Based in Bristol, Encounters runs a six-day festival in September and its main venues are Watershed and Arnolfini, on Bristol’s harbourside.

The festival began in 1995 as Brief Encounters, a one-off event.

[1] Since 2010 Encounters Festival has been a qualifying festival for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film[2] and Best Animated Short, alongside the equivalent BAFTAs[3] categories.

In 2024, the festival's 30th edition was suspended due to funding issues.

They announced “It is with a heavy heart that we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2024 iteration of Encounters Film Festival which would have been the 30th edition.” [4]