The 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest & Film Market, announced today its roster of 323 films, selected from more than 3,000 worldwide entries. Now in its 18th year, ShortFest will showcase 50 World Premieres, 63 North American Premieres and 21 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts and award-winning films from 52 countries around the world. All selections are structured into 53 themed programs, which will screen June 19-25, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs; with all Festival submissions available in the ShortFest Market. The complete line-up will be posted on www.psfilmfest.org on Saturday, June 9.
Festival Director Darryl Macdonald said, “With a lineup of well over 300 remarkable new short films in the Festival proper, an additional 3,000 titles in the Short Film Market, an online component and an incredibly strong roster of programs and industry participants in the ShortFest Forums, I expect this to be a banner year all around for the Festival, and have no doubt it will provide an equally successful learning experience and launchpad for the 400+ filmmakers from around the world we expect to host at the event this year.”
“Once again this year the Festival’s global reach has exceeded our expectations,” said Kathleen McInnis, ShortFest Film Curator/Director of Industry Programming. “With well over 50 countries represented, the breadth and depth of storytelling we are seeing defies politics, government-imposed boundaries and oppression to illuminate the collective human condition. The thrill of having so many filmmakers from such varied world cultures attend the festival inspires and reignites our own love of cinema.”
This year’s star-studded shorts feature Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as film and television stars. Christopher Lloyd and Kathy Bates in Cadaver (USA); Adam Brody in Double or Nothing (USA); Judi Dench and Tom Hiddleston in Friend Request Pending (UK); Lauren Ambrose and Hamish Linklater in I’m Coming Over (USA); Jacki Weaver in Lois (Australia/Greece); Stellan Skarsgard in Our Need for Consolation (Sweden); Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Rachael Harris in Picture Paris (USA) directed by Brad Hall; Michael Fassbender in the Pitch Black Heist (UK); American Horror Story star Evan Peters in Queen (USA); Charlotte Rampling in The End (France); Jason Ritter in The Five Stages of Grief (USA); Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane and Tom Wilkinsonin The Gruffalo’s Child (UK); Charles Dance in The Mapmaker (UK); Octavia Spencer and Frances Fisher in The Perfect Fit (USA); Lily Tomlin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Lucy Punch in The Procession (USA); Wilmer Valderrama in UNA HORA POR FAVORA (USA), True Blood’s Jim Parrack in Up the Valley and Beyond (USA),Malcolm McDowell in No Rest for the Wicked (USA) and Betsy Franco, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in Would You (USA)
In addition to familiar faces in front of the camera, some recognizable names directing shorts this year include: Shia La Beouf directs Howard Cantour (USA) and Matthew Modine wrote, co-directs and stars in Jesus Was a Commie (USA).
Throughout the Festival the selected short films are organized into 53 programs covering a variety of genres – including action, comedies, dramas, horror stories, thrillers and mysteries– and themes such as animals, art, communication, crime, dreams, family, taboos, love, memories, siblings, war, travel, work, GLBT and kids’ shorts.
Jane Schoettle (International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival), Lael Loewenstein, (President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and a critic for Variety) and Richard Abramowitz (President of Abramorama, distribution and marketing company) will serve on the ShortFest jury. A total of $118,800 in prizes, including $16,000 in cash awards, will be given out in 19 categories to this year’s short films in competition. The Panavision Grand Jury Award winner will receive a digital or film camera package valued at $60,000. First place winners in four categories will automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for a possible Academy Award nomination. Over the course of 17 years, the Festival has presented 86 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations. Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 24 at a Closing Night screening and reception.
Returning for a second year, Palm Springs International ShortFest will continue the ShortFest Online Film Festival. Ten films have been chosen to represent the festival online, and will play on a special section of the festival web site (www.psfilmfest.org/shortfest) starting a week prior to the festival. Online voting for these films will continue through the festival, with the “ShortFest Online Audience Award” announced at the Festival Award Ceremony on Closing Night. A selection of the online films will also play during the festival proper, so that attending audiences may see them live. The ShortFest Online Film Festival will continue to play online for two months after the end of the festival.
About Palm Springs International ShortFest
Designated by AMPAS as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market are the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by an ever-growing number of new and longtime sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include, Panavision, The BottomLine, Stampede Post Productions, Greenhouse Studios, KQED San Francisco and TheAustralian Consulate General in Los Angeles. Special support has been provided by The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The official host hotel and media center is the Renaissance Palm Springs. More information is available online at www.psfilmfest.org or by calling (800) 898-7256.