The 2025 Sundance Short Film Programs Announced
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On Monday the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 57 short films that will be presented at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. They will screen through their eight curated Short Film Programs presented by Vimeo that includes both fiction and nonfiction titles from the U.S. and around the world.
If you’re interested in joining, the Festival will take place from January 23-February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. Also returning this year is the festival’s online component, which lets you catch all of the competition films and more (if the film opts in), starting January 30-February 2, 2025.
You can check out ticketing information here, Ticket packages, if available, will be open for sale up until January 10, 2025. Currently there is a flash sale for the Shorts Films Pass: Online, Use code YULESUN2025 for 20% off through 11:59 p.m. MT on December 21, 2024.
“Our Short Film Program celebrates fresh styles and unique stories. The short run time encourages innovation,” said Mike Plante, Senior Programmer, Short Film. “Audiences will find much of the next generation of film talent here, with raw, exciting and inspired filmmaking from around the world in each of our eight programs.”
U.S. FICTION SHORT FILMS
AN ALMOST SUCCESSFUL DATING APP LOVE STORY / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Winter Coleman, Producer: Kim Coleman) — Determined to meet him dead or alive, a curious young woman attends the funeral of a man she matched with on a dating app. Cast: Olivia Washington, Caleb Hearon, Derrick King, Caitlin Reilly. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Azi / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Montana Mann, Producer: Steven Snyder) — During a weekend vacation with her best friend’s family, 17-year-old Azi gets caught up in an unexpected game with another guest. Cast: Dior Negeen Goodjohn, Breeda Wool, Emma Filley, Dan Thiel. Available online for Public.
Debaters / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Alex Heller, Producers: Angie Gaffney, Brittani Ward, Amy E. Powell) — In a debate chamber, affluent high schoolers argue a bill on minimum wage in an effort to impress two working-class adult judges. Cast: Sripadh Puligilla, J. Smith-Cameron, Kenneth Lonergan, Bernadette Santos-Schwegel. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alexander Thompson, Producer: Roger M. Mayer) — In the Depression-ravaged countryside of 1930s America, adolescent girls are expected to fulfill a long-standing rite in which they hunt and slay a mythical beast of their mother’s choosing. Cast: Milly Shapiro, Pollyanna McIntosh. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
En Memoria / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Roberto Fatal, Screenwriter and Producer: Ali Meyers-Ohki, Producer: Leah Dubuc) — In a dystopian future, a mother struggles to finish making her daughter’s quinceañera dress. Cast: Leslie Martinez, Frédérique LaTour, Jennifer Rader. Available online for Public.
Full Month / Singapore, U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Ash Goh Hua, Producer: Joel Neo) — Following the birth of her niece, Jing returns to Singapore for the newborn’s birthday celebration. She is forced to confront the contentious relationship with her estranged mother and traditional family politics, which prompted her departure a decade prior. Cast: Tess Pang, Doreen Toh, Gim Choon Goh, Timothy Wan, Shi-An Lim. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Goodnight / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Isabel Pask, Screenwriter and Producer: Annie Fox, Producers: Catherine Gildea, Iris Beaumier, Brenna Power, John Way) — A hospice nurse revisits the comfort and fear of childhood when she hires a babysitter to take care of her for the night. Cast: Dagmara Domińcyzk, Annie Fox. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
THE LILY (เดอะลิลลี่) / U.S.A., Thailand (Director, Screenwriter, Producer: Quintessa Swindell) — Two Muay Thai fighters who were once childhood friends come together for a final fight, which serves as a brutal resolution to their difficult familial bond torn apart by the hatred of their fathers. Cast: May Petchompoo, Quintessa Swindell, Sekou Laidlow. Available online for Public.
Out for Delivery / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Chelsea Christer, Producers: Clinton Trucks, Alexa Rocero, David B. Lyons) — When terminally ill Joanna makes the difficult decision to pursue end-of-life options through the Death with Dignity Act, the systems set up to make her death peaceful and dignified yield the opposite. Cast: Deanna Rooney, Martin Starr, DeMorge Brown. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Ragamuffin / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Kaitlyn Mikayla, Producers: Amber Neukum, Hannah Alline, Christina Jundt, Sailor Larocque) — A 12-year-old motocross racer spends what seems like an average race weekend at the track with her father. But as things unfold, she’s faced with her identity, her deafness, and what it means to be a girl. Cast: Eden Harper, Robert Hadlock, Courtney Dietz, Bailey Sloan, Michael Aaron Milligan. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
remember me / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Claire Titelman, Producer: Steve Collins) — Claire just turned 40 years old, got dumped, and moved home to take care of her dying dad. She decides it’s time for her to go on a date. Cast: Claire Titelman. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Somebody Cares / U.S.A. (Director: Julien Lasseur, Screenwriter: Brian Groh, Producer: Patrick Koitzsch) — After being taken hostage by a clumsy hit man at a cabin in the woods, Barry — a lonely middle-aged deadbeat — must convince his estranged sister to wire him his dead uncle’s inheritance before fate comes to collect. Cast: Shawn Parsons, Cjon Saulsberry. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Such Good Friends / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Bri Klaproth, Screenwriter and Producer: Jon Walkup, Producer: Rachel Rambaldi) — After ending a toxic friendship, a people pleaser finds herself falling into old patterns with her former best friend’s family. Cast: Mindy Sterling, Niamh O’Neill Culhane, Jared Lo Nigro, Rachel Rambaldi. Available online for Public.
SUSANA / Mexico, U.S.A (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Gerardo Coello Escalante, Amandine Thomas, Producers: Mariana Tames, Fernanda Preciado, Hannah Swayze) — A middle-aged American tourist finds herself alone in Mexico City. When she encounters a group of young Americans, she jumps at the opportunity for a little adventure. Cast: Bonnie Hellman Brown, Christine Spang, Parth Shah, Keenan MacWilliam, Andrea Raggio, Richard Laite. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Sweet Talkin’ Guy / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: Spencer Wardwell, Dylan Wardwell, Producers: April S. Chang, Vicki Syal) — A trans woman goes on three consecutive dates with straight men. As the men grapple with their fragile masculinity, their sexual identities unravel in frantic monologues ironically delivered to the object of their desires. Cast: Dylan Wardwell, Jimmie Fails, Daniel Olson, Pierce Abernathy. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Swollen / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Roxy Sophie Sorkin, Producers: Brian Niles, Chelsea Eisen, Will Noyce, Lily Rosenthal) — After plastic surgery, two besties debate the need to call the local police amid a botched burglary for fear of being seen swollen, bandaged, and bloody. Cast: Roxy Sophie Sorkin, Lily Rosenthal. Available online for Public.
The Things We Keep / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Joanna Fernandez, Producers: Tim Truesdell, Lilith Mo, Yaxing Lin, Sofia Riba, Andrea Riba, Thomas Fernandez) — Forced into a caretaker position, Kate comes home to pack up her estranged mother’s house. While struggling to clear her mother’s hoarded possessions, Kate discovers the insidious nature of her mother’s illness lying behind the house’s walls. Cast: Rebecca Holopter, Jenny O’Hara. Available online for Public.
Trokas Duras / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jazmin Garcia, Screenwriter: Benjamin Benji Moreno, Producers: Sally Su Jin Oh, Mayte Avina, Scott O’Donnell) — Journeying through the interior landscapes of a Jornalero’s dreams, his waking reality in Los Angeles, and what it looks like when a group of people relegated to serving others labors for their own elevation of body and spirit. Cast: Benjamin Benji Moreno, La Chapis, El Barrio, Luis Valentan, Elmer Mayorga, Tricia Sarmento. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Unholy / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Daisy Friedman, Producers: Arielle Friedman, Isaak Popkin, Camila Grimaldi) — Noa attends her family’s Passover Seder for the first time since being put on a feeding tube for a gastrointestinal disorder. There, she is confronted with pushy family members, malfunctioning medical devices, and a room of food she can’t eat. Cast: Danny Burstein, Olivia Nikkanen, Laura Patinkin, Jill Abramovitz, Arielle Friedman, Roberta Pikser. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Vox Humana / Philippines, U.S.A., Singapore (Director and Screenwriter: Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, Producers: Hannah Schierbeek, Alemberg Ang) — An eccentric biologist interrogates a wild man who was found in the forest after an earthquake hit a small mountain town. Cast: Sasa Cabalquinto, Ymeiliza Tabora, Bruce Venida.
We’re Not Done Yet / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Joseph Longo, Director: Sofia Camargo, Producers: Pauline Glomaud-Murmann, Louis Anania) — Alex visits his newly single mother, Bettina, for a weekend at her getaway beach house. But when he is confronted with her newfound independence, Alex is forced to face his own controlling nature. Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Joseph Longo, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Doron JéPaul Mitchell, Lauren Norvelle. Available online for Public.
INTERNATIONAL FICTION SHORT FILMS
Almost Certainly False / Turkey (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Cansu Baydar, Producers: Sinan Yusufoğlu, Ceyda Yüceer, İzlem Genç, Ulaş Tuna Astepe, Ali Farkhonde) — Having fled the war in Syria, Hanna and her younger brother, Nader, find themselves staying in a run-down neighborhood in Istanbul. Cast: Rahaf Armanazi, İsa Karataş, Büşra Albayrak, Ferhat Akgün, Ubey Gül. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Bec Pecaut, Producer: Emily Harris) — While recovering from top surgery, Mad struggles with wanting their partner’s attention and accepting help from their mother. Cast: Lío Mehiel, Sadie Scott, Phyllis Ellis. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
B(l)ind The Sacrifice / South Africa (Director and Screenwriter: Nakhane, Producers: Cait Pansegrouw, Elias Ribeiro) — A nomadic family wanders the land under the father’s leadership. One day, the men ascend a mountain to make a sacrifice. But today, things are different, which alters the family forever. Cast: Sihle Mnqwazana, Nandi Nyembe, Treasure Nkosi. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites / Cambodia, France (Director and Screenwriter: Chheangkea, Producers: Daniel Mattes, Karen Madar) — During her chaotic family’s Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her Queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman. Cast: Bonrotanak Rith, Saroeun Nay, Sokun Theary Ty, Phalla Im, Chansophorn Buth, Ponleu Chab. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Hippopotami / China, Hong Kong (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jianjie Lin, Producer: Ying Lou) — In the suburbs of a northern Chinese city undergoing urbanization, a quirky girl who wants to see animals in the zoo is taken for a ride that will forever change her perspective on life. Cast: Zhiyong Zhang, Zixi Wang, Ge Xu, Zhenhua Wang. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Pasta Negra / Canada, Venezuela, Italy, Colombia (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jorge Thielen Armand, Screenwriter: Mo Scarpelli) — Three Venezuelan women cross the border into Colombia to buy a packet of pasta. Cast: Lesbia López, Grieber Acosta, Mónica Zabaleta. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
People & Things / Poland (Director and Screenwriter: Damian Kosowski, Producers: Jerzy Kapuściński, Ewa Jastrzębska, Magdalena Tomanek) — Olena arrives with her daughter, Kira, and boyfriend, Timur, in a small town in eastern Ukraine to receive the results of a DNA test confirming that her husband, Ilya, who disappeared during the war, is dead. Cast: Oksana Cherkashyna, Kira Makidon, Stanislav Voitsekhovskyi, Grażyna Misiorowska. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
Platanero / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Juan Frank Hernandez, Screenwriter: Vincent Labelle, Producers: Laurence Ly, Béatrice Moukhaiber) —Ti-Frè and Gran-Frè, two brothers of Haitian origin living in a Dominican Republic shantytown, struggle daily to survive. On a full moon night, desperation pushes them to steal from a plantation where a mysterious beast prowls among the banana trees. Cast: Stanley Exantus, Irdens Exantus, Jonathan Saint-Armand, Ramón Emilio Candelario. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Stranger, Brother. / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Annelise Hickey, Producers: Tessa Mansfield-Hung, Josie Baynes) — When Adam, a self-absorbed and lonely millennial, wakes one morning to find his estranged half brother on his doorstep, he must face the family he’s been running away from. Cast: Tiaki Teremoana, Samson Uili, Charly Thorn, Patrick Livesey. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Suo Jiang / Taiwan (Director and Screenwriter: Chien-Yu Lin, Producer: Amo Chang) — A locksmith gifted with the ability to open any lock is unwilling to return home. He pursues a hostess who has no intention of keeping him company. Facing a profound sense of emptiness, he turns himself toward another path. Cast: Han Chang, I Tseng Chuang, Hsiao Hsuan Chen, Yu Hsuan Chen. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
Sweetheart / U.K. (Director and Producer: Luke Wintour, Screenwriter: Alastair Curtis, Producers: Luke Kelly, Chloe Culpin, Elliot Zelmanovits) — In 1723 London, Thomas Neville is discovered cruising in the public toilets and forced to take refuge in a Molly House. There, he encounters a secret community as they prepare for a night of festivities. Cast: Eben Figueiredo, Thomas Flynn, Ian Gelder, Kadiff Kirwan. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
UPPER / Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Lennert Madou, Producers: Laura Scheerlinck, Helena Vlogaert) — Waiting for an asteroid to pass through the sky, two friends play in a remote landscape driven by a curious urge to constantly aim higher. Cast: Pablo Schils, Cyrille Mairesse. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
ANIMATION SHORT FILMS
Bunnyhood / U.K. (Director: Mansi Maheshwari, Screenwriters: James Davis, Anna Moore, Producer: Ashionye Ogene) — Innocent Bobby discovers whether her mom would ever lie to her when she is surprised by a last-minute trip to the hospital. Cast: Nina Wadia, Mansi Maheshwari, José Prats. Available online for Public.
Caries / Switzerland (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Aline Höchli) — Eager to create a monumental work of art, a shaman remains blissfully unaware that she is painting her murals in the mouth of a vain weather presenter. World Premiere.
Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado / France (Director and Screenwriter: Natalia León, Producer: Luc Camilli) — Olivia, a young woman living abroad, returns to her hometown in Mexico in the hope of reconnecting with her past. Cast: Carolina Zárate Wall, Natalia León, GAYA, Rebeca Magdely Gonzalez Alfaro. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Eating of an Orange / U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: May Kindred-Boothby) — Convention and sexuality are explored through slugs, rituals, and the eating of an orange. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
Field Recording / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Quinne Larsen, Producer: Louie Zong) — A meandering joke about three dreams. Cast: Quinne Larsen. Louie Zong. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Flower Show / Finland (Director and Screenwriter: Elli Vuorinen, Producers: Jani Lehto, Kimmo Sillanmikko)— Wildflowers are stomped to the ground during the celebration at an annual flower show where girls have been cultivated like flowers for generations. Cast: Teija Raninen. Available online for Public.
Hurikán / Czech Republic (Director and Screenwriter: Jan Saska, Screenwriter: Václav Hašek, Producers: Kamila Dohnalová, Martin Vandas, Alena Vandasová) — Hurikán rushes to save his favorite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he has a crush on. In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst. Cast: Johana Matoušková, Patrik Velek. U.S. Premiere. Available online for Public.
Inkwo for When the Starving Return / Canada (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Amanda Strong, Screenwriters: Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Richard Van Camp, Producers: Maral Mohammadian, Nina Werewka) — Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine, Inkwo, to protect their community from an unearthed swarm of terrifying creatures. Cast: Paulina Alexis, Tantoo Cardinal, Art Napoleon. Available online for Public.
Jesus 2 / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jesse Moynihan, Producers: Aron Fromm, Casey Rupp) — In a future where no one can die and no one wants to live anymore, two space pirate brothers must destroy an evil messiah to break the curse of immortality and deliver humanity to its final resting place. Cast: Steve Little, Michael Cusack, Sarah Natochenny, Duncan Trussell, Johnny Pemberton, Natalie Palamides. Available online for Public.
Luz Diabla / Argentina, Canada (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo, Patricio Plaza, Producer: Courtney Wolfson) — Martin, a flamboyant urban raver, is involved in a strange car accident on his way to a party in the middle of the Argentine Pampas. Cast: Gianluca Zonzini, Gulliver Markert, Mario Alarcón, Emanuel Gabotto, David Tokar. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Paradise Man (ii) / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jordan Michael Blake, Producer: James Rodenhouse) — Paradise Man searches for meaning in an unknowable universe. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
A Round of Applause for Death / U.K. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Stephen Irwin) — Death takes center stage and faceless spectators applaud the inevitable in a series of murderous dreams. Cast: Mimi Gainsbourg. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
View From the Floor / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Megan Griffiths, Mindie Lind) — A singer confronts inspiration porn, exploitation, and impostor syndrome in pursuit of a life on the stage without legs. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
NONFICTION SHORT FILMS
Deadlock / France, Algeria (Directors: Lucien Beucher, Mahdi Boucif, Producers: Germain Robin, Myriam El Mounsif) — Stuck in their Algiers neighborhood, Sifou and Mahrez gaze at the sea while thinking of their brothers who left for new lives. As uncertainty lingers on the horizon, they wonder if they can break the deadlock. Available online for Public.
Death Education / China (Director and Producer: Yuxuan Ethan Wu) — In China, a high school teacher has introduced a death education class for young students. On the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, they bury unnamed ashes at a public cemetery where they contemplate and contextualize the meaning of death. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Entre le Feu et le Clair de Lune / U.S.A., Côte d’Ivoire (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Dominic Yarabe, Screenwriter: Hyacinthe Houphouet Yarabe, Producer: Carlo Nasisse) — An Ivorian father and his daughter set out to continue the book he never finished about a war he experienced as a child. With children in his village today, three generations create timelines, dreams, and memories. Available online for Public.
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing / U.K. (Director: Theo Panagopoulos, Producer: Marissa Keating) — When a filmmaker of Palestinian descent based in Scotland unearths a rarely seen film archive of Palestinian wildflowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
Hold Me Close / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Aurora Brachman, LaTajh Simmons-Weaver) — A chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two Queer Black womxn who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Hoops, Hopes & Dreams / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Glenn Kaino, Producers: Michael Latt, Alexys Feaster, Afshin Shahidi) — The untold story about how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an all-star team of civil rights activists took to basketball courts to rally young voters while winning hearts of communities, and how their strategy has echoed in contemporary politics. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Long Valley / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck) — Documenting the people and landscapes of the Salinas Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in California. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Miss You Perdularia / Cuba (Director: Manu Zilveti, Screenwriter: Stefano Lopes, Producer: Cynthia Deus) — At a Cuban high school, a group of girls who call themselves “Las Perdularias” find ways to deal with the absences on an island that is becoming increasingly empty. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Reality of Hope / U.K., Sweden (Director and Producer: Joe Hunting, Producer: Max Willson) — Virtual reality creator Hiyu is facing kidney failure. His online friend Photographotter travels from New York City to Stockholm to be a live donor to Hiyu. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Tiger / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Loren Waters, Producer: Dana Tiger) — A portrait of award-winning, internationally acclaimed Indigenous artist and elder Dana Tiger, her family, and the resurgence of the iconic Tiger T-shirt company. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
We Were The Scenery / U.S.A. (Director: Christopher Radcliff, Producers: Cathy Linh Che, Jess X. Snow) — In 1975, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled from Vietnam by boat and docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras during the filming of Apocalypse Now. World Premiere.
