57 short films selected for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

Top L–R: View From the Floor, THE LILY (เดอะลิลลี่), Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites, Hold Me Close Center Row L-R: Azi, Debaters, Platanero, Sweetheart Bottom L–R: Somebody Cares, Hoops, Hopes & Dreams, Entre le Feu et le Clair de Lune, Inkwo for When the Starving Return. Photo: Sundance Institute.

PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Institute has announced the selection of 57 short films that will be showcased at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. This year’s festival will include eight curated Short Film Programs presented by Vimeo, featuring a diverse array of fiction, nonfiction, and animated films from filmmakers in the U.S. and around the globe.

The festival will be held from Jan. 23–Feb. 2, 2025, both in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as online from Jan. 30–Feb. 2, 2025. Individual tickets for both in-person and online screenings will go on sale on January 16 at 10 a.m. MT, with a pre-sale available for members. For more details, visit festival.sundance.org.

Kim Yutani, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Our festival’s program wouldn’t feel complete without a showcase of exceptional short films. We’re thrilled to present the 2025 Short Film Program today. These works, diverse in style and subject matter, powerfully exemplify the artistry of short-form storytelling.”

Mike Plante, Senior Programmer for Short Film, said, “The Short Film Program highlights innovative storytelling and unique perspectives. With this collection, audiences will discover remarkable emerging talent and inspired filmmaking from around the world across all eight programs.”

The selected 57 shorts were chosen from an impressive pool of 11,153 submissions, which included 4,909 from the U.S. and 6,244 international entries, representing 28 countries and territories. Utah filmmakers were included in the selection;

• Paradise Man (ii) – Director Jordan Michael Blake lived in Utah for two years while going to college at BYU in Provo, Utah. Co-producers Gregory Barnes and Benjamin Buxton also lived in Utah for a number of years.

• The Long Valley – Director/producer/cinematographer Robert Machoian is based in Utah; and the writer for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival feature film Omaha.

Historically, the Sundance Film Festival has been a pivotal platform for groundbreaking short films, with alumni including renowned filmmakers like Andrea Arnold, Damien Chazelle, Taika Waititi, and many more.

In addition to the festival, the Sundance Institute promotes short filmmaking year-round through the Short Film Tour, which showcases selected festival shorts at theaters across the U.S. and internationally.

Highlights of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Short Films Include:

U.S. Fiction Shorts:

• An Almost Successful Dating App Love Story by Winter Coleman
• Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting by Alexander Thompson
• Unholy by Daisy Friedman

International Fiction Shorts:

• Almost Certainly False (Turkey) by Cansu Baydar
• People & Things (Poland) by Damian Kosowski

Animation Shorts:

• Bunnyhood (U.K.) by Mansi Maheshwari
• Jesus 2 (U.S.A.) by Jesse Moynihan

Nonfiction Shorts:

• The Long Valley by Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
• Hoops, Hopes & Dreams by Glenn Kaino

For more information on the short films and the festival lineup, please visit festival.sundance.org.