Short Film
Short Film
Fueled by artistic expression and limited only by their runtime, short films transcend traditional storytelling. They are a significant and popular way artists can connect with audiences. From documentary to animation, narrative to experimental, the abbreviated form is no longer just for the novice. Shorts have and will continue to be an important part of cinema, storytelling, and culture. The Sundance Film Festival has always been proud to treat short films with the highest regard and to give a home to new (and old) projects for audiences to discover and celebrate.
Learn more about Sundance Institute’s artist development programs that support short films:
Feature Film Program
Documentary Film Program
Indigenous Program
2023 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is presented by Shutterstock.
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is an 90-minute theatrical program of seven short films curated from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, including two Festival Award-winning titles. Considered the premier showcase for short films and the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers, the Festival includes fiction, documentary and animation from around the world. Throughout its almost 40 years of history, the Festival has always supported short films, providing a platform for both established and new filmmakers to connect with audiences. The 2023 Short Film Tour program is a sampling of Festival offerings and a testament to the unique storytelling potential that the format holds. Audiences who missed the Sundance Film Festival – which took place online and in-person in Park City, Utah January 19 through January 29 this year – can enjoy a mix of fiction, documentary, and animated shorts that are funny, sad, inspirational, and full of strong characters.
The Festival’s Short Film Program has long been established as a place to discover talented directors, such as past alumni Andrea Arnold, Lake Bell, Damien Chazelle, Destin Daniel Cretton, Jay and Mark Duplass, Debra Granik, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Todd Haynes, Sterlin Harjo, Don Hertzfeldt, Sky Hopinka, Shaka King, Lynne Ramsay, Dee Rees, Joey Soloway, Taika Waititi, and many others.
2023 Program
Help Me Understand / United States (Director and Screenwriter: Aemilia Scott, Producers: Paul Feig, Laura Fischer, Kesila Childers, Erica Fishman, Amy Geist) — Six women come to a consensus. Fiction. Cast: Dana Powell, Dierdre Friel, Rachael Harris, Nicole Michelle Haskins, Kate Flannery, Ken Marino, Kali Racquel
Inglorious Liaisons / France/Belgium (Directors and Screenwriters: Chloé Alliez, Violette Delvoye, Producers: Jean-François Le Corre, Mathieu Courtois, William Henne) — On the night of a big party for Lucie, Maya, and their friends, Jimmy has also come. Everyone knows he is here for Maya, but does she have the same feelings for Jimmy? Fiction/Animation. Cast: Evmorfia Spanoudis, Hélène Bolenge Boteku
Parker / United States (Directors: Catherine Hoffman, Sharon Liese, Producers: Sharon Liese, Funmi Ogunro, Samantha Hake) — Three generations of a Kansas City family are finally unified when they do something that countless other Black Americans could not — choose their own last name. Non-Fiction.
Pro Pool / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Alec Pronovost, Producer: Patrick Francke-Sirois) — Newly graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and civilization, Charles-Olivier struggles to find a job in his field and must rely on a clerk position in a pool shop. Feeling down, he navigates his gig as best he can. Fiction Cast: Louis Carrière, Alexis Martin, Sylvie De Morais, Sébastien Rajotte, Oussama Fares, Louis Girard-Bock
Rest Stop / United States (Director and Screenwriter: Crystal Kayiza, Producers: Jalena Keane-Lee,
Brit Fryer) — On a bus ride from New York to Oklahoma, Meyi, a young Ugandan-American girl, realizes her place in the world through her mother’s ambitious effort to reunite their family. Fiction. Cast: Leeanna E. Tushabe, Alicia Basiima, Khalid Semakula, Robert Wanyama, Margaret Bisase, Olivia Nantongo. Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction.
Take Me Home / United States (Director and Screenwriter: Liz Sargent, Producer: Minos Papas) — After their mother’s death, a cognitively disabled woman and her estranged sister must learn to communicate in order to move forward. Fiction. Cast: Anna Sargent, Jeena Yi, Joan Sargent
When You Left Me On That Boulevard / United States (Director and Screenwriter: Kayla Abuda Galang Producers: Alifya Ali, David Oconer, Udoy Rahim, Samantha Skinner) — Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006. Fiction. Cast: Kailyn Dulay, Melissa Arcaya, Elle Rodriguez, Whitney Agustin, Gina May Gimongala, Allan Wayne Anderson. Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
Upcoming Dates
Theaters, please contact Mike Plante to book a show.
Short Film at the Sundance Film Festival
Each January, the Short Film Program at the Sundance Film Festival showcases between 70 and 80 shorts, helping to support careers working in the form while also discovering new talent in filmmaking. Every type of filmmaking style is welcome: animation, documentary, narrative, and experimental stories are chosen to reflect the diversity and range of each year’s pool of submissions. The Sundance Film Festival accepts content that is 49 minutes or under for the Short Film category from any country. Learn more about submitting your short film to the Sundance Film Festival.
History
The Sundance Film Festival celebrates the short form worldwide, from the high mountains of Park City to the online realm. The Sundance Film Festival’s Short Film Program has long been established as a place to discover talented directors, such as past alumni Wes Anderson, Andrea Arnold, Debra Granik, Sterlin Harjo, Todd Haynes, Shaka King, Lynne Ramsay, Dee Rees, Joey Soloway, Taika Waititi, and many others.
Shorts Online
For nearly a decade, the Sundance Film Festival has celebrated and exhibited short films in the online arena. Over the years, we’ve worked with iTunes, Netflix, Xbox, GSM, and YouTube in helping filmmakers reach a broad audience online. From selling shorts for the filmmakers’ profit to offering them free for audiences to enjoy, we’re always on the lookout for new ways the Festival can be both a leader and pioneer of the online frontier.
