Festival is a traveling cinema project from and about Palestine, founded in 2017 through the synergy of several associations, volunteers, and citizens who stand in solidarity with the cause and share a passion for cinematic art.
In Arabic, Nazra means “gaze” or “look”: the eye is its logo, and cinema is its medium. The purpose of the Festival is precisely to broaden the perspective of those who are already familiar with the Palestinian question, as well as of those approaching it for the first time. Cinema serves both as a lens and as a tool of cultural resistance through which the stories of Palestinian people are told. Nazra thus positions itself as an archive of Palestinian short films, distilling their avant-garde spirit and amplifying the voices of Palestinian and non-Palestinian filmmakers who might otherwise find no space.
Our goal is to disseminate and support Palestinian cinema and culture in all their dimensions.
This is how Nazra was born and continues to grow as a traveling festival: a national organizing committee selects and builds the archive each year—a powerful tool for preserving and disseminating Palestinian memory, threatened since 1948 and increasingly so today—which the various stops of the Nazra tour help amplify and spread at the local level.
TIMELINE
January 30
OPEN CALL
March 30
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
To be defined
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SELECTED WORKS
October
FESTIVAL OPENING
WHEN
October 2026
WHERE
Italy, diffused
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE
Filmmakers from Palestine or whose work relates to Palestine
È il festival diffuso che raccoglie cortometraggi da e sulla Palestina
CATEGORIES
DISCOVER THE FESTIVAL MISSION
Nazra Palestine Short Film Festival was founded in 2017 with the aim of promoting and spreading knowledge of the Palestinian question, fostering awareness and dialogue through the art of cinema. The festival is grounded in the belief that plurality and the exchange of ideas are essential drivers of personal and collective growth. For this reason, Nazra seeks to offer its audience multiple tools and interpretive keys to critically and independently analyze a multifaceted and complex reality, proposing an alternative to over-simplified narratives and mainstream Western paradigms.
Nazra aims to challenge and deconstruct colonial and Western-centric narratives, upheld by powerful systems of dissemination, through a language that is only seemingly less powerful but in fact deeply expressive, direct, and universal: that of short films. The life stories, metaphors, symbolism, and historical reconstructions at the heart of these films depict a reality of injustice, violated human rights, confinement, and destruction, but also of resistance and struggle for emancipation, solidarity, and hope.
All these representations stand as a powerful act of cultural resistance against the ongoing attempts by the State of Israel to erase the traces of Palestinian history and culture—a systematic process that has been ongoing for over 70 years and that goes hand in hand with the physical elimination of the Palestinian population.
WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL AWARD
Each winning film will receive a cash prize and the “Nazra Boat”, a sculpture by the venetian artist Jerry Bogani, which has become a symbol of the Festival.
WHO CHOOSES THE WINNERS
Nazra’s selection committee will shortlist the finalist films to be submitted to an International Jury. The Jury, appointed annually and composed of prominent figures from the Italian and Palestinian film, arts, and culture sectors, will finally select the winners for each category.
The winning short films will be announced and awarded on the closing night of the Festival’s opening event. Each year, the event takes place in a different host city, which will be selected and revealed at a later date. As a travelling film festival, Nazra will then proceed with screenings in other Italian and European cities, and, where possible, in Palestine. By doing so, we aim to promote the circulation of the winning and finalist works across multiple venues and cities, with the authors in attendance where possible.
During the festival, Youth Juries will also be involved as part of Nazra’s educational programme in schools and universities.
WHICH FILMS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE COMPETITION
Nazra’s selection committee will shortlist the finalist films to be submitted to an International Jury. The Jury, appointed annually and composed of prominent figures from the Italian and Palestinian film, arts, and culture sectors, will finally select the winners for each category.
The winning short films will be announced and awarded on the closing night of the Festival’s opening event. Each year, the event takes place in a different host city, which will be selected and revealed at a later date. As a travelling film festival, Nazra will then proceed with screenings in other Italian and European cities, and, where possible, in Palestine. By doing so, we aim to promote the circulation of the winning and finalist works across multiple venues and cities, with the authors in attendance where possible.
During the festival, Youth Juries will also be involved as part of Nazra’s educational programme in schools and universities.
I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS
For any further information you can reach us at submissions@nazrafilmfestival.it