NOVUS Call for Proposals, 2026
NOVUS invites proposals for innovative projects that bridge creative practices and artistic research. By engaging talented experts, practitioners and emerging researchers (including doctoral students) from FilmEU's institutions, NOVUS seed funding will encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations resulting in new pieces for screen.
What is the call about?
A strand of WIRE, NOVUS invites proposals for innovative projects that bridge creative practices and artistic research. We recognise that many experts and practitioners in film and media arts institutions excel in their creative fields but may not identify as artistic researchers. NOVUS seeks to harness this wealth of talent, providing a platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration that will reinvigorate filmmaking with fresh perspectives and methodologies.
In this call, NOVUS will support 1 or 2 selected applications, with seed funding of €7,500 per project. The final number of funded projects will be confirmed by the evaluation panel, depending on the quality of the proposals received.
Who should apply?
We invite applications from small cross-disciplinary teams including creative practitioners, artistic researchers and doctoral students. Teams that bring together diverse skills and perspectives, fostering innovation in screen-based media.
Teams must include:
- Members from a minimum of two FilmEU Alliance institutions.
- At least one team member from a Widening country (i.e., Portugal (Lusófona Uni), Lithuania (LMTA), Slovakia (VŠMU), Estonia (BFM-TLU), and/or Bulgaria (NATFA)).
- At least one practitioner with a clearly defined role in the project. The practitioner does not need to have a research profile, but the application must specify their tasks, responsibilities, and contribution.
- Alongside the practitioner, at least one artistic / academic researcher OR doctoral student (or both).
- Lead applicants may be academic staff, non-academic staff, researchers, or doctoral students from FilmEU Alliance institutions.
- Previously successful NOVUS funded lead applicants are ineligible to apply.
Minimum eligible team: one practitioner + one researcher OR doctoral student, from at least two FilmEU Alliance institutions, with at least one member from a Widening country.
What do you need to do?
If you are interested in applying for NOVUS, please complete the Application Form.
For more information please see the Read More Document.
The maximum duration of a project is up to 18 months, starting in November 2026 and ending in April 2028, in time for the earliest possible date of the WIRE Artistic Research Exhibition 2028.
The work will be presented in person at the annual WIRE Artistic Research Exhibition 2028 in conjunction with the annual WIRE Summit in Vilnius.
An online Matchmaking event will be held during the second week of September 2026 (exact date and time TBC). This is a hands-on opportunity for you to meet potential collaborators, listen and pitch ideas. Matchmaking allows you to explore our FilmEU network and work creatively on initial ideas for an application.
The deadline for applications is 30 September 2026 at 23:59 CET.
Please send a completed application form in PDF format to ingrida.jasoniene@lmta.lt.