Dark Nights Film Fest

18/06/2026

With a few days still before our Regular Deadline* it's time to reveal our key art for 2026.

Channeling German Expressionism with the tendrils of cosmic horror, huge thanks to Mikey Crane and Tim Richter for the artwork and graphic design.

The third volume of Australia's darkest film festival returns to haunt Sydney!

Black out your calendar for Saturday, October 10th.

Keep your eyes peeled for further announcements in the weeks to come. Full program will be launched in September.

*Late Deadline - August 2nd and Final Deadline - August 30th

09/06/2026

Our regular deadline fast approaches, two weeks away, don't delay - submit your short film or unproduced screenplay now!

Australia's darkest film festival is hungry for your nightmares!

All the entry deets on our site or here:
filmfreeway.com/darknightsfilmfest

28/05/2026

I'll just leave this here.

'Obsession' proves horror fans are still way ahead of Hollywood, which continues to ignore the genre until the box office forces it to pay attention.

21/05/2026

Filmmakers, creatives, mates of either ... a wee nudge, one month 'til our Regular Deadline.

Dead easy to submit via FilmFreeway.com/darknightsfilmfest

04/05/2026

We are very excited to announce the guest jury selection for Dark Nights Film Fest - V.3, 2026.

Judging the short film selection will be WINTER WILLIAMS, BARRY WATTERSON, and URSULA DABROWSKY.

Judging the unproduced screenplays will be SHAYNE ARMSTRONG, MARGARET M. MCDONALD, and MARTYN ROBERTS.

With ROBBIE MILES returning as our esteemed Unproduced Screenplay Competition winners' mentor.

Please check out our guest jury's credentials via the festival website link below.

The call for entries is open and hungry. Next deadline is our Regular, June 21st. See website for submission details.

Dark Nights Film Fest's guest jury for 2026 is made up of three short film judges, and three unproduced screenplay judges.

04/05/2026

We'll be announcing our darkly delightful guest Jury selection for 2026 tomorrow! Keep your eyes peeled.

29/04/2026

Just over 48 hours left until our Earlybird Deadline!

But don’t fear the reaper, there are three more deadlines (Regular, Late, and Final).

24/04/2026

Dark Nights’ nightmare warriors representing at Fantastic Film Festival Australia’s opening night.

21/04/2026

A wee reminder for those with completed films and screenplays burning holes in home computers...

21/04/2026

Thanks to Horror Fuel for the shout out!

Dark Nights Film Fest call for entries