Positively Different Short Film Festival 2026, the 7th in a row, has concluded! Over the course of five days full of cinema, discussions and encounters, we celebrated solidarity and creation. We talked about ways of disruption and resistance, about silenced stories, roots and origins, about the care and love that remain and hold us together despite the tragedies.
PDSFF26 | THE URGE was the longest festival edition up to date. In five days, we watched 14 sets, which included 70 films, 38 of which were greek premieres and 6 were international premieres.
On Thursday and Friday morning, we had the joy of hosting four schools from around Attica, that watched three film sets carefully curated for teenagers, aiming to introduce the concerns of the festival in a way that is understandable for teens, and to hear their viewpoints and struggles.
The set “Building on Ruins” was dedicated to Amen Sahraei, Iranian director of A Private Message, who couldn’t attend the festival due to her injuries during the bombardments in Iran. We stand by her side and by all the innocent victims of the war. We state loud and clear that this is not our war, this is a war of capitalism and white supremacy and we must do everything within our power to stop it and block the war machine, within our countries and abroad.
All screenings were followed by a Q&A with creators and contributors, which were facilitated by researchers, journalists, scientists and volunteers active in those fields. 40 films were represented.
The open discussion “Resistances at the edge of legality”, with Giorgos Poulopoulos, researcher and member of Copwatch GR, Georgia Skartadou, researcher at Forensic Architecture Initiative Greece, and Anastasia Tsoukala, researcher at Centre d’Etudes sur les Conflits, Liberté et Sécurité (Paris), gave space for discussing burning issues such as ways of social organising and political action against a backdrop of intensifying state repression and arbitrariness.
The jury of the 7th edition of PDSFF, Eva Stefani, Panagiotis Evangelidis, Silas Michalakas, awarded the Best Film Award to Aldi, by Giorgi Arabuli, and the Best Greek Production Award to The Cafe Will Remain Closed by Anna Chrysanthakopoulou and Magdalini Alexandri. They also granted 2 honourable mentions to Actually, I didn’t want to stay long by Andreas Grützner and Prelude to a Supernova by Christos Artemiou. The audience voted for their favourite film, giving the Audience Award to Prelude to a Supernova. The curatorial team of PDSFF26 conferred its Curatorial Award to Maps from Within by Christina Aguilera.
We wholeheartedly thank the creators, volunteers, subtitlers, speakers, facilitators, Filmmakers for Palestine Greece, the workers of the festival and the workers of Cinobo Patision who hosted us. Above all, we thank all of you that filled the cinema hall for your support, your presence and participation, your statements and your questions. We thank you for joining us to find our ways together!
See you next year at PDSFF27!
To stay informed about PDSFF, you can visit its website, as well as its social media profiles on Instagram & Facebook. For more information, you can contact positivelydifferentff@gmail.com.
