Brickworld Film Festival 2026

The Brickworld Cinema Team is excited to announce the thirteenth annual Brickworld Film Festival! The festival will take place on Saturday, June 20th, 2026 at 7:00pm at the Renaissance Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL. The event theme for Brickworld Chicago 2026 is “Such Great Heights” and we’re excited to see how directors will adapt the theme literally or metaphorically. Our festival is only getting bigger and better with contestants eligible to win a variety of prizes!

The Brickworld Film Festival expanded dramatically in 2025 and this year continues the trend. We are giving away an unprecedented $1600+ in prizes with a brand new Youth Award category. Our red carpet event and photo wall will return along with distributing complimentary popcorn for audience members! Formal attire is recommended but not required. We continue to champion the LEGO stop-motion medium as the premiere event in North America.

While attending Brickworld Chicago isn’t required to enter the contest, the festival’s primary function is to serve the onsite attendees of Brickworld. In addition to the film festival, we will be running a LEGO stop-motion animation workshop, running a continuous screening of entries in our Brickfilm Theater, and doing all things LEGO all week long.

Official Rules

• Your film should use LEGO elements to tell a story. It can be animated or live action, or a combination of the two.
• Your film must be longer than 30 seconds and shorter than 5 minutes and 30 seconds in length.
• Your film must not have been submitted to any previous Brickworld Film Festival.
• Your film does not need to incorporate the “Such Great Heights” theme, but it is highly encouraged.
• Anyone can enter a film in the festival, but you must be a Registrant of Brickworld Chicago to be eligible for all the prizes and trophies — except for the International Trophy and Gift Card which every valid entry qualifies for. You must be a Registrant of Brickworld and 13 years of age or younger to qualify for the Youth Award.
• Films should be enjoyable by all ages. Film content such as (but not limited to) curse words/swearing, excessive violence, sexual content, and drug use will be grounds for disqualification at the discretion of the judges.
• By entering your film for consideration, you attest that you hold all rights to exhibit the given work. This includes (but is not limited to) visuals, music, and characters. Unlicensed use of copyrighted material is not allowed.
• By submitting your film, the Brickworld Film Festival is granted the right to use and/or publish clips or the full videos, screenshots, director and crew names, and any other material related to an entry in the event program, the Brickworld Film Festival screening, the Brickworld website, re-screenings at future Brickworld events, and for any and all promotional purposes.
• Limit one (1) entry per director.
• To submit, fill out the entry form (which includes an upload link for your film) by Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 @ 11:59PM CST.
• *NEW* The Brickworld Film Festival unequivocally condemns and does not permit content to be used in film submissions that are created with assets made from Artificial Intelligence (AI). We proudly stand behind human artists and human creativity.
• *NEW* As the festival continues to grow, in the event that we receive too many entries, attendee films will be prioritized by film quality as deemed by the judges.
• The attendees and judges of Brickworld Chicago will vote on the films to decide the winners. There will be three main winners of the festival, four subcategories, and the new Youth Award. For the category definitions, visit the Brickworld awards category page. See the prize details below:

Prize Details

All award winners receive an engraved Brickworld trophy for their category.

FAQ

What does it mean to be a Full Registrant of Brickworld Chicago?
You have purchased a badge for the full convention experience through this page here. If you purchase a standard, one-day entrance ticket for the public exhibition, this does not qualify as full registration. Film Fest organizers cross reference the names submitted through registration with the names on the film submission form. See more details on full registration badges here.

Am I allowed to use minifigure portrayals of licensed characters?
Yes, using a character's likeness in minifig form (Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, or in-house play themes like Adventurers) is not a violation of copyright given that you are creating brand new footage owned by you with these minifigures. You cannot use the copyrighted footage or audio of licensed characters from someone else's work (except with express permission).

Can I win more than one award/category?
As long as you are a fully registered on-site attendee of Brickworld Chicago and your film complies with all of the rules, you will be eligible to win any award/category. There is no limit to the number of categories/awards that can be won by a single valid entry. International films can only place in the international category. Those outside the age range of the Youth Award are not qualified.

My film is slightly over the time restriction. Can I get an exception?
We increased the time cap in 2025 from five minutes to five minutes and thirty seconds. However, beyond this extension, the run time is fixed in fairness to other entrants. Entries that fail to comply will not be screened.

What about digitally animated or rendered submissions?
As long as your film uses LEGO elements as the primary visual medium, fully or partially animated submissions made through Blender, Stud.io, etc. are valid given that the film complies with all other rules. Compositing rendered assets is also acceptable.

Where are the past years’ submissions?
We’re working on that! We hope to have a dedicated page here on the Brickworld website that will host the previous entries and winners.

For any further questions, please email filmfest@brickworld.com.While Brickworld is a business that serves the LEGO community, the film festival is a volunteer-led event so we appreciate your patience and understanding as we seek to put on the best possible show and improve it year after year on our own time. We look forward to seeing your films!