Saint Petersburg International Experimental Film Festival (SPIEXFF)
was founded in response to the fragmentation of the experimental film community in Russia and as a platform for international collaboration between filmmakers and curators. We seek to bring together artists working with unconventional practices in order to foster exchange and support independent cinema.
SPIEXFF focuses on films that resist clear classification, existing at the intersection of fiction and documentary, theatrical and exhibition spaces, and analogue and digital practices.
We are also interested in exploring the nature of experimentation itself, asking how this cinema resists established genres, methods, and industries while simultaneously transforming them, what makes it experimental, and what place it occupies within the field of visual art.
The festival is open to both emerging and experienced filmmakers who are not afraid to experiment and fail, as well as to invent their own methods of shooting, editing, and presenting films.
SPIEXFF is an independent project without government funding, run by a curatorial team from around the world.
was founded in response to the fragmentation of the experimental film community in Russia and as a platform for international collaboration between filmmakers and curators. We seek to bring together artists working with unconventional practices in order to foster exchange and support independent cinema.
SPIEXFF focuses on films that resist clear classification, existing at the intersection of fiction and documentary, theatrical and exhibition spaces, and analogue and digital practices.
We are also interested in exploring the nature of experimentation itself, asking how this cinema resists established genres, methods, and industries while simultaneously transforming them, what makes it experimental, and what place it occupies within the field of visual art.
The festival is open to both emerging and experienced filmmakers who are not afraid to experiment and fail, as well as to invent their own methods of shooting, editing, and presenting films.
SPIEXFF is an independent project without government funding, run by a curatorial team from around the world.
about
Saint Petersburg International Experimental Film Festival (SPIEXFF) is now calling for entries to the competitions of its 1st edition.
Call for Entries
15 March / 16:00
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
11 March / 19:00
Kinora Film Foundation
Kinora Film Foundation
TIMe
This program is organized around the question of how the concept of “time” can be experienced sensorially within cinema.
Curator: Kim Ji-hwan
Interview with FORREST SPRAGUE
Interview and edit by Francisco Rojas
Interview with Lynne Sachs
Interview and edit by Kim Ji-hwan
20 June / 18:00
Kinora Film Foundation
Kinora Film Foundation
14 June / 18:00
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
EMPTINesS
The concept on which this program revolves is “emptiness” and looks to understand this different way of (film)making, be it a slow change, a long anticipation, the absence of subject, even in the most literal sense, the rejection of traditional forms, the search for abstraction, and also the use of negative space in the cinema frame, not much different from the way a painter considers the sections of its canvas. Emptiness as a different kind of form.
Curator: Francisco Rojas
24 May / 18:00
Kinora Film Foundation
Kinora Film Foundation
17 May / 18:00
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
FLICKER
This program is dedicated to the phenomenon of flicker — one of the most radical techniques of experimental cinema, which changes conventional ways of perceiving image and sound, transforming them into a liminal cinematic experience.
Curator: Gevorg Galstian
19 April / 16:00
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
Saint Petersburg School of New Cinema
11 April / 16:00
Kinora Film Foundation
Kinora Film Foundation
LIGHT
This program focuses on the theme of “light” in cinema and the ways its texture is conveyed through different shooting techniques.
Curator: Mark Petrovitsky
news
Curated by:
Kim Ji-hwan
Mark Petrovitsky
Gevorg Galstian
Francisco Rojas
Kim Ji-hwan
Mark Petrovitsky
Gevorg Galstian
Francisco Rojas
Each program explores different approaches to film materiality, duration, perception, and the boundaries of cinematic language used by experimental filmmakers.
Time, Light, Flicker, Emptiness
Programs trailer
curated programs
As part of the festival, we have prepared four programs:
SPIEXFF is now calling for entries for first edition.
The festival focuses on new works that develop their own visual language and explore unconventional perspectives and forms. SPIEXFF has been conceived as an open platform for innovative, surprising, and original approaches to experimental cinema.
The festival focuses on new works that develop their own visual language and explore unconventional perspectives and forms. SPIEXFF has been conceived as an open platform for innovative, surprising, and original approaches to experimental cinema.
Submission
Language
Films in languages other than English must include English subtitles.
Selection
- All submissions are reviewed by the SPIEXFF selection committee.
- Selected films will be notified by email.
- Selected films may not be withdrawn from the festival program.
Eligibility
- Films completed after 1 January 2025 are eligible.
- Maximum running time: 30 minutes.
- The competition is open to filmmakers of all nationalities.
General Conditions
The International Competition is open to citizens or residents of all countries worldwide, as well as Russian films produced in co-production with other countries.
- By submitting a film, the applicant confirms that all necessary rights have been secured.
- SPIEXFF reserves the right to use excerpts (up to 15 seconds) and submitted materials for non-commercial promotional purposes.
- Submission implies acceptance of these regulations.
Please read the regulations carefully before you submit.
Submission Period
Submissions open : 1 March 2026.
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
Submission Fee: free
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
- Submissions must be made via the official Google form.
- An online screener is required.
- The screener link must remain valid until the end of the selection process.
Submission Fee: free
international competition
General Conditions
- By submitting a film, the applicant confirms that all necessary rights have been secured.
- SPIEXFF reserves the right to use excerpts (up to 15 seconds) and submitted materials for non-commercial promotional purposes.
- Submission implies acceptance of these regulations.
Please read the regulations carefully before you submit.
Submission Period
Submissions open : 1 March 2026.
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
Submission Fee: free
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
- Submissions must be made via the official Google form.
- An online screener is required.
- The screener link must remain valid until the end of the selection process.
Submission Fee: free
Language
All films must include English subtitles.
Selection
- All submissions are reviewed by the SPIEXFF selection committee.
- Selected films will be notified by email.
- Selected films may not be withdrawn from the festival program.
Eligibility
The competition is open to filmmakers who are citizens of the Russian Federation, residents of Russia, or whose films are produced in Russia.
- Films completed after 1 January 2025 are eligible.
- Maximum running time: 30 minutes.
RUSSIAN COMPETITION
SPIEXFF is now calling for entries for first edition.
The festival focuses on new works that develop their own visual language and explore unconventional perspectives and forms. SPIEXFF has been conceived as an open platform for innovative, surprising, and original approaches to experimental cinema.
The festival focuses on new works that develop their own visual language and explore unconventional perspectives and forms. SPIEXFF has been conceived as an open platform for innovative, surprising, and original approaches to experimental cinema.
Submission
Language
Films in languages other than English must include English subtitles.
Selection
- All submissions are reviewed by the SPIEXFF selection committee.
- Selected films will be notified by email.
- Selected films may not be withdrawn from the festival program.
Eligibility
The International Competition is open to citizens or residents of all countries worldwide, as well as Russian films produced in co-production with other countries.
- Films completed after 1 January 2025 are eligible.
- Maximum running time: 30 minutes.
- The competition is open to filmmakers of all nationalities.
General Conditions
- By submitting a film, the applicant confirms that all necessary rights have been secured.
- SPIEXFF reserves the right to use excerpts (up to 15 seconds) and submitted materials for non-commercial promotional purposes.
- Submission implies acceptance of these regulations.
Please read the regulations carefully before you submit.
Submission Period
Submissions open : 1 March 2026.
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
Submission Fee: free
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
- Submissions must be made via the official Google form.
- An online screener is required.
- The screener link must remain valid until the end of the selection process.
Submission Fee: free
international competition
General Conditions
- By submitting a film, the applicant confirms that all necessary rights have been secured.
- SPIEXFF reserves the right to use excerpts (up to 15 seconds) and submitted materials for non-commercial promotional purposes.
- Submission implies acceptance of these regulations.
Please read the regulations carefully before you submit.
Submission Period
Submissions open : 1 March 2026.
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
Submission Fee: free
Submission deadline: 10 June 2026.
- Submissions must be made via the official Google form.
- An online screener is required.
- The screener link must remain valid until the end of the selection process.
Submission Fee: free
Language
All films must include English subtitles.
Selection
- All submissions are reviewed by the SPIEXFF selection committee.
- Selected films will be notified by email.
- Selected films may not be withdrawn from the festival program.
Eligibility
The competition is open to filmmakers who are citizens of the Russian Federation, residents of Russia, or whose films are produced in Russia.
- Films completed after 1 January 2025 are eligible.
- Maximum running time: 30 minutes.
RUSSIAN COMPETITION
TEAM
Social Media
Polina Antipova
Designer
margarita asylgaraeva
Curator
Francisco Rojas
Submission Coordinator
Anastasia Nikolaenko
Designer
anastasia dargis
Submission Coordinator
Masha Demyanova
Curator
Mark Petrovitsky
Curator
Kim Ji-hwan
Founder, Curator
Gevorg Galstian
© SAINT PETERSBURG INTERNATIONAL
EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
