The 29th annual Palm Springs International ShortFest returns to the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center) from June 20-26. The festival will screen 50 curated programs showcasing 299 films including 53 World Premieres, 10 International Premieres, 33 North American Premieres and 18 U.S. Premieres. Repeat screenings of the winners will be shown closing night and on June 26th. Additionally, a virtual Best of the Festival will run from July 7-13, featuring a collection of ShortFest’s juried award winners available to stream at a packaged price online. More than 6,000 short films from 129 countries were submitted. The complete line-up and schedule will be available on June 1st at www.psfilmfest.org and a list of films are included at the end of the release.
“We are so thrilled to be bringing such incredible talent to Palm Springs to celebrate film and the craft of short filmmaking” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “We are honored to be sharing their work with our loyal Palm Spring audience and the world. We are looking forward to helping create the kind of experience only a film festival can provide.”
“With such a large, high quality submission pool, the programming team had to make some difficult decisions but we think these films represent the vibrancy and immense creativity in short films from around the world.” said ShortFest Director of Programming Sudeep Sharma. “We can’t wait to host the films and filmmakers at Palm Springs and are honored to be part of their journey.”
Short films featuring celebrated film and TV actors include Ana Fabrega in Gold and Mud; Bobby Lee and Matt Jones in Death & Ramen; Catherine Curtin in Galapagos; Dana Delany and Dylan Baker in Troy; Edward Norton and John Turturro in High Noon on the Waterfront; Greta Lee in The Breakthrough; Hugo Weaving in Teacups; Jamie-Lynn Sigler in I’m On Fire; Judith Light as a producer on Aikāne; Ken Marino and Kate Flannery in Help Me Understand produced by Paul Feig; Margaret Cho in Gianna; Lio Mehiel in Smoking Kills; Michael Ironside in The Family Circus; Princess Nokia in Daughter of the Sea; Rachel Bloom and Pam Murphy in Heritage Day; Shannon Dang in Fanatic directed by Taran Killam; Tom Holland in Last Call; Wendi McLendon-Covey in Beautiful, FL; Wes Studi in The Roof; and Whoopi Goldberg in Three Trees.
Each year ShortFest reflects the evolving film industry and the world at large. As reported by the filmmakers themselves, 125 out of 299 films (nearly 42%) feature women Directors, and 139 films (47%) have filmmakers who identify as non-white. Further to its mandate to showcase film excellence worldwide, this year’s slate includes more than half of the lineup from foreign countries – Canada (26), China (7), France (30), India (7) and the United Kingdom (20) – along with films from Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine,Uruguay and Vietnam.
Palm Springs International ShortFest is a bellwether for awards recognition, over the course of 29 years, the festival has presented over 100 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award® nominations. Juried award winners will be announced on Sunday, June 25 from the official selection presenting them with awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 including five Academy Award® qualifying awards. Best of the Fest shorts will screen on the final day, Monday, June 26. This year’s categories, which will have their own group of jury members, include:
Oscar®Qualifying Awards: Best of the Festival Award, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes and Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under
Student Short Awards: Best Student Animated Short, Best Student Documentary Short, Best Student International Short, Best Student U.S. Short
Special Jury Awards: Best International Short, Best U.S. Short, Best Comedy Short, Best LGBTQ+ Short, Best Midnight Short, Local Jury Award, Young Cineastes Award, Kids’ Choice Award, MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award
The ShortFest Forum will also take place from June 23-25, with in-person panels, roundtables, and interactive events featuring industry representatives, filmmakers and additional guests.
