Palm Springs ShortFest Gets Back Into Gear

variety.com:

Andrew Barker Senior Features WriterThe Palm Springs International ShortFest will mark an in-person return to the California desert oasis from June 21-27, showcasing 300 short films in 51 different curated programs.

If that seems like a markedly high number of films considering all of the disruptions in both the film production and festival space over the past two years, interim festival director Sudeep Sharma has an explanation.“One thing I’ve been saying a lot is that the pandemic has seemingly affected everything except for the production of short films,” says Sharma, a ShortFest veteran currently manning the festival helm while director Lili Rodriguez is on maternity leave. “I mean that kind of tongue-in-cheek, but our submissions numbers did not drastically change.” ShortFest has always cast a long shadow in the world of short filmmaking, with last year’s hybrid festival featuring eight of the year’s eventual Oscar nominees, and two winners.

This year promises plenty of star power onscreen, with the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Vicky Krieps, Isabella Rossellini and Zachary Quinto among the talent featured in competing films.

But ShortFest’s real raison d’etre is the discovery of new voices, and it’s hard to think of a time when general audiences are as primed to meet short films on their own terms.