For this edition, the Addis Video Art Festival invites submissions within an open thematic framework. Rather than prescribing a specific topic, the festival will encompass a wide range of artistic approaches, encouraging practitioners to engage critically and reflectively with video art as a medium of flow and flux, both as documentation and as a process of creation. It positions the moving image as a form capable of mirroring the complexities and nuances of lived experience.

The festival welcomes works that explore the moving image as a device for articulating current and historical contexts, inquiries, and urgencies. It seeks projects that innovatively interrogate and expand the possibilities of moving-image practice, fostering encounters that provoke reflection, interpretation, and dialogue. Through this, the festival aims to create space for audiences to process, question, and engage more deeply with the world around them.

Regulations and Guidelines

• Free submission
• Open to national and international artists
• Submission deadline: August 1, 2026
• Open theme
• Single-channel videos only
• Works must have been produced within the past three years.
• No AI-produced work unless it relates to the concept of the short.
• If the work includes a language other than English, English subtitles are required.
• Maximum duration: 15 minutes
• Up to two works may be submitted per artist, with a separate entry form required for each submission.
• Selected artists will be notified by November 1, at which point a screening copy will be requested.
• Artists are responsible for securing all copyrights for materials used in their work.
• By submitting, the artist agrees to grant the festival permission to screen the selected work during the festival dates and in future programs related to the same edition.

ENTRY FORM: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16Ex2zDUKy_kAnl5UH-uCrrKCwBoJYZMf0nhQo-iIf6Q/edit?pli=1

About
Addis Video Art Festival intends to provide a platform for innovative video art in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The festival will screen throughout the city in a variety of locations including street corners, rooftops, public centers and art centers. By sharing video art in both conventional and non-conventional settings, the festival will reach both the artist community and the everyday passerby. The festival aims to create a dialogue between local, and international artists by encouraging digital media culture.