Discovery Film Festival
Sat 25 October – Sun 2 November 2025
Discovery Film Festival is celebrating its 22nd year! Based at Dundee Contemporary Arts and touring to partner venues throughout Scotland, the festival screens films from all over the world which have been specially programmed for young audiences.
The festival includes three exciting weekends of films, creative activities, and gala events, as well as two weeks of screenings and events for schools.
Discovery aims to develop new audiences for the best in international film, improve media literacy and offer young audiences an insight into the lives of children and young people in other cultures.
The festival works with partner venues in Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Fife, and the Highlands and Islands to bring a selection of films from the Discovery programme to new audiences across Scotland.
Discovery Film Festival is a DCA project and is organised by DCA's Cinema Youth Development Officer. A team of Young Ambassadors (aged 15-19) are also invited to programme films and advise on the overall design of the festival, while a team of teachers and education consultants advise on the education programme and create Curriculum for Excellence relevant resources for classes visiting the festival.
Discovery Film Festival 2025 takes place from Sat 25 October to Sun 2 November 2025. We'll update this page with information on screenings, activities and school visits as more details are announced.
If you'd like more information, please drop us a line at dca@dca.org.uk.
Become a Discovery Young Ambassador!
The Discovery Young Ambassadors (DYAs) are a group of film buffs aged 15 to 19 that meet regularly and help shaping the programme of Discovery Film Festival. In past editions they’ve watched a number of films and programmed a selection for audiences 15+. They’ve also helped with marketing the screenings, writing copy for the films, and introducing the screenings during the festival.
If you’re interested in learning more about film programming and film festivals, this is a great opportunity to gain new skills and build your network!
This year there will be some new exciting aspects to the DYAs, more to be announced soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to be the first one to hear about it, send an email to amaya.marco@dca.org.uk
