Dublin International Film Festival ESB Short Film Award

Grant · 2027Prestige 66/100

Eighteen thousand euro to make your short, and a premiere at DIFF. A one-off anniversary award, not an annual.

Deadlines & fees

Closed for this cycle

The call opened on 19 May 2026 and closed at 17:30 on 31 July 2026, extended from an original date of 21 July. IMPORTANT: this is a one-off anniversary award, not an annual competition. It was launched to mark ESB's centenary and the festival's 25th anniversary, there is no prior cycle of any kind, and an archive search returns no earlier captures of the page. Do not expect a next window: if it recurs at all, that will be new information. Two errors on their own pages are worth knowing: the website gives the premiere as February 2026 while the guidelines correctly say February 2027, and the award appears under three different official names across the page, the guidelines PDF and the required email subject line.

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026.

Key facts

Formats: Short
Eligibility: 18+
Open to: Ireland
Required materials: A script as a PDF in industry-standard screenplay formatting, 12-point Courier, with individually numbered pages · Proof of date of birth: a passport, national ID card or driving licence scan · Emailed to DIFF with a specified subject line · No additional or ancillary documentation is acknowledged or reviewed · Shortlisted teams later submit a budget proposal for the 18,000 euro

All applicants must hold an Irish passport or be legally resident in Ireland. The age gate is narrow and specific: applicants must be 18 or over and under 29 years of age by 21 July 2026, with proof of date of birth required at submission in the form of a passport, national ID card or driving licence scan. Note that 21 July was the original deadline, and the closing date was later extended to 31 July without the age measurement date being updated, so anyone turning 29 in that ten-day window sits in an ambiguous position. Fiction short films only, including animation; documentary is excluded. Submissions may be in Irish or English only. A maximum of two script submissions per applicant. Projects must be an original idea, wholly owned and controlled by the applicant, not subject to an option agreement, with no rights previously charged, assigned or granted to any third party. Scripts must be unproduced and must not have received any other funding at the time of submission. Applications are open to a writer-director team or an individual, and co-writers are permitted provided the ownership rules still hold in full, with all writers credited at submission. DIFF and ESB employees and their immediate families are ineligible. No page or running-time limit is published anywhere in the guidelines.

Prizes

18,000 euro to one recipient, ring-fenced for production rather than paid as a prize. Shortlisted teams must submit a budget proposal demonstrating effective and creative use of the award, and the winner enters a formal commissioning agreement with DIFF Festival CLG setting out the terms of commissioning, delivery and associated promotional activity. Whether the money is transferred to the filmmaker in tranches or spent by DIFF on their behalf is not published, and any overspend beyond 18,000 euro falls on the filmmaker. In kind on top: up to three mentoring sessions with an experienced industry professional, pitch training, and a world premiere at the 25th Dublin International Film Festival. RIGHTS ARE CLEAN AT SUBMISSION: DIFF asserts no ownership or option rights over any submitted material and all rights remain with the original rights holders. Two consents are granted by submitting, namely permission to share your script internally with trusted industry partners, and for selected filmmakers, use of name and script title for promotion. The terms of the commissioning agreement itself, which is where any stake in the finished film would sit, are not published.

Judging

A selection committee of three industry professionals assesses the scripts, and a panel of national and international industry representatives judges the live pitch; none are named. Shortlisted teams receive online pitch training and must pitch in person in Dublin, with no travel or accommodation support published. Feedback is explicitly refused twice in the rules, both for unsuccessful applicants and at the shortlist and winner stage. The winner faces a hard delivery clock: rough cut by 15 January 2027 and final delivery by 29 January, ahead of the premiere in February.

The PreList verdict

Eighteen thousand euro to actually make your short film, with pitch training, up to three mentoring sessions and a world premiere at Dublin International Film Festival inside a dedicated ESB showcase. Ten shortlisted teams pitch live in Dublin before a panel and a public audience. For a young Irish writer, that is a complete route from script to broadcast-quality premiere, and it costs nothing to enter.

The most important thing to understand is that this is not an annual competition. It was launched for ESB's centenary and the festival's twenty-fifth anniversary, there is no prior cycle at all, and nothing published suggests it will return. If you missed it, there may be nothing to wait for.

The honest part: the money is production funding, not a prize. The winner enters a formal commissioning agreement with DIFF that sets the terms of commissioning, delivery and promotion, and whether the 18,000 is transferred to you or spent on your behalf is not published, nor are the terms of that agreement. Any overspend is yours, and the delivery clock is tight, with a rough cut due in mid-January and final delivery two weeks later. Rights at submission are genuinely clean, with DIFF asserting no ownership or option over anything you send. One thing to check carefully if it ever returns: the age gate is 18 to 28 measured at 21 July, which was the original deadline, and the closing date was later extended by ten days without that measurement date being updated.

Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 9 Aug 2026

Frequently asked questions

Will this run again?

Probably not, and certainly not on a schedule. It was launched to mark ESB's centenary and the festival's twenty-fifth anniversary, there is no prior cycle, and an archive search returns no earlier version of the page. Treat it as a one-off unless DIFF announces otherwise.

Who can apply?

Applicants must hold an Irish passport or be legally resident in Ireland, and be 18 or over and under 29 by 21 July 2026, with documentary proof of date of birth required. Note the deadline was later extended to 31 July without that age measurement date changing.

Do I receive the 18,000 euro?

Not as a prize. It is production funding, and the winner enters a formal commissioning agreement with DIFF covering commissioning, delivery and promotion. Whether the money is transferred to you in tranches or spent on your behalf is not published, and any overspend is yours.

Does DIFF take rights in my script?

Not at submission. The rules state that DIFF asserts no ownership or option rights over any submitted material and that all rights remain with the original rights holders. Submitting does grant permission to share your script internally with trusted industry partners. The terms of the commissioning agreement signed by the winner are not published.

Is your script right for Dublin International Film Festival ESB Short Film Award?

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