Palm Springs International ShortFest has selected 332 short films in their Official Selection that will be eligible for jury award consideration. These films represent 69 countries and were selected from more than 6,000 submissions received this year. As previously announced, while ShortFest will not hold an in-person event, a number of the official selection films will be available to screen for free online from June 16-22, 2020. A list of screening films and the complete line-up is available at www.psfilmfest.org and a list of the official selection films are included at the end of the release.
“We’re proud to share all the work filmmakers have put into making their films and all of the work our staff has put into making ShortFest happen,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “No one ever imagines launching a film festival during a pandemic, let alone launching one during such politically charged and urgent times. We remain firm believers that movies are empathy machines and stay committed to sharing cinema from different parts of the world, from different and diverse perspectives.”
“We are thrilled to be able to mount ShortFest virtually during these challenging times,” said ShortFest Directors of Programming Linton Melita and Sudeep Sharma. “Although it is a shame we cannot welcome audiences in person later this month, it is no small consolation to have the privilege to share the work of these incredible filmmakers in what we feel might be the best lineup the festival has ever had.”
The selection of short films featuring celebrated film and TV actors include Melora Walters in Adeline, the Great; Danny Pudi and Karan Soni in Coffee Shop Names; Will McCormack and Michael Govier direct If Anything Happens I Love You produced by Laura Dern; Mandy Moore in I Lost My Mother’s Ashes; Gayle Rankin in Jane; Kevin Dunn in Josiah; Oscar Isaac and Alia Shawkat in The Letter Room; Lily Gladstone in Little Chief; Rachel Dratch in Marcy Learns Something New; Maya Rudolph, Jay Ellis and LaRoyce Hawkins in Thirsty; John Gemberling in Uprising; Nicholas Braun in Victor in Paradise; and Sarah Steele in We Want Our Money Back.
ShortFest remains dedicated to providing a space to facilitate connections between creators, industry, and our amazing audience. The ShortFest Forum will also take place from June 16-22, 2020 with virtual classes and panels featuring industry guests including actors Colman Domingo and Melora Walters, directors Kyle Patrick Alvarez and Craig Johnson and representatives from AMPAS, Animation Magazine, Anonymous Content, AV Club, BOOM! Studios, CAA, CBC, Cannes Short Film Corner, Cinepolis, Clermont Ferrond, Comedy Central, Criterion, DreamWorks Music, Echo Lake Management, Films Boutique, Film Independent, Ghetto Film School, GKids, Hamptons Film Festival, ICM, IDA, Indiewire, Keshet Studios, Mosiac, New Orleans Film Society, OUAT Media, Outfest, Revry, Rotten Tomatoes, SAGindie, Screen Anarchy, Seed&Spark, SFFFILM, Showtime, Sundance Film Festival, SuperFilms!, USC, UTA, Variety, Viacom, Vimeo and more.
This year’s panels will cover a wide range of topics including animation, budgeting, commercials, co-productions, documentary filmmaking, entertainment law, episodics, festival programming, festival strategy, financing, music, pitching, writing, as well as working with actors, agents, managers, press and publicists. ShortFest filmmakers will have priority access to the ShortFest Forum. Four of the panels will be available for the general public, with pre- registration required starting June 13 available on the website.
Juried award winners will be announced on Sunday, June 21 from the official selection presenting them with awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 including five Academy Award® qualifying awards. Over the course of 24 years, the Festival has presented over 100 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award® nominations. This year’s categories, which will have their own group of jury members, include:
Oscar® Qualifying Awards: Greater Palm Springs CVB 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, GoE Bridging the Borders Award, Local Jury Award, Vimeo Staff Pick Award, Young Cineastes Award
The 2020 Palm Springs ShortFest Official Selection are below :
Animation
- Any Instant Whatever (UK) Director: Michelle Brand
- Applesauce (Austria) Director: Alexander Gratzer
- Beyond Noh (USA/Japan) Director: Patrick Smith (Documentary)
- Blackheads (USA) Director: Emily Ann Hoffman
- Blieschow (Germany) Director: Christoph Sarow
- Daughter (Czech Republic) Director: Daria Kashcheeva
- The Edge (Switzerland) Director: Zaide Kutay, Géraldine Camissar
- Eli (USA) Director: Nate Milton
- The Fabric of You (UK) Director: Josephine Lohoar Self
- Fantasmia (Germany) Director: Luise Fiedler
- Flesh (Brazil) Director: Camila Kater (Documentary)
- Goldfish (USA) Director: Daniel Zvereff
- Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad (USA) Director: Camrus Johnson, Pedro Piccinini (Documentary)
- The Great Malaise (Canada) Director: Catherine Lepage
- Heatwave (UK/Greece) Director: Fokion Xenos
- Hibiscus Season (Canada) Director: Éléonore Goldberg
- A Hole (USA) Director: Molly Murphy
- Icebound (USA) Director: Drew Christie
- If Anything Happens I Love You (USA) Director: Will McCormack, Michael Govier
- Inside me (Germany) Director; Maria Trigo Teixeira (Documentary)
- Into the Flame (USA) Director: Sean McClintock
- Jesa (USA/South Korea) Director: Kyungwon Song (Documentary)
- Kapaemahu (USA) Director: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
- La Traque (Switzerland) Director: Natacha Baud-Grasset
- The Last Day of Autumn (Switzerland/Belgium/France) Director: Marjolaine Perreten
- Liliana (Slovenia) Director: Milanka Fabjančič
- Little Miss Fate (Switzerland) Director: Joder von Rotz
- The Lost Wedding Ring (Germany) Director: Elisabeth Jakobi
- Meudon (USA) Director: Leah Dubuc
- Mizuko (USA/Japan) Director: Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo (Documentary)
- Pangu (USA/China) Director: Shaofu Zhang
- Per Aspera Ad Astra (France) Director: Franck Dion
- Pipe Dream (Australia) Director: Benoit McCullough
- Pulsión (Argentina/France) Director: Pedro Casavecchia
- Purpleboy (Portugal/Belgium/France) Director: Alexandre Siqueira
- Riga’s Lilac (France/Latvia) Director: Lizete Upīte (Documentary)
- San (South Korea) Director: Jin Woo
- SH_T Happens (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France) Director: Michaela Mihalyi, David Stumpf
- Souvenir (Spain) Director: Cristina Vilches Estella, Paloma Canonica
- Space Clouds (Canada) Director: Tally Abecassis (Documentary)
- Such a Beautiful Town (Poland) Director: Marta Koch
- Symbiosis (France/Hungary) Director: Nadja Andrasev
- Tadpole (France) Director: Jean-Claude Rozec
- There Were Four of Us (USA/China) Director: Cassie Shao
- Tiger and Ox (South Korea) Director: Seunghee Kim (Documentary)
- Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves (Estonia/Croatia/France) Director: Chintis Lundgren
- Umbilical (USA/China) Director: Danski Tang (Documentary)
- Wade (India) Director: Upamanyu Bhattacharyya, Kalp Sanghvi
- Why Slugs Have No Legs (Switzerland) Director: Aline Höchli
- XYU (France) Director: Donato Sansone
- Yes-People (Iceland) Director: Gísli Darri Halldórsson
