EUFF Names Jury for Film Project Competition
Five film professionals will judge the inaugural short film competition at the European Union Film Festival 2026.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Foreign
EUFF 2026 has announced the five-member jury for The EUFF Film Project, its inaugural short film competition open to fiction, documentary, animation and hybrid formats. Ten shortlisted films will be screened during the festival's New Delhi chapter, and the winning filmmaker will be announced there.
Why it matters
The competition gives emerging filmmakers a platform and a funded pathway into international screenwriting development through Script Fiesta. For international audiences, it signals the festival's continued focus on cross-cultural storytelling themes such as migration, language and identity.
The jury panel includes filmmaker Aranya Sahay, whose debut feature is Humans in the Loop (2024), and producer Nancy Nisa Beso, whose recent production ANGH won the Platform competition at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. The total number of entries received for the competition was not disclosed.
The players
Aranya Sahay
Aranya Sahay is a filmmaker who serves on the EUFF Film Project jury, having made the debut feature Humans in the Loop in 2024.
Nancy Nisa Beso
Nancy Nisa Beso is a producer on the EUFF Film Project jury whose recent production ANGH won the Platform competition at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.
Sucharita Tyagi
Sucharita Tyagi is a film critic serving on the EUFF Film Project jury.
Marek Brodzki
Marek Brodzki is a filmmaker serving on the EUFF Film Project jury.
Gregory Coutaut
Gregory Coutaut is a film critic serving on the EUFF Film Project jury.
The details
The competition invited completed short films from emerging filmmakers across fiction, documentary, animation and hybrid formats. Submissions addressed themes including identity and belonging, migration and diaspora, language and cultural memory, women's interior worlds, queer stories, climate change and indigenous narratives.
Timeline
September 2026: The Film Project competition was announced.
November 12 to 18, 2026: The festival opens in Shillong.
November 25 to December 4, 2026: The New Delhi chapter runs, with the winner announced during the Delhi edition.
March 17 to 21, 2027: Script Fiesta takes place in Warsaw, Poland.
Festival Pathways
The competition's winner receives a fully funded place at the 15th edition of Script Fiesta, scheduled for March 2027 in Warsaw, linking the short film competition to an established screenwriting development program. This positions EUFF's emerging-filmmaker track alongside Script Fiesta's longer-running European screenwriting pipeline.
Viewers can see the ten shortlisted films when they are screened during the New Delhi chapter of the festival from November 25 to December 4, 2026. Filmmakers who submit to the competition gain a chance at a fully funded place in Script Fiesta, scheduled for March 17 to 21, 2027, in Warsaw.
The takeaway
Emerging filmmakers working on migration, identity and cultural memory now have a dedicated short film route into a major European festival and a funded screenwriting opportunity. Following the New Delhi screenings will show which of these themes resonate most with international audiences.
What happens next
The winner of The EUFF Film Project will be announced during the New Delhi chapter, which runs November 25 to December 4, 2026.
Further reading
For more on international film coverage, see the Foreign section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
