Aspen Film presents the 34th Shortsfest: Your guide to the festival

Get ready to laugh, cry, learn, and network with Aspen Film’s 34^th Shortsfest.

The festival — slated for Monday, March 31, through Saturday, April 5, at Wheeler Opera House and Aspen Film Isis Theatre — includes 68 short films selected from nearly 3,000 submissions and includes 11 world premieres.

Shortsfest is one of only five Oscar-qualifying festivals in the nation that completely dedicates itself to short animations, documentaries, and narratives. It features new films from more than 29 countries. The festival presents the films in 10 blocks, or programs, with general admission tickets costing $28.

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For example, Monday night’s Program 1 showcases one U.S. premiere, “Deck 5B,” a 14-minute Swedish film about a mother who must choose between her parental duty and the love she’s been waiting for. The program also includes five Colorado premieres and one additional film, “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” a 13-minute film following a woman who gets her period in 1813 during a long-awaited marriage proposal. Monday night’s stories range from an ex-mobster who reflects on love after 32 years in prison to Vietnamese refugees who ended up being background extras during the filming of “Apocalypse Now.”

Each program contains a variety of shorts, from comedies to dramas, documentaries, and animations.

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“This year’s Oscar-qualifying competition will introduce viewers to a vast and exciting array of fast-rising filmmakers and established talents,” according to a press release.

The Shortsfest team of programmers and screeners collectively spent more than a thousand hours throughout many months viewing the mountain of submissions to choose only the best.

“One big challenge is that we always receive many more strong films than we can fit into the selection. So the team really is looking not only for shorts that not only stand out from the pack because of their strengths — which could be amazing performances, surprising narratives, innovative techniques, or, hopefully, all of the above — but somehow complement and communicate with each other,” said Shortsfest Programming Director Jason Anderson. “It’s always a tricky task to find films that are all unique, yet also fit together to create a satisfying and compelling flow of stories and styles. … We were continually wowed by our discoveries, as we worked through the nearly 3,000 submissions we received.”

Outstanding animations include: “Retirement Plan,” “Percebes,” “S the Wolf,” “Maybe Elephants,” “Los Carpinchos,” and “Black Tide.” For relatable family stories, check out: “Unholy,” “We Should Eat,” “On the Way,” and “Granny Would Dance.”

If you’re more into heart-wrenching dramas, don’t miss: “Rhubarb Rhubarb,” “Deck 5B,” “The Weight of a Dog,” “Breastmilk,” and “Astro.”  

For daring, one-of-a-kind films that break conventions, take in “The Sentry,” “The Beguiling,” “Vox Humana,” “A Bear Remembers,” and “Siesta.” Equally rich dramas, comedies, and documentaries that include, or place, older characters in the foreground are: “The Weight of a Dog,” “Georgie,” “Livestreams with Grandmapuzzles,” and “No Experience Necessary.”

While all quality films — short or not — are challenging to pull off, comedies rank right up there. Stand-out Shortsfest comedies like “Poreless” poke fun at all kinds of demographics, from stereotypes of beauty-obsessed business owners and not-so-with-it older partners to a queer Muslim entrepreneur who tries to hide his flaws when he breaks out in a rash. “Cattywampus” turns the typical tension of jewelry burglars grabbing the loot on its head, as the burglars share from the richness of their hearts. Sascha Seinfeld’s “The Final Cut” takes a humorous look at God (see related story, coming later this week). Meanwhile, Ben Lewis’ “She Raised Me” ends with an eerie question mark within its comedic plot.

Shorts like “The Final Cut” star Henry Winkler, while others star J. Smith Cameron, Hamish Linklater, Martin Starr, and many more.

The festival also features award-winners from the Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, and Locarno Film festivals. Among the prize-winning shorts:

• “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent,” winner of Palme d’Or in the shorts competition at Cannes in 2024 and nominee for Best Live Action Short at the Academy Awards
• “Deck 5B,” awarded Best International Short at TIFF 2024
• “A Bear Remembers,” winner of two prizes, including the Canal+ Award at the Clermont-Ferrand film festival this year
• “Are You Scared to Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?” named Best Canadian Short at TIFF in 2024 and best queer short at Clermont-Ferrand
• “Percebes,” winner of the Cristal for best short at the Annecy film festival in 2024
• “Vox Humana,” named best live-action short in the Chicago International Film Festival and winner of the international short film competition at the Festival de Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, both in 2024

Four recent winners in the Sundance Film Festival’s short film competition make their Colorado premieres at the festival: “Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites” for international fiction, “We Were the Scenery” for nonfiction, “Como Si La Tierra Se Las Hubiera Tragado” for animation, and “Tiger,” which won the special jury award for directing.

Academy Award-nominated or winning filmmakers with new films at Shortsfest include: Kim A. Snyder with “Death by Numbers,” Nebojša Slijepčević with “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent,” Torill Kove with “Maybe Elephants,” and Job, Joris and Marieke with “Quota.”

Of course, Aspen Shortsfest also showcases local filmmakers from Colorado. This year, four Colorado filmmakers join the lineup in: Emily Everhard’s “No Experience Necessary,” Chelsea Christer’s “Out for Delivery,” Anna Cappello’s “Rope Swing,” and Raúl Paz Pastrana and Alan Dominguez’ “And the Stars Are the Same.”

All of the films compete for eight prizes awarded by three juries, plus an Audience Award, voted upon by viewers. Cash prizes range from $1,250 to $2,500. A youth jury, made up of middle and high school students, also awards a prize for the film they think best reflects the experiences of today’s youth.

“Filmmakers have said that winning this award is one of the highest honors at the festival,” according to the press release.

Special guests participate in public screenings, panels, workshops, and other festivities that spotlight the art and craft of short-form cinema.

Films in Aspen Shortsfest have often found Oscar success, either through nominations or wins, including last year’s “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” by Molly O’Brien; it won Best Documentary Short at this year’s Academy Awards. In fact, many filmmakers screened their works at Shortsfest before becoming household names.

Education is also a cornerstone of the festival. For youth, Aspen Film’s FilmEducates offers a variety of forums, beginning with an in-school event at Basalt High School screening a selection of festival films and a Q&A with filmmakers on Sunday, March 31, followed by a free screening of LGBTQ+ films from this year’s festival for teachers and students Wednesday, April 2, and a Young Filmmaker Lab about creative storytelling through sound Thursday, April 3, the latter of which will be in Glenwood Springs. Additionally, festival film and production interns hone their skills as they prepare for, shoot, and edit a series of interviews with visiting filmmakers and industry guests April 1-2. Interns stem from partner institutions: Isaacson School for Communication, Arts and Media at Colorado Mountain College, and the Aurora Community College Cinematic Arts Department.

Festival panels, which start at 2 p.m., include: Working with Rising Talent (April 1), What About a Film Makes Us Take Notice (April 2), Platforms + Possibilities, about avenues short films may take to reach audiences (April 3), Creative Sound Design for Short Films (April 4), and Pathways + Pitfalls, featuring lessons from experts (April 5). At noon Friday, April 4, Kevin Rowe, co-founder of talent management and production company 2AM, talks about how his representation of filmmakers, writers, and actors dovetails into the production of some of today’s top indie film and television.

Each night wraps up with a special party in rotating venues.

“We are fortunate to present so much talented work that resonates and inspires,” said Susan Wrubel, Aspen Film executive and artistic director. “We also boast a talented jury of professionals who adjudicate on six of our Shortsfest awards, as well as a fantastic roster of industry professionals in attendance to chat with and interact with our visiting filmmakers. Once again, this festival will not disappoint.” 

For a schedule and more information, visit aspenfilm.org.