The temperature has risen over 100°F, the snowbirds have left and a new community has arrived in Palm Springs, California. The short film community! Back for its 28th annual edition, the Palm Springs ShortFest has begun and runs until June 27th, with a lineup of 300 films.

As one of the biggest celebrations of the short format, the festival is an event we cherish at Short of the Week, obviously fueled by my double agent status. As is the case with many other festivals nowadays, seeing the names of members of the Short of the Week family on the line-up is very exciting, as we love to get to highlight their new projects.

With that in mind, below is a list of all the films from our previously featured filmmakers that you can catch at the 2022 edition of Palm Springs ShortFest:

New Shorts From Alums

Belle River by Guillaume Fournier, Yannick Nolin and Samuel Matteau
Prev. S/W Films: Acadiana
Synopsis: 2019. Spring flooding in Mississippi hits record highs. In Louisiana, the residents of Pierre-Part are preparing for the worst. Faith and resilience are the two best weapons they still have in the face of uncertainty.
Screening Info
Clare by Lauren Minnerath
Prev. S/W Films: The Morning After
Synopsis: At a high school talent show, 17-year-old Clare tries to confront her teacher over a private matter, leading to unexpected consequences.
Screening Info
Cosboi by Gosha Shapiro
Prev. S/W Films: Lena
Synopsis: Inspired by TikTok's cosplay community, a genderqueer teen experiments with their identity in a series of anonymous car rides.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35902" align="alignnone" width="640"] James P. Gannon short documentary Deerwoods Deathtrap tells the tale of a couple who were hit by a train 50yrs ago.[/caption]
Deerwoods Deathtrap by James P. Gannon
Prev. S/W Films: Smoke Bomb Boys, The Christmas Light Killer
Synopsis: While on a trip to Cape May, New Jersey in 1971, Jack and Betty survived an accident that not many other humans have...they were hit by a train. Not only did they survive, but their 4-year-old son, infant daughter, and elderly mother survived the crash as well.
Screening Info
Every Step is a Prayer by Cara Stricker
Prev. S/W Films: The A - Z Of Aaliyah
Synopsis: An invitation to dream of freedom together, exploring the relationships between our bodies and the land, nature and technology, and the individual and the collective.
Screening Info
Holy Cowboys by Varun Chopra
Prev. S/W Films: Lyrically Bleating Horns
Synopsis: In small-town India, where cows are considered sacred, a teenage boy and his group of friends set off on a quest to become saviors of the holy cow, only to be caught in the web of Hindu nationalist extremism.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35903" align="alignnone" width="640"] Walter Woodman's latest short follows an Amazon drone[/caption]
Jeff by Walter Woodman
Prev. S/W Films: Noah, (rough cut)
Synopsis: An Amazon delivery drone named JEFF muses on the monotony of life, before finishing one last delivery.
Screening Info
Long Line of Ladies by Rayka Zehtabchi (with Shaandiin Tome)
Prev. S/W Films: (SHn(y)oof), Are You Still There?
Synopsis: A girl and her community prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming-of-age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
Screening Info
Shark by Nash Edgerton
Prev. S/W Films: Spider, Bear
Synopsis: Completing the trilogy that began with Spider and Bear, Jack (Nash Edgerton) finds a perfect match in Sofie (Rose Byrne), a woman who loves pranks just as much as he does. Alas, the couple’s quest to outdo each other may lead to the most outrageous calamity of all.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35904" align="alignnone" width="640"] Director Sander Joon transports the audience to the racetrack in his latest short Sierra[/caption]
Sierra by Sander Joon
Prev. S/W Films: Velodrool, Sounds Good
Synopsis: A father and his son are losing the folkrace. In order to win, a boy turns himself into a car tire. Loosely inspired by the director's childhood, Sierra pulls us into the surreal car racing world.
Screening Info
Skin & Bone by Eli Powers
Prev. S/W Films: Holy Moses
Synopsis: A drifter begins having haunted visions after taking a job on a secluded farm.
Screening Info
Swallow The Universe by Nieto
Prev. S/W Films: Far West
Synopsis: The grandiloquent blood-and-thunder saga of a young child lost in Manchuria’s deep jungles, whose sudden presence creates anarchy in the local fauna’s perfectly organized and primitive world.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35905" align="alignnone" width="640"] Director Miloš Tomić uses a variety of animation techniques to immerse viewers in the work of Slovenian photographer Dragiša Modrinjak.[/caption]
Ta presneta očetova kamera! (My Father's Damn Camera!) by Miloš Tomić
Prev. S/W Films: Musical Traumas
Synopsis: A reckless boy desperately seeks the attention of his father — a photographer. A journey through his father’s artistic chaos is essential to strengthen their bond. Hand-drawn and stop-motion animation are intertwined to take audiences on a ride through the archive of Slovenian photographer Dragiša Modrinjak.
Screening Info
Telos or Bust by Brad Abrahams
Prev. S/W Films: Do You See What I See?
Synopsis: Ascended masters, new religions, inner-earth cities, crystals and lost continents. Immerse yourself in the confluence of strange myths and the beliefs of the citizens of Mount Shasta, California.
Screening Info
The Hero by Milena Dutkowska
Prev. S/W Films: Bogdan i Róża (Bogdan and Rose)
Synopsis: When his beloved grandmother who raised him dies, 10-year-old orphan Cyprian must confront his loss and discover what it means to be a real hero in the face of suffering.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35906" align="alignnone" width="640"] Having blown our minds with prev. short Skuggdjur (Shadow Animals), we're excited to see more of Jerry Carlsson's work[/caption]
The Successful Thawing of Mr. Moro by Jerry Carlsson
Prev. S/W Films: Skuggdjur (Shadow Animals)
Synopsis: Mr. Moro finds out that his ex-partner Adrian, who has been cryopreserved for the past 43 years, will be thawed and brought back to life. When the staff from ScandiCryonics arrives, Milo realizes he might not be ready for Adrian to return.
Screening Info
Training Wheels by Alison Rich
Prev. S/W Films: The Other Morgan
Synopsis: A woman rents a man for some practice.
Screening Info
Trumpets in the Sky by Rakan Mayasi
Prev. S/W Films: Bonboné
Synopsis: Boushra, one of the Syrian potato-picking girls in Lebanon, returns from a long day of work in the field only to learn that today her childhood will come to an end.
Screening Info
[caption id="attachment_35908" align="alignnone" width="640"] Matt Porter teams up with Charles Gould once again for their latest short film Unicorn[/caption]
Unicorn by Matt Porter
Prev. S/W Films: Damage, Flex, Nighty Night
Synopsis: A bisexual man meets an attractive couple willing to let him explore the possibilities of life as a unicorn—a drama-free, emotionally nonthreatening third.
Screening Info
Wednesdays כל יום רביעי by Rona Segal
Prev. S/W Films: Mission: Hebron
Synopsis: Eli is 13. His coach, Eran, offers him a ride home after practice, and along the way, decides to share some secrets with Eli.
Screening info
Yugo by Carlos Gómez Salamanca
Prev. S/W Films: Lupus
Synopsis: A couple is forced to leave their native countryside to settle in the outskirts of Bogotá and work in a factory making decorative truck parts. Their situation provides the means to explore capitalism and the liberal economic development of Latin America and its consequences for the environment and society.
Screening Info

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Films already featured on S/W

American Scar by Daniel Lombroso
Synopsis: At the US–Mexico border, a ragtag group of environmental activists uncover the devastating effects wall-building has had on the local fauna, who have no concept of national borders.
Screening Info | Watch the film & read our Review
Seven Hundred Fifty Six by Andree Ljutica
Synopsis: On her 756th day of parole, Leah attacks her routines with the ferocity of someone eager to catch up on twenty-two years of lost time, while also finding the energy to give back to a community of domestic violence survivors in Brooklyn.
Screening Info | Watch the film & read our Review
Sprite Fright by Matthew Luhn, Hjalti Hjalmarsson
Synopsis: When a group of rowdy teenagers trek into an isolated forest, they discover peaceful mushroom creatures that turn out to be an unexpected force of nature.
Screening Info | Watch the film & read our Review
[caption id="attachment_35073" align="alignnone" width="640"] T'es Morte Hélène (You're Dead Helen) made the Oscar shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film in 2022[/caption]
T’es morte Hélène (You’re Dead Helen) by Michiel Blanchart
Synopsis: Maxime lives with the ghost of his girlfriend Hélène. Wishing to put an end to this frankly unbearable situation, he finally decides to break up with her, but she isn't quite ready to accept his decision.
Screening Info | Read our Review (Film currently offline)
The Panola Project by Rachael DeCruz & Jeremy S. Levine
Synopsis: Highlighting the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama safe from COVID-19, this short documentary is a chronicle of how an often-overlooked rural Black community came together in creative ways to survive.
Screening Info | Watch the film & read our Review