Every January, Palm Springs goes Hollywood for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Every June, the team behind PSIFF puts on another festival that trades star power for empowering filmmakers.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest is back and celebrating its 30th anniversary. From June 18-24, more than 300 short films, made by filmmakers from all over the world, will be screened at the Regal Palm Springs. The ShortFest Forum, featuring industry panels and one-on-ones, will be hosted at the Renaissance Hotel in Palm Springs.
During a recent interview with Lili Rodriguez, the festival’s artistic director, she explained how the fest got started 30 years ago.
“The January festival used to include some short films in the lineup, and in 1995, they decided to make a short film festival—and it’s grown quite a bit,” Rodriguez said. “I think in the beginning, the lineup included around 80 films, and this year, we’re going to have 309 short films at the festival. These are curated specifically just from submissions, so everything that we program at the festival came from a filmmaker who wanted to be a part of ShortFest.”
All of the shorts are screened in blocks, grouped by genre or theme.
“Within that block, usually we have from three to 10 short films, depending on the length of them,” Rodriguez said. “We try to keep the blocks within 90 minutes, just because they’re more comfortable that way. You can see an animated (film), and then a doc, and then a live action, all within the same program. You can buy a badge and go to all of them, as many programs that you’d like. … The general tickets (go on sale) on June 5.”
The biggest difference between ShortFest and PSIFF, besides the length of the films, is that the ShortFest is a lot more relaxed and casual.
“It’s a lot of films from up-and-coming filmmakers, and filmmakers who are working within the industry,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes it’s used as a calling card, so I would say it’s for people earlier in their careers, generally speaking. We do have some filmmakers who like to work with shorts … but the idea is that it’s mostly up-and-coming filmmakers. It’s a very casual festival, a very energetic festival, and filmmakers come to present their films from all over the world. … It’s the largest short-film-exclusive festival in North America, so it has a great reputation, and the festival has grown mostly from filmmaker word of mouth.”
Some consider ShortFest to be an educational, networking “filmmaker summer camp,” of sorts.
“It’s a really casual, relaxing, fun festival, where people are in the pool, and filmmakers are talking to each other, watching movies or meeting local Palm Springs people,” Rodriguez said. “We’re screening at the Regal in Palm Springs, so we have one screening venue, and then one sort of festival hub, which is the host hotel, and that’s the Renaissance. That’s where we do the Forum, which (is) the educational part of ShortFest.”
“It’s a really casual, relaxing, fun festival, where people are in the pool, and filmmakers are talking to each other, watching movies or meeting local Palm Springs people.”
Lili Rodriguez, artistic director
Rodriguez said discussions about the films tend to be lively, in part because “there are no rules” when making a short film.
“When you don’t have a real definition as to what a short film can or should be, filmmakers can get as creative as possible,” Rodriguez said. “I think you can see and feel that from the audience who comes to ShortFest. There’s so much so much talent.”
Ahead of ShortFest’s 30th year, the Palm Springs International Film Society, the team behind both festivals, received a $25,000 grant from National Endowment for the Arts.
“We can’t do any of this without the support of grants like the NEA, or without the support of our audience, and we can’t do this without the filmmakers wanting to submit their films,” Rodriguez said. “It all comes together. You really can’t do one without the other, so we’re so grateful to get support from wherever it comes—because we all need it.”
While this is the 30th anniversary ShortFest, Rodriguez and her team decided to keep the focus on newer films.
“It would be impossible to narrow down which are the five short films we want to represent the last 30 years,” she said. “We’re going have a big party … but we instead decided to just make it another great edition, and not take up any slots from filmmakers who are making really great films. Even with a sizable lineup, it’s pretty big compared to what other festivals can do. Not everything that we liked got in, so if we are eating up slots for something else, like a review of the last 30 years, it might take away from this great opportunity to give a ShortFest filmmaker a chance to get into the festival.”
The Forum aspect of ShortFest is the biggest way in which the festival aims to educate.
“Our panels are open to the public, and we have more filmmaker-specific things like the industry one-on-ones that aren’t open to the general public,” Rodriguez said. “Every year we do a ‘Meet the Curators’ panel where we have programmers from some of the major festivals, and people get to ask them questions. … There are 309 films in the official selection lineup, but (regarding) the 6,300 films submitted to the festival that didn’t make the official selection, we extend an invitation (to filmmakers) to be a part of the video library that we have, and to attend the festival if they want to, with complimentary badges, so they can go to movie screenings and the Forum. ShortFest falls, generally, under the educational umbrella of the organization, so having filmmakers in mind, we’re always trying to find ways to elevate them and give them more opportunities.”
The Palm Springs International ShortFest takes place from Tuesday, June 18, through Monday, June 24, at the Regal Palm Springs, 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way. The ShortFest Forum takes place at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel, 888 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way. For tickets and more information, visit www.psfilmfest.org/shortfest-2024.
