diff --git a/backend/app/services/render_blender.py b/backend/app/services/render_blender.py
index f5a33c6..08844f4 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/render_blender.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/render_blender.py
@@ -605,6 +605,7 @@ def render_cinematic_to_file(
 
     env = dict(os.environ)
     env["EGL_PLATFORM"] = "surfaceless"
+    env["PYTHONUNBUFFERED"] = "1"  # Force unbuffered stdout for live frame progress
 
     glb_arg = "" if use_usd else str(glb_path)
     cmd = [
diff --git a/render-worker/scripts/cinematic_render.py b/render-worker/scripts/cinematic_render.py
index fc4d9f8..4dace36 100644
--- a/render-worker/scripts/cinematic_render.py
+++ b/render-worker/scripts/cinematic_render.py
@@ -849,10 +849,10 @@ def main():
         bpy.ops.render.render(write_still=True)
         elapsed = _time.time() - _render_start
         fps_so_far = frame / elapsed
-        print(f"[cinematic_render] Frame {frame}/{frame_count} -- {elapsed:.1f}s elapsed ({fps_so_far:.2f} fps)")
+        print(f"[cinematic_render] Frame {frame}/{frame_count} -- {elapsed:.1f}s elapsed ({fps_so_far:.2f} fps)", flush=True)
 
     total = _time.time() - _render_start
-    print(f"[cinematic_render] Cinematic render complete: {frame_count} frames in {total:.1f}s ({frame_count/total:.2f} fps avg)")
+    print(f"[cinematic_render] Cinematic render complete: {frame_count} frames in {total:.1f}s ({frame_count/total:.2f} fps avg)", flush=True)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":