This was Go Short Industry Program 2026
On Thursday we have placed the film production in the center. Together with Oostpact, we organized a panel Production Across Regions, which examined different approaches on co-productions in the Netherlands, and the conversations continued during the 1:1 meetings – Expand Your Regional Network. The daily highlights included a workshop Connecting the Crew powered by New Producers Academy, which allowed the participants critically re-examine the role of communication on set and beyond. The first market screening showcased the freshly completed works of the NPA fellows, attended by invited film curators from all over Europe.
The busiest day of the Industry Program started with Breakfast Meetings with prominent guests such as Lorenzo Meloni (Venice Film Festival), Anna Henckel-Donnresmarck (Berlinale Shorts), Annina Wettstein (DOK Leipzig), Pedro Emilio Segura Bernal (Reykjavík IFF), Anne Jagemann & Silja Ebeling (Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg), Ren Scateni (Glasgow Shorts), Catherine Colas (ARTE), Tamara Vuurmans (VPRO), Susan Warmenhoven (NPO Docs) Nele Delvaux (Flanders Audiovisual Fund), Jolijn van Rees and Maan Meelker (Netherlands Film Fund), among others.
Thanks to a collaboration with the Dutch Film Fund, Go Short organized the very first het Kortefilmsectoroverg – a closed meeting of 35 key representatives of the national short film industry. The session, which will be continued annually, covered perspectives on financing, production, festival visibility and international potential of the Dutch shorts.
Later that day, 10 outstanding short film projects in development and production have been pitched as a part of Dutch Short Film Pitch selection. The Best Film Plan award, presented by CineSud in collaboration with Screen Talent NL, went to At the Edge of the Woods by Sophie Olga de Jong, earning a spot in the Dutch Film Talents to Cannes delegation. The jury, Wouter Jansen, Lorenzo Meloni and Dorien van de Pas awarded The Child is The Mother of The Child by Sonja van Hamel and There is an End by Sep Friesema. The most innovative film idea prize went to Selling Fantasy by Perla Vita Beerens, and Chonkels by Thomas Bos received a special mention. Read more about all Go Short film and industry awards winners.
The program on Friday included also two more market screenings, a panel on genre storytelling, in-depth masterclass of Sven Bresser and a workshop on worldbuilding by artist in focus Kara Güt. Thanks to collaboration with Budgetcam and Sony, a group of film professionals could also test the newest camera gear.
On Saturday, a selected group of 8 screenwriters had a chance to consult and develop their projects under the supervision of a script coach Gwyneth Sleutel. Different approaches in scriptwriting for documentaries and interactive projects were discussed during the panel Writing Beyond Fiction with filmmakers Gala Hernández López, Iris van der Meule and Jan Dirk-Bouw.
For the very first time Programming Dimensions took place – a one-day conference on short film curation, which included an opening keynote Riddle the Short Film Canon by dr Laura Walde and three case studies of programming acts, which challenged the canon in practice. That included Film Legacies of the Black Arts Movement by Greg de Cuir Jr, Queering Time by Edie Barnabas and Against Gravity: The Art of Machinima presented by Vladimir Nadein and Dmitri Frolov. The conference concluded with six interactive table talks, inviting the programmers to exchange their experiences and ideas around topics such as rethinking the festival programming structures, or the financial reality of programming work, among others.
Further on, on Saturday we also hosted a networking session for young talents Food and Chat: Talent Meet up facilitated by VERS and a panel conversation After Your Big Break on mental health challenges in the industry. On Sunday, April 12, the attending professionals met one more time for a Farewell Bruch to exchange the reflections after a busy week.
Thank you very much for attending Go Short Industry 2026! We will return with the industry program during the 19th edition of Go Short, April 11-16 2027
Go Short Industry is thankful to the Industry Partners, who have supported the program this year:
Nederlands Filmfonds, Screen Talent NL, Oostpact, Cinesud, QISSA, New Producers Academy (NPA), DutchCulture | Creative Europe Desk NL , Lira Fonds, SEE NL, VPRO, Budgetcam, Portugal Embassy, German Films, Spanish Embassy, Nederlandse Audiovisuele Producenten Alliantie (NAPA), Dutch Academy For Film (DAFF), Dutch Directors Guild (DDG), Netwerk Scenarioschrijvers, yanco, Hamburg Short Film Festival, Talking Shorts, Cannes Film Festival – The SFC | Rendez-vous Industry, European Short Film Network, European Short Film Audience Award, Baltic Pitching Forum, Kaboom Animation Festival, Leiden Shorts, VERS, Nederlands Film Festival.