The 29th Annual Palm Springs International ShortFest closed in late June after a wonderful week celebrating short film. The 2023 festival screened 299 films across 50 curated programs. The programming included 53 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 33 North American premieres and 18 U.S. premieres.
More than 6,000 short films were submitted from 129 countries- and now we have honored the five best! These five award winners have the opportunity to submit their films to the Academy for short film Oscar consideration.
This year’s top honors went to “The Old Young Crow,” an American/Japanese short film directed by Liam LoPinto. As winner of the Best of the Festival Award, LoPinto received $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Harold Matzner, Palm Springs International Film Society’s Immediate Past Chairman and now qualifies for the 2024 Academy Awards.
The other Oscar-qualifying short films include:
- Best Animated Short: Way Better (Lithuania), Directed by Skirmanta Jakaitė
- Best Documentary Short: Will You Look At Me (China), Directed by Shuli Huang
- Best Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes: Winner: Sèt Lam (France), Directed by Vincent Fontano
- Best Live Action Short 15 Minutes and Under: Mystic Tiger (Spain), Directed by Marc Martínez
See the full list of winners and nominees in The Wrap. Harold Matzner and the Film Festival team extend congratulations to all of the award winners- and good luck at the Oscars!
Photo credit: Steve Wilson and Harold Matzner at the 2015 ShortFest. Photo by Sherri Breyer, Palm Springs Life.