New York Shorts International Film Festival is a non-profit organization.
New York Shorts International Film Festival showcases over 300 short films, special events, talks, retrospectives films, and tributes with honored guests, from around the world; this makes NY Shorts one of the largest exhibitors of short-form cinema in North America and the largest short film festival on the East Coast in America.
A qualifying film festival for the Canadian Screen Awards.
An essential destination for independent storytellers with bold and compelling short films to reach a broad and diverse audience of film lovers and industry professionals in NYC.
We celebrate short films which are indispensable for both talent development and social awareness.
Our film programs have curated themes focusing on social issues, including but not limited to: women's rights, the plight of the immigrant, racism, social justice, the environment, human rights, and the like.
We stand with under-represented groups and marginalized communities and believe through film we can build bridges of connectivity and equal opportunities. We work to amplify these compelling films to reach as wide an audience as possible.
The festival has become a career stepping stone, establishing a tradition of discovering and promoting filmmakers who have gone on to be Academy Award® Nominees.
Past selections have included:
2023 OSCAR® NOMINEE Live-Action Short Film, The Red Suitcase by Cyrus Neshvad -Winner New York Shorts Best International Film
2023 Student Academy Award® Duet by Lyuwei Chen - Winner New York Shorts Best Documentary
2022 OSCAR® WINNER Documentary, Short The Queen of Basketball by Ben Proudfoot
2021 OSCAR® NOMINEE Animated Short "Affairs of the Art" by Joanna Quinn
2020 OSCAR® WINNER Live-Action Short Film, "The Neighbors" Window" by Marshall Curry wins New York Shorts 'Best of Fest'
2020 OSCAR® NOMINEE Documentary Short Subject The New York Times Op-Docs "Walk Run Cha-Cha" by Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt
2019 OSCAR® NOMINEE Animated Short "Animal Behaviour" by Alison Snowden and David Fine
2015 OSCAR® NOMINEE "The Dam Keeper" by Robert Kondo, Daisuke Tsutsumi
2013 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD® "A World for Raúl" by Mauro Mueller wins New York Shorts Best Drama
2012 OSCAR® NOMINEE & BAFTA Best Short Animation "A Morning Stroll" by Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
2012 WORLD PREMIERE "Derek" by Ricky Gervais wins New York Shorts Best Comedy and became a popular British television show picked up by Netflix.
Recent industry events, talks, retrospectives films, and tributes w/ honored guests have included:
2023 INDUSTRY MASTER SPOTLIGHT w/ English Director Jon Amiel
BAFTA Nominated Director.
2023 INDUSTRY MASTER SPOTLIGHT w/ Producer Andrew Carlberg Academy Award winning producer
2023 SPOTLIGHT SCREENING by English Director Chris Overton
Academy Award winning director
2022 SPOTLIGHT SCREENING w/ George R.R. Martin
Game of Thrones creator
2022 TRIBUTE w/ Bob GIraldi
one-on-one career-spotlight conversation with legendary film director Bob Giraldi
2022 BEYOND THE SCREEN w/ Oscar® winning documentary filmmaker Ben Proudfoot
2022 FILM RETROSPECTIVE w/ producer/director Kim Magnusson recipient of seven Academy Awards® nominations and three Oscar wins for short films.
2022 FILM HOMAGE cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
Past Judges
2023 Jury
Farah Nabulsi, Academy Award® Nominated & BAFTA Award Winning Palestinian British filmmaker
Lana Link, Senior Vice President, Moving Picture Institute
Joyce Pierpoline, Award-Winning Film Producer and Founder of Pierpoline Films
2022 Jury
Chris Overton (director/producer) Academy Award® Winning filmmaker
Kia Brooks (Director Gotham Film & Media Institute)
Sam French Academy Award® Nominated filmmaker
Anita Svingen (Festival Director, Kortfilmfestivalen / The Norwegian Short Film Festival)
2021 Jury
Seigo Tono (Director Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia)
Easmanie Michel (Special Projects Assoc. NYWIFT)
Tom Van Avermaet, Academy Award® Nominated (writer/director)
Dorotea Mercuri (Greek-Italian actress)
We believe short-form cinema and its creators should have their own premiere film festival in New York deserving similar recognition given to the feature films.
The heart of the festival is the scope of extraordinary film programming focused on diversity in storytelling, genres and themes presented to enthusiastic audiences in the vibrant filmmaking enclave of New York City.