Check out the 2024 Sundance Film Festival short film selections and 40th edition celebrations

The Shorts program received a record 12,098 submissions this year

PARK CITY, Utah — The Shorts program for the 2024 Festival features global stories from 22 countries, including Haiti (“Dreams Like Paper Boats”) and Rwanda (“Terra Mater”). Audiences will get to enjoy 53 fiction and nonfiction short films from a range of genres from drama to non-fiction.

View Utah short film, ‘Winding Path,’ online as part of the short films online pass offering for $25

The world premiere of “Winding Path”/U.S.A. by directors: Alexandra Lazarowich, Ross Kauffman and producer: Robin Honan, is representing Utah. Eastern Shoshone MD-PhD student at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Jenna Murray spent summers on the Wind River Indian Reservation helping her grandpa anyway she could. When he suddenly dies, she must find a way to heal before realizing her dream of a life in medicine.

Returning storytellers

Shorts storytellers returning to the Festival with new work include Makoto Nagahisa with “Pisko the Crab Child is in Love,” who in 2017 won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, and Renee Zhan with “SHÉ (SNAKE)” who in 2019 won the Short Film Jury Award: Animation and more. Those not joining in person, can purchase a short films online pass available for $25 providing audiences online access to the Short Films opting to screen online.

“Selecting the shorts for the Festival Program every year is an exercise in taking the pulse of film culture, and the outlook is always bright,” said Mike Plante, Senior Programmer, Short Film. “In our 40th year, the world of short films is more vibrant than ever. With so many ways to see and experience shorts now — at festivals and online through varied platforms — so many artists are coming to the art form and creating shorts that excite us, and short film fans, in new ways.”

Special programming for the 40^th edition Jan. 23 through Jan. 26

For the 40th Edition, restored or expanded versions of eight movies from earlier festivals will be shown, complete with artist panels. The lineup includes the debut of a brand-new 4K restoration of “Napoleon Dynamite,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Jared Hess, director and screenwriter, Jerusha Demke Hess, screenwriter, as well as Jon Heder, leading actor, are all Brigham Young University alumni.

A version of “DIG!,” now “DIG! XX,” has an additional 35 minutes of film. Also in the lineup are “Pariah,” “The Times of Harvey Milk,” “Go Fish,” “Mississippi Masala,” “The Babadook” and “Three Seasons.” Check out the schedule here.