Sophia Meloni’s “Chop Cheese” starring Christopher Meloni and Michael Gandolfini and Michael Bruce’s “Kiloran Bay” starring Alan Cumming are among the short films set to screen at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. ShortFest will return to the Festival Theaters from June 23 through 29.
ShortFest will feature a number of live-action films, including the Kaily Morgan Smith-directed “General Admission” starring Nina Dobrev, Cedric Yarbrough and Adam Shapiro. Documentaries including Julie Mellen’s “Abortion Party” and Sascha Melamed’s “We All Live Downwind” will also be screened, as well as a selection of animated shorts including “Dog Alone” from director Marta Reis Andrade and “The Sky Was Candy” from director Anh Tú Nguyen.
“ShortFest is a lot of things, and one of the best parts is discovering filmmakers we’ll be obsessed with,” said Lili Rodriguez, artistic director of the Palm Springs International Film Society, in a statement. “This year’s lineup is funny, strange, emotional, political, chaotic, gorgeous — everything short films should be. We’re thrilled to bring these filmmakers and stories to Palm Springs.”
The festival will see 50 curated programs showcasing more than 300 films from over 70 countries and territories, including 52 world premieres. Over 7,000 short films were submitted. Directors of Programming Jesse Knight and Céline Roustan led the curation of the 2026 lineup alongside the ShortFest programming team.
“The most invigorating work in filmmaking continues to be in the short form,” said Knight and Roustan in a statement. “Building the lineup from a record number of submissions was no easy feat, but ultimately we were drawn to what excites us both about short films: daring, uncompromising, free and compelling narratives and visions.”
Drawn from five Oscar-qualifying award categories (Best of the Festival Award, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes and Best Live-Action Short 15 Minutes and Under), juried winners will be announced on June 28 and awarded cash prizes totalling $30,000. On June 29, the Best of the Fest program will close out the festival.
Tickets will be available on Thursday. The complete lineup is available on the festival’s site.