Indie Short Fest is an LA-based international short film festival with red carpet screenings and Q&A all year round and an annual awards event.

During the last 7 years, Indie Short Fest has been boosting several projects such as Oscar-longlisted short documentary "The Mortician of Manila" (Philippines), Oscar-longlisted short animations "On/Off" (Argentina) and "Pacemaker" (UK), Oscar-longlisted short live action "Cognition" (UK), BAFTA/LA Student Film Award winner "Mum's Hairpins" (Russia), DGA Student Film Award Winning "Mother in the Mist" (USA), and “One Last Last Heist” (Canada) acquired by Sony.

One of the most relevant rising voices of the global indie film community, focused on diversity and inclusion, Indie Short Fest is proud of having among its previous winners:
Academy Award winners Joel Harlow and Robert Zemeckis
Academy Award nominees Dorothy Fadiman, Eric Roberts, Graham Greene and Paul Giamatti
Primetime Emmy award winners Chris Merrill, Kyra Sedgwick, and Loretta Devine
Primetime Emmy award nominees Brendan Scannell, Kevin Bacon, O-T Fagbenle and Treat Williams
César Awards nominee Laurent Capelluto
Golden Globes nominee George Lazenby
Teen Choice Awards winner and Critics Choice Awards nominee Jaime King
Kids' Choice Awards winner and Teen Choice Awards nominee Jennette McCurdy
People's Choice Award nominee Xochitl Gomez
Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees Akote Chanoine, Bruce Greenwood, Jason Schwartzman, Kevin L. Johnson, Nobuya Shimamoto, Robert John Burke, Sufe Bradshaw, and Wayne Knight
Daytime Emmy Awards nominee Leven Rambin
as other notable such as Alexis Rhee, Allisyn Snyder, Amanda Righetti, Bonnie McKee, Danny Trejo, Destry Spielberg, Frank Noon, Gary Nohealii, Greg Kriek, James Hong, Julie Pacino, Katerina Munis, Khary Payton, Lauren McLaughlin, Lance E. Nichols, Lynne Adams, Michael Paré, Patrick Gorman, Pauline Chalamet, Pixie Lott, Pat Skipper, Roslyn Gentle, and Vera Graziadei.

MONTHLY COMPETITIONS
Every month, Indie Short Fest establishes a comprehensive hierarchy of the most important films in the festival circuit, awarding a considerable number of projects in several different categories.
A MONTHLY breakdown, listed by IMDb, that allows you to be, at the same time, in a TRADITIONAL ANNUAL FESTIVAL competing for a spot among the world’s best short films of the year to be screened in Los Angeles.

ANNUAL AWARDS
Besides the red carpet screenings and Q&A all year round, Indie Short Fest qualifies directly the monthly top award-winning projects for the annual event, to celebrate in average about 80 films, the best of the year.

Learn more in http://indieshortfest.com/annual-awards

All entries are judged by a random team of invited experts from academia and film industry against a high standard of merit and a very competitive acceptance rate.

Awards & Prizes

All projects officially selected in each monthly round receive the Indie Short Fest official laurel and the custom certificate of achievement according to their final status in the competition.

At least 3 different judges score the quality and creativity of each entry. The highest rated entries are nominated for the awards of the respective categories and finally the winners are chosen.

Besides the main award for each category, it can be given also Outstanding Achievement Awards and Honorable Mentions.

Also, for each monthly round, Indie Short Fest decides and awards two overall winners (chosen from all categories) as Best Short (spoken in English) and Best Foreign-Language Short, plus 2 special jury mentions (Awards of Excellence).

The awards by category:
Best Indie Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Experimental Short
Best Student Short
Best Animation Short
Best Drama Short
Best Comedy Short
Best Romantic Comedy Short
Best Dark Comedy Short
Best Thriller Short
Best Film Noir Short
Best Mystery Short
Best Action Short
Best Crime Short
Best Fantasy Short
Best Horror Short
Best Sci-Fi Short
Best Western Short
Best Parody Short
Best Children Short
Best Women Short
Best LGBTQ Short
Best Screendance Short
Best Web Series/TV Pilot
Best Web and New Media
Best Microfilm
Best Music Video
Best Mobile Short
Best Producer
Best Director (Female)
Best Director (Male)
Best First Time Director (Female)
Best First Time Director (Male)
Best Student Director (Female)
Best Student Director (Male)
Best Young Filmmaker (Female)
Best Young Filmmaker (Male)
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Child/Young Actress
Best Child/Young Actor
Best Acting Duo
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Design
Best Sound Mixing
Best Sound Editing
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Short Script
Best Special FX
Best Visual FX
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Special Makeup
Best Production Design
Best Trailer/Teaser

Categories with no submissions meeting the requirements have no awards.

ANNUAL AWARDS
(the traditional annual format)

From the pool of nominees and awards winners of each cycle of 12 monthly rounds, Indie Short Fest shortlists the annual finalists (the top #150 of the year) and decides the 3 top nominations for each of the awardable categories.

All nominated projects are screened at the annual event which closes with the awards ceremony for the best of the year.

EVENTS DATES
The event date in FilmFreeway designates the day of the announcement of the award winners of each monthly round.
The special screenings and Q&A as well as the annual awards have a different timeline that is announced through our website and social media outlets. All submitters are always kept in loop and in advance to be able to do the preparations to attend the events.

Rules & Terms

All genres are accepted with a maximum length of 60 minutes.
All short scripts should have a maximum of 60 pages.

The films must include English subtitles (unless the spoken language is English).

For public screenings, the preferable accepted format is DCP. If not possible, we can play 4k or 2k mov/mp4 files also.

By submitting the film, the submitter agrees that:
1. Indie Short Fest can use trailer/teaser/film poster/stills or BTS for promotional purpose (but do not release, under any form or circumstances, the full film)
2. Entry fees are non-refundable.
3. The submitter owns all the rights to the film, meaning that the submitted work (i) does not violate or infringe any copyright, patent, privacy right, publicity right, trademark, service mark or any other personal or property right of any person or entity, that (ii) does not constitute or include a defamation of any person or entity, and that (iii) its representatives have paid and will pay in full all license fees, clearance fees, and other obligations, of any kind, arising from or associated with the exhibition of the Film at or in connection with the Festival. Also, that the submitter is duly authorized, on his own behalf and on behalf of all other persons or entities who have any ownership rights or interests (including, without limitation, intellectual property rights) in or relating to the film, to exhibit the film at the Festival.
4. The submitter cannot withdraw the submission after the official selection announcement. If submitter fails the observance of this rule, the festival has the right to proceed with any legal action at its sole discretion.
5. The information about the entries can be disclosed to Indie Short Fest associate film festivals.

For student fees, it is mandatory the student status evidence (e.g copy of student card included in the project).

Disclaimer:
(i) Indie Short Fest has two associate events only: Independent Shorts Awards and IndieX Film Fest. Any resemblance to other events is purely coincidental. We do not represent or can be represented by any other organization.

(ii) Also, we do not disclose any kind of information with third parties.

(iii) Finally, please be aware that we do not ask for or accept any kind of donations.

Indie Short Fest 2018-2024 © All Rights Reserved
1016 Reviews
Overall Rating
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  • sisy M Gomez Peña

    Indie Short Fest is a short film festival that stands out for its excellent communication and the numerous opportunities it offers to independent filmmakers. The festival's organization has earned praise for keeping participants informed and supported throughout the process. This festival serves as an invaluable platform for those looking to showcase their work in an environment that values creativity and emerging talent. The dedication of the Indie Short Fest team to promoting new voices in cinema is evident, making it an excellent choice for any up-and-coming filmmaker.

    July 2024
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  • Keith Biondi

    Honored to have my little short "Beauty and the biker" nominated for best Micro Film ! Thank You Indie Short Fest for your continued support of Indie film makers everywhere! Cheers ,Keith Biondi

    June 2024
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  • Nando Dietz

    Very professional and well organized festival!

    June 2024
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  • Ivana Rauchmann

    It was a great experience. I wish every festival was so transparent and proffessional. Thank you Indie Short Fest! It was a pleasure.

    June 2024
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  • Annie Bio

    This was the first year that I entered this festival. It was for my Comedy TV/ web series PAY YOUR BILL. My project was selected as a nominee and I am very grateful for this opportunity.
    Indie Short Fest is very organized and they get back to you with any questions promptly. I strongly encourage filmmakers to submit to this festival. It's worth it!

    June 2024
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