Legend:
A: Academy-Qualifying
B: BAFTA-Qualifying
New Zealand // October 2022
A
Show Me Shorts
Show Me Shorts consists of 100 screenings in 40 venues all across beautiful New Zealand, including the world’s southernmost venue of Scott Base in Antarctica, which the festival points out is “technically part of New Zealand.”
Three of SMS’ short film programs were programmed specifically for online, and the fest also hosts a screenwriting competition each year, which is relatively rare for a short film festival. The contest is typically open to international moviemakers.
Taking that patented New Zealand friendliness to new heights, Show Me Shorts compiles a host of great filmmaker resources on its website, which includes pieces on developing a festival strategy, how to spot a fake film festival, and licensing music for your short films. Check them all out here. You’ll be glad you did.
Tampere, Finland // March 9–13, 2022
A, B
Tampere Film Festival. Photo by Kimmo Siniluoto
Tampere has been a top showcase for shorts for more than half a century. Filmmaker Anderson Matthew puts it “next to Clermont-Ferrand and Kurzfilmtage Winterthur” in the list of European short film fests he personally wholeheartedly recommends.
The fest values “quality films, passionate programming,” tradition, and screening “the most current short films in the world” — with an emphasis on “diversity, equality and ecological sustainability,” in a relaxed atmosphere. In August, the festival announced head of programme Riina Mikkonen was moving up to executive director of the festival. “Tampere Film Festival is one of the most remarkable short film festivals in the world. I believe that our new executive director Riina Mikkonen helps us to confront future’s challenges in the short film industry in Finland and abroad,” says festival board member Aila Dündar-Järvinen.
Tyre International Short Film Festival
Tyre, Lebanon // December
Moviemaker Miguel Silveira loves this festival, describing it as “totally Cinema Paradiso-style” —referencing the 1988 Italian film about a purehearted love of all things cinema. “I was awarded best of fest in 2015 and learned a lot about the work they do. It’s just beautiful,” Silveira adds.
The festival’s website describes its organizers as “a group of artists who reopened an abandoned cinema theater in Tyre/South Lebanon.” The theater had been abandoned for 24 years, and the group of artists are the Istanbouli Theater Team and Tyro Arts Association in south Lebanon.
The festival’s FilmFreeway page notes that TISFF serves as “a main source for the cultural refreshing in south Lebanon.” Tyre is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, going back to 2,750 B.C. The Tyre Hippodrome, used by Romans in ancient times for chariot races and other sports, is a sightseeing highlight.
Vienna, Austria // May 25-30, 2022
A, B
Vienna Shorts. Photo by Christoph Thorwartl
A new initiative for 2021’s hybrid edition of Vienna Shorts was the very cool “This Is Short” — a collaboration with three other European film festivals: Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen in Germany, Go Short in the Netherlands, and Short Waves in Poland. “This Is Short” allows viewers to watch the short film programs of all four fests online. The plan is for the program to continue next year, and to grow to include even more festivals.
Festival coordinator Laura Hörzelberger describes the feeling of Vienna Shorts as “very cinephile and familial.” She also points to environmentally conscious policies that have been in place for years.
Vienna Shorts is a qualifying event not just for the Oscars, but also the Austrian Film Award, the BAFTAs, and the European Film Award. It is also one of only two festivals in Austria funded by the EU. It receives more than 5,000 entries a year and seeks out fiction, documentary, avant-garde and music video submissions.
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
Winterthur, Switzerland // November 9-14
A, B
Winterthur is a small town located just outside of Zurich, and this short film festival is known for taking care of its attending filmmakers. Anderson Matthew explains: “They help pay for flights, plus housing to all of their international filmmakers in their program.” He adds that the head programmer picked him up from the airport and drove him to his Airbnb.
This year’s six-day affair will celebrate the festival’s 25th anniversary. “With carefully curated short film programmes screened in various locations all over the city, and a wide array of special events and networking opportunities for the industry, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur is an occasion not to be missed for filmmakers, cinephiles, and short film newbies alike,” says Sol Kislig, who works in Winterthur’s media office.
When Anderson proclaims Winterthur to be “one of the top short film festivals in Europe,” means it. “The programming itself blew me away — such thoughtful programming with a high quality of films from every genre, experimental to narrative to documentary. Incredible attendance by film lovers — every screening I went to had very few empty seats. I met some amazing people whom I’m still friends with to this day. I recommend this festival to everyone.”
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