There is a particular quality to October light on the Côte d'Azur — softer than the blaze of August, still warm enough to sit outside with a glass of rosé after dark. Nice in autumn belongs to the city's residents again: the promenade breathes, the markets slow down, and the old town's ochre facades take on a depth that summer, in its relentless brightness, tends to flatten. It is, in other words, exactly the right season for cinema.
From 2 October 2026, Nice hosts 'Un Festival C'est Trop Court!' — the European Short Film Festival dedicated to young and emerging filmmakers. The event takes place across multiple venues throughout the city, with its registered address anchored at 10 rue Penchienatti in the 06000 district. For those unfamiliar with the format, the festival's name is its own manifesto: 'a festival is too short' — a wry, affectionate complaint that doubles as a promise of concentrated, uncompromising programming.
The Short Film as a Discipline
The short film occupies a peculiar position in European cinema culture. Commercially marginal, artistically central, it is the form in which directors first learn to make every second count — to build a world, establish stakes, and resolve them within constraints that feature filmmaking rarely demands. Festivals dedicated exclusively to the format tend to attract an audience that knows this: programmers, film school graduates, critics, and a loyal public who have grown tired of the blockbuster calendar and want something with edges.
Nice is a fitting host. The city has a long, sometimes underacknowledged relationship with the moving image — the Victorine Studios, established in the 1920s, once drew directors from across Europe and beyond, and the region's particular light has been a subject of fascination for cinematographers almost since the medium existed. A festival devoted to the next generation of filmmakers sits comfortably within that lineage.
'Un Festival C'est Trop Court!' — a name that is at once a complaint and a declaration of intent.
What to Expect Across the City
The festival is described as dedicated to la jeune création cinématographique — young cinematic creation — which suggests a programme oriented towards debut and early-career work rather than established names. Screenings are distributed across various locations in Nice, which in practice means the event inhabits the city rather than retreating into a single multiplex. That format rewards curiosity: following a festival across a city's neighbourhoods is itself a form of discovery.
For visitors planning a trip around the festival, the surrounding context is worth factoring in. Nice in early October sits at the intersection of two very different versions of itself — the last warmth of the Mediterranean season and the first quiet of autumn — which makes it one of the more rewarding times to be here. The Cours Saleya market is less crowded; restaurant terraces are still open but no longer frantic; the Colline du Château offers views over the Baie des Anges without the August queues.
Practical details — ticket prices, the full schedule of venues, and the complete programme — are available through the festival's official website at nicefilmfestival.com. No pricing information was available at the time of writing, so it is worth checking directly for updates as the October date approaches.
What 'Un Festival C'est Trop Court!' offers, ultimately, is the particular pleasure of watching work by filmmakers who have not yet learned to be cautious. Short films made by young directors tend to take risks that later careers sometimes smooth away — formal experiments, uncomfortable subjects, endings that do not resolve neatly. In a city that has always had a taste for the new, that feels like the right kind of event for an October evening.