European Film Festival (EUFF): 35 years of stories and connections

Over two months, more than 4,000 viewers embarked on a cinematic journey across 24 European countries through 30 screenings that explored themes of identity, belonging, resilience, love and hope. 

From the historic Capitol Theatre to Singapore’s newest independent cinema and, for the first time, into a school setting, EUFF 2026 expanded its reach while forging new partnerships and engaging younger audiences. 

More than a celebration of cinema, the festival reflected the spirit of Team Europe - bringing people together across borders, generations and cultures through shared stories and meaningful dialogue.

“As every cinephile knows, endings matter,” EU Ambassador to Singapore Artis Bērtulis reminded the audience at the closing. 

EUFF closed with Maricel, the multiple award-winning film from Cyprus that evocatively captures the power of human connection, resilience and the unexpected bonds that shape and connect our lives. Themes that provided an inspiring reflection of the very spirit of this year’s EUFF. It was particularly special for us to have Jakarta-based High Commissioner of Cyprus to Singapore Nikos Panayiotou join us and to have the talented emerging filmmaker Nur Kaisah (Director of student short film Hilang) emcee the closing event. 

This year’s edition was our longest yet. We journeyed through Singapore with the festival opening at the historic Capitol Theatre, the country’s first talkies. Built in 1929 as Singapore’s first purpose-built cinema, the venue is a cultural landmark. Carefully restored and reopened in 2015, it provided a fitting setting to celebrate EUFF’s enduring legacy of bringing European storytelling to audiences here.

From the Capitol Theatre, EUFF travelled to indie cinema Filmhouse and for the first time to a school GESS - German European School Singapore, forging a new partnership with Earth In Focus: Singapore Nature Film Festival along the way. 

The opening gala on April 9^th was a night to remember, with Ireland as the Featured Country. Over 350 invited guests watched the poignant Irish film Horseshoe exploring themes of family, loss and the ties that bind us. A special full-house public screening followed on May 1^st at the Filmhouse cinema. 

On 13^th May, Ambassador Bērtulis launched the inaugural EUFF@GESS (German European School Singapore) which featured the Academy Award-winning animated film Flow. Praised globally for its emotional storytelling and striking artistic style, Flow spotlights the creativity and depth of European animation while demonstrating the power of cinema to connect audiences across cultures without a single word spoken. Given the media attention it attracted, Flow outlived the festival cycle with subsequent sold-out shows at independent cinema Filmhouse. The EUFF@GESS showcase presented five contemporary European films (from Germany, Latvia, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland) reaching out to students, youth, younger audiences and families through free screenings at the school. Read more. 

Another inaugural addition saw the EU Delegation partnering with Earth In Focus Singapore Nature Festival to present a specially curated #ForOurPlanet screening. Three shorts were featured as part of this showcase, followed by a post-show dialogue with the country’s emerging and promising nature filmmakers. Collectively, they addressed the pressing environmental issues confronting our world and what it took to document them. Read more.