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The 15th annual Palm Springs International ShortFest will include 76 world premieres, 43 North American premieres and 14 U.S. premieres in its lineup of 315 films, it was announced today.
They’ll screen June 23-29 at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs.
The short films are from 41 countries and were ｓ ｅｌｅｃｔed from more than 2,500 worldwide entries. They’ll be packaged into 52 themed programs and many include feature film stars.
Actors making their directorial debuts at the festival include Demi Moore directing “Streak,” starring Brittany Snow, Rumer Willis and Madeline Zima; Courteney Cox-Arquette directing and starring in “The Monday Before Thanksgiving,” starring Laura Dern and Rosemary Harris; Marianne Jean-Baptiste directing “Ink,” and Joseph Gordon-Levitt directing “Sparks,” starring Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz.
“We were fortunate to have a wealth of extraordinary work submitted to us from all around the world this year, which made the selection process that much more difficult, said Festival Programming and Executive Director Darryl Macdonald. “The resulting lineup of short films is a richer, more diverse and accomplished collection of work than I’ve ever seen, and heralds a wealth of great new talent to enrich the film world for years to come.”
ShortFest Film Curator Kathleen McInnis also is excited about the special events scheduled at the festival.
“We have brought together an exemplary list of industry heavyweights to share their knowledge — on both the ‘Digital Delivery/New Media Day’ and ‘Take it to the Next Level Day’ over closing weekend,” she said. “We’re giving our short filmmakers the real world tools to make that leap to feature filmmaker and beyond as part of our mandate to put filmmakers first.”
Other stars featured in the shorts include past Palm Springs International Film Festival Rising Star recipient Adam Beach, who stars in “Help”; Danny Glover in “This Life” from Australia; Olympia Dukakis in “Hove (The Wind)”; Alfred Molina in “Lessons in Self-Defense” ; Rick Schroeder in “Locker 13: Down and Out”; Christopher Eccleston in “The Happiness Salesman” from the UK; Derek Jacobi in “One of Those Days” from the UK; Will Patton in “Looking at Animals”; the voices of Christopher Lloyd and John Lithgow in “The Macabre World of Lavender Williams”; and Linda Hunt narrating “The Crooked Eye.”
The 52 programs include thrillers, horror, animation, documentaries and comedies, and themes such as family, war, art, grandparents, pet peeves, sex, memories, immigration, obsessions, couples, travel, parents, the Jewish experience, and gay and lesbian lifestyles.
One of the programs will highlight short films from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, based in Singapore, which has students from 21 countries and a faculty of working film professionals dedicated to educating the next generation of storytellers.
The opening night screening at 6:30 p.m. June 23 will feature award-winning live-action and animated comedy films including such U.S. films as “Dead Bunny,” “Emilia Eckle,” “Expiration” and “True Beauty This Night,” plus “Eyelash” from Switzerland, “Multiple Choice” and “My New Toy” from Australia, “Stop Requested” and “The Williams” from France, and “The Suffering of Mr. Karpf - The Birthday” from Germany.
A jury of three industry professionals will screen this year’s short films selected for competition in 18 categories, including Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Live Action, Best of Festival and the Future Filmmaker Award. A total of $94,000 in money and production prizes, including $14,000 in cash awards will be given out.
The Panavision Grand Jury Award winner will receive a digital or film camera package valued at $60,000 and five days studio time courtesy of DST Studios. Another $7,500 in Kodak film stock will be presented to the film winners in the student award categories.
First place winners in four categories will automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a possible Academy Award nomination.
Over the course of its first 14 years, the festival has presented 64 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations.
The festival and its concurrent 2,500-film film market continues to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and is well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.
Three days of panels comprised of industry representatives have been assembled to discuss trends and provide advice on short filmmaking.
June 26 is “Digital Delivery/New Media Day” where top leaders in new media will discuss with filmmakers digital exhibition platforms, digital distribution and digital creativity.
June 27 is “Take It to the Next Level Day” with panels that will offer filmmakers tangible advice on making a feature production including packaging the production, casting the film and publicity.
June 28 is a brunch where filmmakers can meet programmers from a number of key festivals as well as theatrical, television and online buyers.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by new and long-time sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The title sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun, Spencer’s and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Major Sponsors include MAKE, Panavision, The Bottom Line, Kodak, KPSP, the Kaiser Restaurant Group and the Ace Hotel. The official host hotel and media center is the Hilton Palm Springs Resort.
More ShortFest information is available online at www.psfilmfest. org or by calling (800) 778-8979.