Film Festival of the Day: Shortie Film Festival
The first ever Shortie Film Festival took place October 3rd and 4th 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. Shortie is an independent, international festival for films totaling 30 minutes or less, which is perfect for our shortened attention span. The festival aims to provide a platform for emerging and provocative filmmaking with two days of screenings, Q&As, and afterparties for a film-loving audience seeking new voices and perspectives.
The Shortie Film Festival received over 300 submissions from more than 40 countries in their first call for entries. Entries were selected by submission only. All movies were produced in the last two years but the festival accepted all genres and subject matters within their submission base.
At the culmination of the festival, the prize was awarded for Best Film. The winner of Best Film was selected by the Shortie jury, comprised of individuals with original and diverse points of view from the international film community. Their jury includes industry professionals and movie experts. Shortie film festival head programmer was Anna Panova, filmmaker, journalist and producer originally from Russia. Other members of the jury included Ron Kopp, film studies professor, and filmmaker, Nathalie Mesen, Swedish-Costa Rican writer/director and Dorottya Mathe, Hungarian producer with two decades of experience in film and television. All of them carefully chose Shortie's film selection.
Awards were also presented in eight other categories:
- Best Social Justice/Investigative Film
- Best Fiction
- Best Documentary
- Best First Film
- Best Director
- Best Cinematographer
- Best Soundtrack
The Shortie Film Festival was held at ASI Studios, 110 Waterbury Street, Brooklyn. The festival was sponsored and supported by Pizzette, New York Film Academy, Gotham Greens, Manhattan photo studio, ASI Studios, M23, Solutions Journalism Network, Reclamation Bar.
Thursday, October 3rd 2019
6 – 10 pm
Main Competition, Fiction
Friday, October 4th 2019
8 – 11 pm
Main Competition, Fiction and Documentary
11pm
Award Ceremony
Find out more! Register your interest and get tickets here.
Selection of Shortie Film Festival highlights you have to see
Spirit
Documentary, 2019, Australia
When Saraswati arrives as the first educated daughter-in-law in a Himalayan village, she wonders how she will ever feel at home. But faced with the scepticism of an older generation of women, she grows determined to succeed. As the village’s ten-day Pandav Lila festival approaches, the film offers a window onto the everyday work and spiritual practices that bind people to each other and the land.
An intimate story of longing and belonging in India’s sacred mountains, Spirit explores what it takes to make a home in a remote community in the thralls of change. Spirit emerged out of Jane’s ongoing ethnographic work in the village since 2003.
Alongside her academic writing, Jane and Ross’s first film in the village (Lifelines, 2014) explored the impacts of social and economic change in the region. With Spirit, they were interested in ideas of belonging in the context of these shifts. They wanted to explore the work, time and love that goes into creating a sense of place, but also how it feels.
Jane’s long-term relationships in the village provides the basis for these conversations. Meanwhile, the extraordinary performances of the little known Pandav Lila festival – which is unique to the region – provides a powerful lens through which to tell these stories.
Won multiple awards at Shortie and the Inspiration Award at Research in Film Awards 2019. Available to watch online via dedicated website.
Broken Waves
Documentary, 2019, Canada
When journalists and international aid leave, what remains of a humanitarian crisis? What are the traces left by the uprooting of millions of humans? What do we remember from the journey of anonymous crowds?
In Broken waves, we follow the photographer Frédéric Séguin in a pilgrimage, during which he returns to the highlights of the Syrian refugee crisis and tries to find the people he has photographed between 2015 and 2017.
In the fields, once muddy and full of tents, nature is taking back its rights. On the banks of the Greek Islands, the waves have already forgotten the tragedies of yesterday. But yet, scars remain alive in those who have been uprooted.
Hurricane
Documentary, 2019, USA
Land is the only thing worth killing, worth fighting for, worth lying, and worth dying for.
After a devastating hurricane lays waste to their homes, Barbudans must overcome a second and potentially even greater threat – the sale of their island to foreign interests in the name of rebuilding, upending 300 years of communal land ownership.
Communal land ownership disputes on Barbuda continue with legal challenges reported through 2023.
Festival Legacy and Continuation
The inaugural 2019 edition established Shortie as a platform focused on short works under thirty minutes. FilmFreeway and the official site later described the event as an ongoing annual NYC festival with screenings and networking afterparties. Winners were announced for the 2019 edition, including Best Film for Summer, Best Fiction Short for Whitetail, and Best Social Justice Short for What They Left Behind.
Post-Festival Impact of Highlighted Films
Spirit won multiple Shortie awards and the Inspiration Award at the Research in Film Awards 2019. The film remains viewable via a dedicated website and YouTube. Broken Waves continued festival circulation in Canada and Europe after its Shortie screening. Hurricane maintained relevance through ongoing Barbuda coverage in regional press.
Short Film Festival Landscape in Brooklyn 2026
Multiple short film festivals operate in Brooklyn including Brooklyn International Short Festival and others active in 2026. Venues range from converted warehouses in Greenpoint to storefront theaters in Williamsburg. These events share programming goals with Shortie while expanding on digital distribution and hybrid screenings.
Themes in the Highlighted Documentaries Today
Barbuda communal land disputes persist with court cases into 2023. Spirit continues to be screened and discussed for its ethnographic themes in academic and documentary circles. Broken Waves resonates with current reporting on refugee memory and displacement in the Mediterranean.
