The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Films Lineup
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Courtesy OF THE SUNDANCE institute
This year marks the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival and the shorts selection continues to be available online. You can purchase a Short Films Pass: Online right now for as little as $25. This gives you unlimited access to the shorts lineup valid from January 25-28. Feel free to add any of these shorts to your watchlist or click here for a list to follow along!
Bug Diner - A dissatisfied marriage, a secret crush, and workplace fantasies come to a head in a diner run by a mole with a hot ass. Directed by Phoebe Jane Hart
Drago - A young boy’s dream of becoming a doctor is challenged when war forces him and his mother to flee their village and start a new life in New York City. Directed by Daniel Zvereff
Matta and Matto - In a time when all interpersonal closeness is forbidden, the hourly hotel Vaip offers wondrous rooms where guests snuggle up to devices built with great skill and let themselves fall into the perfect illusion of human touch. Directed by Bianca Caderas and Kerstin Zemp
Martyr’s Guidebook - Tony is the ultimate good guy, sometimes to a fault. From nabbing the smallest slice of cake in grade school to guiding lost strangers in the city, his kindness knows no bounds. He also lives with an angel. Directed by Maks Rzontkowski
Dona Beatriz Ñsîmba Vita - Kimpa Vita fulfills the prophetic mission of leading her people in a racist and unequal society. Set in contemporary Brazil and inspired by the true story of Kimpa Vita, a 17th-century Congolese religious leader. Directed by Catapreta
Baigal Nuur - Lake Baikal - The formation of Lake Baikal in Siberia is reimagined, featuring the voice of a Buryat woman who can still recall some words in her endangered Buryat language (a Mongolian dialect). Directed by Alisi Telengut
Larry - A dog loses grasp of its shape and time while balling like Shaq. Directed by Takeshi Murata and Christopher Rutledge
27 - Alice is 27 years old today. Even though she is suffocating a bit, she still lives with her parents and tends to live in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life. Directed by Flóra Anna Buda
To Be Invisible - Every week for the past three years, Alexis and Kellie have stood outside Durham County’s child welfare agency, demanding the return of their children. Together, they embark on a journey to bring their children home. Directed by Myah Overstreet
Winding Path - Eastern Shoshone medical student Jenna Murray spent summers on the Wind River Indian Reservation helping her grandpa in any way she could. When he suddenly dies, she must find a way to heal before realizing her dream of a life in medicine. Directed by Alexandra Lazarowich & Ross Kauffman
Object 817 - A poetic journey to the heart of the Ural, where the discovery of an alien creature uncovers a haunting secret. Directed by Olga Lucovnicova
The Smallest Power - During the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran, in the aftermath of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, a medical resident finds her voice when the chaos in the streets comes to her hospital floor. Directed by Andy Sarjahani
14 Paintings -A field study of 14 paintings from China’s Dafen village, as the government rebrands the copy-painting district as a hub for original art. Directed by Dongnan Chen
Bob's Funeral - Searching for the root of generational trauma, the director takes a camera into his estranged grandfather’s funeral. Directed by Jack Dunphy
The Rainbow Bridge - Tina and her elderly dog MeeMoo discover a clinic promising human-to-pet communication. However, two sinister doctors uncover a bond between them so strong, it transcends time and space. They might be the key to something greater, but at what cost? Directed by Dimitri Simakis
The Looming - When a virtual home assistant speaker, Luna, picks up the strange noise Chester has heard in his house, he realizes that it may not be a symptom of dementia. Directed by Masha Ko
SHÉ (SNAKE) - Fei is the top violinist in her elite youth orchestra. When another Chinese violinist arrives to challenge her place, Fei’s internal demons take external form. They whisper to her, urging her to be the best, no matter the cost. Directed by Renee Zhan
The Bleacher - The disappearance of her sock at a local laundromat sends a fragile Rita over the edge. Hellbent on finding it, she searches deep and gets sucked into a washing machine, entering an otherworldly cycle from which she may never escape. Directed by Nicole Daddona and Adam Wilder
Bold Eagle - Trapped at home with hallucinogenic drugs and his talking cat, an “alter” anonymously performs lascivious acts on the Internet, seeking refuge in the strong arms of strange men, hoping to masturbate his way to true happiness. Directed by Whammy Alcazaren
Dream Creep - A couple awakens in the night to sounds emanating from an unlikely orifice. Directed by Carlos A.F. Lopez
Essex Girls - After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself. Directed by Yero Timi-Biu
Pathological - A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one day to discover her lies have become true. Directed by Alison Rich
ALOK - A compelling portrait of ALOK, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive-produced by Jodie Foster. Directed by Alexandra Hedison
Miisufy - Digital pet cat Miisu gets tired of her owner and starts to revolt. Inspired by Tamagotchi — observing the world through the eyes of digital pets. Directed by Liisi Grünberg
The Heart - A lonely man grieves the death of his mother after an argument about groceries and an odd request in her will. Directed by Malia Ann
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love - Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with her friend Kubokayo. Directed by Makoto Nagahisa
Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue - A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life. Directed by Vea Mafile’o
The Masterpiece - Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with something she wants. Directed by Àlex Lora Cercos
The Stag - At a deer farm in Changhua County, a middle-aged man is asked to cut off a stag’s antlers in front of his two kids. Directed by An Chu
The Lost Season - Winter is over. Continue watching. Directed by Kelly Sears
Merman - A 58-year-old Black Queer man speaks the truth about his life as an emergency nurse, a leather enthusiast, husband, and civil rights advocate. Directed by Sterling Hampton IV
Pasture Prime - A widow falls for a younger man she meets at the Cowboy Church. Directed by Diffan Sina Norman
Thirstygirl - On a road trip with her younger sister, Charlie struggles to hide a secret sex addiction. Directed by Alexandra Qin
Viaje de Negocios - Daniel arrives at school wearing brand-new sneakers from America, gifted to him by his father. When he sees another boy wearing the same sneakers, he begins to suspect that their shoes are the key to a terrible secret. Directed by Gerardo Coello Escalante
guts - Desperate for help, a woman in recovery asks an unlikely stranger on a dinner date. Directed by Margaux Susi
Dreams like paper boats - Edouard and his daughter live with a cassette received from his wife in the United States, a long time ago. After years of absence, what can we expect from a distant love? Directed by Samuel Suffren
BUST - A trans cop with the New York City Police Department goes undercover to make a drug bust. Directed by Angalis Field
Salone Love - A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone. Directed by Tajana B Williams
Flail - It's her boss's birthday, and Allie is trying as hard as she can. Directed by Ben Gauthier
Bye Bye, Bowser - Punk singer Luna rebels against the indifference of her artsy friends by writing a song about Laugo, the construction worker from across the street. The collision of the worlds of affluent neglect and everyday work leads to a dramatic downfall. Directed by Jasmin Baumgartner
Phoebe - Having been recently discharged from rehab, 26-year-old Phoebe takes her young son on a road trip that will determine their future. Directed by Vaggelio Soumeli
Terra Mater - Technology and waste in our lands, our systems, our bones. Wandering our spaces, she cannot help but wonder, where is the space for healing? Directed by Kantarama Gahigiri
Boi de Conchas (The Shell Covered Ox) - While mourning her missing sister, Rayane balances helping her fisherman father and practicing for the school's music festival — provided she doesn't become an ox first, a misfortune assailing several teenagers in the area. Directed by Daniel Barosa
Border Hopper - When a Latinx filmmaker is offered a dream job abroad, she discovers a supernatural way to navigate the U.S. immigration system and get the coveted travel permit she needs. But what seems like a magic solution soon shows unexpected consequences. Directed by Nico Casavecchia
Didn't Think I'd See You Here - Rory thinks there's a ghost haunting his shower and decides to investigate its origin. But when he goes to a party and meets a romantic interest, his spectral mystery begins to unravel. Directed by Dylan Guerra
Say Hi After You Die - A grieving woman believes her deceased best friend has come back to visit her… as a porta-potty. Directed by Kate Hollowell
Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy - A married couple who own an Odong-Odong spend their days entertaining other people’s children. Between relatives, self-doubt, and an explosive confrontation, they uncover why they have not been blessed with a child. Directed by Khozy Rizal
Shalal - Mehran and his mother, Ziba, don’t have shadows, so they use a black fur to catch the shadows of people and drink them. One day, Mehran decides to catch someone’s shadow alone. Directed by Amir Ali Sisipour
Voice Ever - Over the course of an evening, Romane, Sarah, Emmanuel, and Boris connect on Voice Ever, a new dating app where you choose your date based on their voice. Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities will surface in their desire to meet. Directed by Pauline Archange and Céline Perréard
Bay of Herons - Calling on the strength of his ancestors, a young Mi’kmaq man reflects on the pain of bearing witness to the destruction of his homelands. Directed by Jared James Lank
Ekbeh - While learning to make gumbo, the creator shares personal stories about their grandparents as a way to honor and preserve their Indigenous history and life. Directed by Mariah Eli Hernandez-Fitch
Grace - Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the rural 1950s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, she begins to question the budding romantic feelings she has toward her best friend, Louise. Directed by Natalie Jasmine Harris
The Looming Cloud - Three siblings return home after their mother’s death and face their most daunting task: figuring out how to post about it on social media. Directed by Matthew Tyler
