Fairhope Film Festival sets 2026 dates, opens short film submissions August 1

Fairhope Film Festival has set Nov. 12-15, 2026 for its 14th annual edition and will open short film submissions Aug. 1. For Alabama filmmakers building toward a fall festival run, that gives one clear target to work against now: get the short ready before the submission window opens and before the November dates fill out the program.

The short film call is the most immediate opportunity. In 2025, the festival’s 13th annual event ran Nov. 13-16 in downtown Fairhope, and short films were accepted through FilmFreeway at 20 minutes or less. That makes the August opening especially useful for writers, directors and producers trying to place compact, festival-ready work without waiting on a larger feature slate.

The July workshop gave entrants a second path into the same pipeline. Coastal Alabama Community College listed Writing the Movies I Want to Watch with Andrew Wilson Williams starting July 8, and a June 22 Fairhope Film Festival post pointed filmmakers to the same session as part of that month’s programming. Williams’ website describes him as a 3D artist, writer and photographer with a long history in television and film production and as an actor on TV and in major motion pictures, a background that fits the kind of practical craft talk emerging filmmakers usually need before a submission deadline.

Fairhope Film Festival, Inc. says it is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its mission is broad but local in its focus: bring world cinematic culture to the region, introduce the area as a viable location for the film industry, encourage Alabama filmmakers and help increase the state and local economy. The festival’s own materials also frame 2026 as its 14th year, keeping the event anchored as a recurring part of the Gulf Coast film calendar rather than a one-off showcase.

For filmmakers watching the calendar, the sequence is already set: the July workshop for development, the Aug. 1 opening for short film submissions, and the Nov. 12-15 festival in downtown Fairhope. That is the runway now in front of Alabama’s short-form community.