Short Film
Short Film
Fueled by artistic expression and limited only by their run time, 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
2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 110-minute theatrical program of seven short films curated from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, including three Festival Award–winning titles. The tour program is a sampling of Festival offerings and a testament to the unique storytelling potential that the format holds. Audiences who missed the 2024 Sundance Film Festival can enjoy a mix of fiction, documentary, and animated shorts that are funny, sad, inspiring, and full of strong characters. Driven by innovation and experimentation, the Short Film Program seeks out filmmaking’s most original voices from around the world.
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.
2024 Program
ALOK / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Hedison) — A compelling portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive-produced by Jodie Foster. Nonfiction. Cast: Alok Vaid-Menon, Dylan Mulvaney, Chani Nicholas.
Bug Diner / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Phoebe Jane Hart) — A dissatisfied marriage, a secret crush, and workplace fantasies come to a head in a diner run by a mole with a hot ass. Fiction. Cast: Jacob Levy, Phoebe Hart. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Award: Animation.
The Masterpiece / Spain (Director and Producer: Àlex Lora Cercós, Screenwriter and Producer: Lluis Quilez, Screenwriter: Alfonso Amador, Producers: Sandra Travé, Josemari Martínez, Néstor López) — Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with something she wants. Fiction. Cast: Daniel Grao, Babou Cham, Melina Matthews, Adam Nourou, Guido Grao. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
Pathological / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alison Rich, Producers: Bridgett Greenberg, Ingrid Haas, Avtar Khalsa, Peter Principato, Todd Ruhnau) — A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one day to discover her lies have become true. Fiction. Cast: Alison Rich, Meaghan Rath, Luke Cook, Adam Lustick, Heather Pasternak, George Kareman.
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love / Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa, Producer: Yasuo Suzuki) — Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with her friend Kubokayo. Fiction. Cast: Aiko Kano, Saya, Maki Fukuda, Kanta Sato. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing.
Upcoming Dates
| Venue | City | State | Date(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buskirk-Chumley Theater | Bloomington | IN | 03-01-24 |
| Cinema 10 | Potsdam | NY | 03-03-24 |
| Lake Worth Playhouse | Lake Worth | FL | 03-29-24 |
| Hollywood Theatre | Portland | OR | 02/11/24 |
| Wilmette Theatre | Wilmette | IL | 02-23-24 |
Upcoming Dates
Theaters, please contact Mike Plante to book a show.
Want more access to Festival shorts?
Become a member to enjoy our brand-new, exclusive Supporter Shorts series presented by Shutterstock. Each month for a full year, a film from a curated collection of shorts will arrive straight to your inbox!
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.
