Four screenings. Four themes. Dozens of perspectives. Come discover what contemporary filmmaking looks like right now

From 19–22 October, Melted Film Festival returns to LAB-1 for its fourth edition during Dutch Design Week, bringing emerging filmmakers and fresh cinematic perspectives to the big screen. Across four evenings of short films, the programme moves between fiction, documentary, dance and experimental cinema, showcasing the many different forms contemporary filmmaking can take.

About Melted Film Festival 2026

This year's festival presents a broad selection of professionally produced short films alongside bold, creative and unconventional work. Across four evenings, Melted explores stories about identity, movement, growing up, love, family, memory and the traces we leave behind.

Some films tell intimate personal stories, others experiment with image, sound or movement. What connects them is a desire to explore what contemporary filmmaking can be and to create work that deserves to be experienced together in a cinema.

Whether you come from film or design, are visiting Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week, or simply want to discover films you wouldn't normally encounter, Melted offers four nights to step into something new.

Four nights, four perspectives

Each evening has its own theme and brings together several short films from different filmmakers.

19 October - Living Portrait

Stories about people, identity and the ways we look at ourselves and each other. An evening of cinematic portraits that explores how we see others, and how we choose to present ourselves.

20 October - In Rhythm

Cinema in motion. Films shaped by dance, music, physical expression and the energy that emerges between bodies, sound and images.

21 October - Growing Pains

Growing up rarely happens in a straight line. These films explore first love, family, friendship and the complicated, awkward and sometimes beautiful process of becoming yourself.

22 October - Echoes of What Was

What remains after a person, relationship or moment has passed? An evening of films about memory, connection and the traces that experiences leave behind.

More than a screening

Melted is about discovering films, but also about bringing filmmakers and audiences together.

Selected screenings will be accompanied by director Q&As, giving audiences the opportunity to hear directly from the people behind the films and discover how their ideas found their way onto the screen.

During Dutch Design Week, when Eindhoven fills with designers, artists, makers and visitors from around the world, Melted brings that same spirit of experimentation and discovery into the cinema.

Programme & times

19–22 October 2026

Doors open foyer: 20:00 - you are welcome for a drink
Doors open room: 21:00
Programme starts: 21:15
Expected end: around 22:30

End times may vary depending on the programme and director Q&A.