NoFilter Kino is officially launching a Call for Entries for our upcoming edition and invites independent filmmakers and video artists to submit their work.
Our festival concept builds on Adorno and Horkheimer’s critique of mass culture and neo-capitalism, illustrated through the myth of Odysseus and the Sirens. In their view, the captain tied to the mast represents the elite who enjoys art but is paralyzed to act, while his crew—with ears plugged with wax—represents modern consumers who act mechanically but cannot truly hear. NoFilter Kino provides a space to question these rigid divisions. We invite creators to submit films that encourage audiences to hear clearly, think critically, and make conscious choices.
This past spring 2026, we successfully brought this vision to screens across Europe:
We welcome submissions of bold, uncompromising cinema for our next chapter as we continue to foster an active, engaged viewing experience.
The purpose of the NoFilter Kino Film Festival refers to awareness of both the external filters on the screen, including censorship (commercial, ideological, aesthetic), and the internal filters of screen perception and projection, including self-censorship. NOFILTER KINO is an exploration of aestheticization and commodification in art. The next aim of the festival is to expose the complexity, manysidedness, and variety of filmmaking.
Originally the festival was held in Belarus, but because of political repression and publicly stated anti-war stance, screenings and events can be held in different countries. First of all in Poland (Warsaw), Germany (Berlin, Hamburg), Lithuania (Vilnius). For example, the 12th and 11th Nefiltravanae Kino took place in Warsaw, Berlin, Hamburg, Vilnius and Helsinki. The content of past years’ film programs can be found here.
The festival offers an additional opportunity to show and promote the film both during and after the festival circuit on the platform. The video is cryptographically secured.
Nefiltravanae Kino involves theater, artists to interpret symbols and history. We work with the audience’s reaction and participants’ as well.
The film festival is held in March-April annually. The precise date of the film festival will be announced no later than within 4-5 months prior to the beginning of the film festival. Notifications are sent for a months before the festival dates.
Short films with runtime no longer than 45 minutes are allowed to participate in the film festival. There is no limit on how many works one participant can send. TV-films and films for children are not accepted.
There are no restrictions on the year of film creation for non-competitive sections. But submitted films are accepted into competitive sections if they were made not earlier than January 2024.
The participant that sends the application must guarantee observance of copyright on the films sent. All responsibility for copyright observance lies on the contestant.
Each film must have English subtitles. In the case of the selection, the file should be attached separately. The subtitles (captions) must be in English and in SRT format. The use of any other format is allowed only after coordination with the organizing committee.
In case of not providing the necessary materials and files for the film screening, the organizing committee has the right to exclude the film from the program.
It is possible to withdraw a film after the announcement of the program of selected films only by agreement with the organizing committee. As a rule, we always meet participants in this matter.
The film festival can share a press-kit, a trailer, a teaser of a submitted film for promotional purposes. Not more than 10 seconds of the submitted film in overall (and/or 65 seconds of audio) can be used for promotion on the Internet or TV.
