Being more alone in the world than for many years, Europe needs to understand its own values and its own faith. It is crucial for the continent that we keep on having conversations about our belief and values as part of our culture. Europe needs a festival that encourage thoughts, discussions and exchange of ideas on religion and ethics as topics for mass communication. Therefore we are pleased to make this announcement: The next European Festival for Religious TV Programs, “Belief On Screen,” will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from September 23 to 25, 2026. It is aimed at filmmakers, producers and editors from public and private TV stations and online platforms across Europe who are responsible for spiritual, ethical or religious programs. In addition, the films shown are open to interested audiences. The traditional festival, which takes place every three years in different European countries, is organized by the international churchmedia organizations SIGNIS Europe and WACC Europe, in cooperation with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Other partners include the Danish Film Institute (DFI), the Diocese of Copenhagen, and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
When founded, the content of the festival focused on christian belief. After some years it opened up to other religions. Now the ambition is to open it even more, so that the festival covers both religion and ethics. The name of the festival will then be ‘Belief on Screen – communicating religion, faith and ethics’. Until now participators of Belief on Screen have been producers and broadcasters working with TV and documentaries. Now we open the festival to the public. TV-programmes and documentaries will be shown at venues open to everybody. Partners for Belief on Screen are WACC (World Association for Christian Communication) and SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication), who historically have contributed organizing and funding the festival. Apart from these two organizations the festival is working with local partners. The Diocese of Copenhagen will host a contemporary organization, that runs the festival. DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) and The Danish Film Institute will both be local partners for Belief on Screen ’26. ‘Filmhuset’ (The Film house) under The Danish Film Institute (DFI) will be the main venue. European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is about to establish a new network for producers and editors among EBU members, working with religion, faith and ethics. This network will gather the at the first day of the festival to share information about their programme portfolios (covering digital and linear output), challenges and learnings, and discuss wider opportunities to collaborate through the EBU network.
Please register using the registration form by clicking on the registration button.
• Early bird (up to 15. February 2026): € 300
• Full price: € 350
A reduced fee for students and low-income earners is available on request. In exceptional cases it is possible to reimburse the fee.
This fee includes lunches, receptions, social events and screenings for the whole period of the festival. The fee doesn’t include the cost for accommodation/hotels.
For any further questions of any kind, please contact info@beliefonscreen.tv.
We invite national and European television producers from both public-service and commercial broadcasters, as well as television-related online content providers, to submit their productions for the competition. All genres are welcome, ranging from editorial documentaries and fictional programmes to children’s and family programming, comedy formats, and devotional broadcasts such as worship services or reflections. Entries with innovative approaches to religion, faith and spirituality are particularly encouraged.
The Festival accepts programmes that were broadcast between September 2023 and September 2026 on a European public-service or commercial TV channel, or were made publicly available on European-based online platforms.
For each individual programme submitted, an entry fee of 100 € (incl. VAT) must be paid. Payment is made via FilmFreeway as part of the submission process and is non-refundable.
Submissions are open now and must be received no later than 31st May 2026.
There is no limit to the number of programme entries that may be submitted.
Programmes that are discriminatory or religiously intolerant will not be accepted.
Further information and details on competition submissions can be downloaded below:
Submissions can be entered via FilmFreeway.com only. Please follow the instructions on the website. It’s easy!
Mitglieder der Vorauswahljury
Mitglieder der Internationalen Festival-Jury
Hauptpreis des Festivals
– wird von der Internationalen Festival-Jury für das beste Programm des Festivals verliehen
Spezialpreise und besondere Erwähnung
– werden gegebenenfalls von der Internationalen Festival-Jury für besondere Programme verliehen.
Publikumspreis
– wird von den Festivalteilnehmern am Ende des Festivals in geheimer Abstimmung vergeben.
Berlin bietet ein Vielzahl von Hotels und Quartieren aller Preisklassen. Wir empfehlen die Häuser von Motel One (Berlin-Hackescher Markt, Berlin-Alexanderplatz, Berlin-Spittelmarkt und Berlin-Hauptbahnhof) sowie weitere Hotels und Unterbringungsmöglichkeiten in der Nähe.
Das Festival für religiöse Fernseh- und Online-Programme 2023 in Berlin wird gemeinsam verantwortet von den internationalen Medienorganisationen WACC (World Association of Christian Communication) für die evangelische und SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication) für die katholische Kirche. Kooperationspartner sind die EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland) und die katholische Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (DBK).
Für die örtliche Durchführung zeichnet ein Team unter Leitung von Festival-Geschäftsführer Joachim Opahle (Tel: +49 (0)172 38 85 782, info@beliefonscreen.tv verantwortlich
This is to certify that I have registered my participation in the TV-festival Belief on Screen from 23rd – 25th September 2026 in Copenhagen
Early bird (up to 15th February 2026): € 300
Normal fee: € 350
Payment should be made to the following bank account via electronic transfer:
Receiver: SIGNIS/WACC Festival
PAX-Bank Berlin, BIC: GENODED1PAX
Account number: IBAN: DE 92 3706 0193 6003 5600 05
Please indicate in the reference/message field: „TV-festival/ Participant’s name“.
