European Workshop for New Curators #4
The European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and short film magazine Talking Shorts are organising the 4th edition of the European Workshop for New Curators: two week-long workshop sessions for aspiring film programmers and curators set during film festivals in Leuven, Belgium (Kortfilmfestival Leuven, December 2026) and Vilnius, Lithuania (Vilnius Short Film Festival, January 2027).
In this workshop, we want to focus on the ‘in-between’ and the chasms of film programming and curation today: the ways in which we bridge forms, approaches, spaces, and material realities that are common to encounter as a programmer and curator. How do we look at programming for festivals versus non-industry spaces (grassroots, community, educational, etc.)? How do we curate moving-image work and collaborate with artists that sit between traditional cinema spaces and other fields? Can we realistically develop a sustainable, long-term practice in a precarious field?
We will focus on the ethics and politics of the work as well as the practicalities and processes of programming for (short) film festivals. The workshop will provide a core understanding of the various facets of the global festival and film exhibition landscape through talks from international guest speakers from various professional backgrounds, roundtable discussions, post-screening analysis, and practical work that will result in collaboratively curated programmes by the end of the workshop, which will be exhibited on the streaming platform This Is Short.
As an extracurricular activity, workshop participants also collectively nominate one film from the international (or European) competition at each festival to participate in Talking Shorts’s New Critics, New Audiences Award 2027 competition and will therefore be asked to watch the respective competitive programmes on-site.
Tutor
The workshop participants will be tutored by film and culture worker Sanne Jehoul. She previously managed the short film slate at Square Eyes, was programme director at Glasgow Short Film Festival, led the talent development programme for the BFI Doc Society Fund, and has worked for several UK and European festivals in programming and production.
Recently, she launched onzer films, through which she aims to support and distribute new moving image works to festivals and beyond. She is a selection committee member for Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, part of the editorial team at Talking Shorts, a consultant at Documentary Association of Europe, and regularly reads for funds and labs (recently for the Chicken & Egg (Egg)celerator Lab and the Climate Story Fund).
Application
The workshop is aimed at anyone over 18 who is interested in curatorial work about (short) films and can participate in both units of the tandem workshop:
1.12—6.12.2026
Workshop at Kortfilmfestival Leuven (Belgium)
20.01—25.01.2027
Workshop at Vilnius Short Film Festival (Lithuania)
The workshop is aimed at European residents who:
• are over the age of 18;
• are proficient in English (speaking and writing);
• can attend the programme entirely, i.e., participate in both units of the tandem workshop in Leuven and Vilnius;
• have a strong interest and motivation to gain insight into film curatorial practices;
• are eager to learn/be mentored by industry professionals.
The application call is open from 1 to 21 September, 2026.
The results will be communicated by 21 October, 2026.
The European Network for Film Discourse consists of 8 unique and diverse European short film festivals—Filmfest Dresden (DE), Vienna Shorts (AT), Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival (PT), Lago Film Fest (IT), FeKK Ljubljana Short Film Festival (SI), Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (RO), Kortfilmfestival Leuven (BE) and Vilnius Short Film Festival (LT)—and is funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme.
The network’s primary purpose is to promote critical film discourse by and for a younger generation and to familiarise new audiences with a flourishing European film landscape.