Nominations for the Children's International Film Festival 2026 in Hastings are in. We are so proud to have films from all over the world, all made by young filmmakers with wonderful stories to tell. We have received films from all over the world and have been working through them over the past several weeks to put together this shortlist of nominations for this years awards. All winners will be announced at the Awards Gala on June 18th in Hastings at the White Rock Theatre.

Over the last week or so, as submission deadlines approached, literally hundreds of films have come in from all over the world. Our friends at KidsFirst in the USA at the Taiwan International Children's Film Festival have been incredibly supportive with a wide range of incredible submissions now being viewed. We have also received films from Taiwan, Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Japan, Russia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Kenya and across Europe with a few more expected.

Source Park in Hastings will play host to CIFF2026 workshops The World’s largest underground skatepark will welcome children from local schools to explore what is involved in filming extreme sports. This introduction session will introduce groups from schools to the exciting world of extreme sports filming. We are also hoping that Source Park will be able to put on a live BMX display as part of the sessions, bringing to life the challenges of filming sports that are both unp

The programme for the 2026 Children’s International Film Festival has now been confirmed, bringing together a strong group of partners to deliver an engaging series of workshops for school children attending this year’s event in Hastings in June. The National Film and Television School, BAFTA, Into Film, Ciné Schools, Hastings Contemporary, The Bright Foundation and Phase Worldwide are collaborating to create a diverse and interactive experience. Students from schools across

The British Museum in the heart of London, copyright: Trustees of the British Museum Exciting partnership takes inspiration from the Bayeux Tapestry, uniting one of the world ’ s earliest visual narratives with the language of modern cinema. HASTINGS — The Children ’ s International Film Festival (CIFF) is proud to announce that it will be supported by the British Museum for its 2026 season. This will bring together one of the world’s foremost cultural institutions and a pi

Following the success of the inaugural event in Kingston-Upon-Thames in June 2025, the Children’s International Film Festival (CIFF) 2026 will take place in Hastings on Thursday the 18th of June. CIFF celebrates young filmmakers, those aged 16 and under, and will give children across Hastings and Rother a chance to get hands-on with the film industry. CIFF will bring interactive filmmaking workshops with industry professionals from organisations including The BFI , BAFTA , Na

The festive season is almost upon us - just 29 days to Christmas day itself - and here at CIFF centre we have started the eternal debate around which Christmas movie is the best. No logical reason required, just great fun curled up on the sofa with the Quality Street and the TV remote. Here goes, in no particular order, the team’s recommendations for you this Christmas, and maybe on into the new year: Die Hard - the first movie, but two and three are worth adding in for a fu

AI is all around us these days and has become an integral part of many different creative roles, especially across the screen arts world. From short social media content to complex feature film effects, the fingers of AI are reaching out for all the creative pies. But, maybe it won't be as all powerful as has been feared in the screen arts industries. George Young, Founder of the Children's international Film Festival, has been hearing from young filmmakers and uncovered some

Planning for the second Children's International Film Festival is now well underway and the date is set for Thursday, June 18th, 2026. © The Bright Foundation Key to making the Festival happen in 2026 is our new Community Partner, The Bright Foundation , an arts education charity based in Hastings, East Sussex. Launched in 2022 by John Bright , an Academy & BAFTA Award winning costume designer for film, TV and theatre, the Bright Foundation offers children and young people li

A look back at the Children's International Film Festival 2025 Now that the dust has settled from June 6th we have been able to look back and look over what has been an incredible journey over the last 8 months. Do have a watch of the video above. What started as, a children's film workshop here, and a Primary School Film of the Year award there, has risen a Festival of filmmaking specifically celebrating filmmakers aged 16 and under. The Children's International Film Festiva

Children's International Film Festival Inaugural Awards 2025 Huge thank you to all the amazing presenters that joined us at the Rose...

Production Design of the Year Award at Children's International Film Festival 2025 About eight months ago George suggested we, the Ciné...

As an ambassador for Ciné Schools, Tarn Willers , the Oscar Award winning Production Sound Mixer, has been supporting CIFF Partner Ciné Schools, behind the scenes, with many aspects of its ambition to bring filmmaking opportunities to young people across the UK. This summer will see the first recipients of the Ciné Schools Young Filmmaker, Level 1, Understanding Filmmaking , award. It is an award that is the first of its kind and has been developed with input from partners ac

And what an incredible line up it is! We are so fortunate to have such an incredible line up of presneters joining us on Friday, June 6th...

Screen Cuba will be sharing films made by students in Havana, showing them at The Children’s International Film Festival in Kingston...

On 6th of June, Into Film will be running workshops for school children at the Children’s International Film Festival. Sessions will...

Kingston-Upon-Thames based charity, Creative Youth , will be the official charity Partner of the Children’s International Film Festival...

Our enrichment partner PHASE Worldwide has been invited to run an event at the inaugural Children’s International Film Festival with our...

BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts , will be part of this year’s Children’s International Film Festival (CIFF) in...

Access NFTS supports Children's International Film Festival in 2025. The National Film and Television School will be facilitating some...