Colorado Short Circuit – Independent Film Society of Colorado

Submissions for COLORADO SHORT CIRCUIT 2026 are open!

Colorado Short Circuit 2026

Show Us Your Colorado Shorts!
The Annual Colorado Short Circuit Film Festival has expanded to 3 Days and returns for a 10th consecutive year September 11th through 13th 2026!
We are back at the Ivywild School Event Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

Are you a Colorado based Filmmaker? Then this is the Film Festival for you!
This is a Shorts ONLY Festival and is designed to promote and showcase COLORADO-Based Filmmakers.

PLEASE NOTE:
IF YOU ARE NOT A COLORADO FILMMAKER…PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT AS YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. PROOF OF COLORADO RESIDENCY IS REQUIRED.

Categories include:
Comedy
Drama
Documentary
Experimental
Animation
Horror/SciFi
Music Video
Women In Film
Young Filmmaker/ Narrative
Young Filmmaker/Documentary

Planned Schedule:
Festival Opens Friday, September 11th 2026 and will continue through Sunday, September 13th.

We will have Q&A with attending Filmmakers after each film block.

A Special Filmmaker Panel with Industry Professionals to explore the future of Independent Filmmaking.

Our awards ceremony will be Sunday afternoon with special musical guests.

This festival is a part of the Indie Spirit Film Festival, a 3-day International Film Festival held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Awards are given in each of the major categories and are decided by a panel of five judges who are experts in their field (Film, Video Production, Education).

Common Festival Etiquette:

Who Can Submit (Eligibility)

This film festival is just for Colorado folks — that means current or former residents, or anyone currently attending school in Colorado.

To keep it fair, we just ask that you include a little bit of proof of your Colorado connection (ID, school enrollment, past address, etc.). Show us your love for this beautiful state!

All ages are welcome to submit.

Our Categories include:
Comedy… up to 25-minutes in length
Drama… up to 25-minutes in length
Experimental… up to 25-minutes in length
Documentary… up to 25-minutes in length
Horror/SciFi… up to 25-minutes in length
Animation… up to 20-minutes in length
Music Video… up to 10-minutes in length
Women In Film… up to 25 minutes in length
Young Filmmaker/Narrative … up to 25-minutes in length
Young Filmmaker/Documentary … up to 25-minutes in length

Women in Film Category
This category will be chosen by our judges and is open to women and anyone who identifies as female who has produced, written, or directed the submitted film.
We’re excited to highlight and celebrate amazing female voices in film!

Original Work Only, Please
Just a heads-up—we don’t accept fan films or fan fiction adaptations. We’re all about showcasing original stories and creative work that comes straight from you.
So bring us your own ideas, characters, and worlds—we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Copyright Reminder
Just a quick note — we can’t accept any films that don’t have the proper copyright permissions. Make sure you have the rights to all music, footage, images, and anything else used in your film.

To get copyright permissions, determine if you need it (i.e., your use isn’t fair use or public domain), identify the copyright owner (often the publisher or author), define your exact use, contact the owner to negotiate the terms and potential fees, and get the agreement in writing.

Public Domain: Works not protected by copyright (in the public domain) also do not require permission.

Friendly Reminder for Filmmakers:
We love that you’re sharing your work with the world—but while your film is submitted to our festival (or still making the festival rounds), we ask that it not be publicly available online. That means no public uploads on YouTube, Vimeo (unless it’s password-protected), social media, or other streaming platforms.

Keeping your film offline helps us make the festival experience more exclusive and exciting for our audience and judges.

If it’s already online, no worries—just make it private or password-protected during the festival circuit.

Thanks for understanding and being part of our festival!