Celebrating 'True-Indie' Filmmaking & Connecting Global Talent
The Paris Lift-Off Film Festival connects the Network with the heart of European cinema. It leans auteur, filmmakers with a strong personal voice and a clear vision, and it’s become a home for some genuinely exciting emerging European talent.
It’s built for filmmakers near the start: first and second films, shorts, low-budget features. If your work is led by a distinct vision rather than a formula, Paris is your room.
Your film screens online to a global audience, with in-person and online networking around it, so you connect with filmmakers across Europe. Films that stand out in Paris go forward to the Lift-Off Season Awards at year end, judged across all 12 city festivals.
Paris Lift-Off Season #17 screens this September 2026. Submissions are now open on FilmFreeway. Selected films get an online screening to a global audience, and entry to the festival’s networking events. Standout films get a place in the Paris Network Round, and winners are shortlisted for the 17th Lift-Off Season Awards.
Recent Winners
Festival Events
Each festival hosts a series of online and in-person events, connecting filmmaking talent across the globe
Focus Group Feedback
Meet fellow filmmakers, exchange feedback and discuss your projects. Focus Group participants attend an online meeting to pitch their work before participating in the Feedback Session.
In-Person Networking Speeddate
Join us in the city for a showcase & networking event held in conjunction with the festival’s online screenings. Attendees chat to everyone in the room in a 'speed-date' style networking session.
Online Networking SpeedDate
Pitch your future projects or share previous work. Attendees can screen a trailer or pitch deck before meeting with everyone in a 'speed-date' style network session.
Questions?
Once a year, as part of the Lift-Off season. Screenings & events run in September.
Emerging independent filmmakers, especially first and second-time directors working in shorts and low-budget features.
Films screen online to a global audience, with in-person networking in Paris alongside the festival.
Through FilmFreeway: Click here.
Winning films are shortlisted for the Lift-Off Season Awards, judged at the end of the season across all 12 city festivals.