Short Short Story Film Festival (19)

Festival Start: 23 November 2026      Festival Ende: 06 Dezember 2026

The Short Short Story Film Festival is a competitive international festival of films that tell a story in under six minutes.

For 2026, the 19th edition of the festival returns with a unique closed event. The festival celebrates brevity in film-making, with films from across the globe, both live-action and animated.

The festival consists of two programs, Heartstrings and Headtrip, each with a distinctive tone yet wide-ranging styles and topics.

Prizes and Qualifications

Each program of the festival, Heartstrings and the Headtrip, has an award. The films are reviewed by the participating filmmakers themselves, who vote for their favorites (filmmakers can not vote for their own film).

There is also an acclaimed, international jury panel of participants on our Spoiler Alert Radio film program, who will review and select their favorites.

Submission Requirements

There is no fee to submit a film for consideration.

The length of the film including all credits must be at least 1 minute (1:00:00) and shorter than 6 minutes (5:59:xx).

The film must tell a story; this excludes public service announcements, trailers, music videos, non-narrative experimental pieces, etc.

Whether a piece is truly narrative is at the discretion of the submission review panel.

All genres and styles are considered, including live action and animation, documentary and fiction, drama and comedy, etc.

For 2026, we prefer films completed in 2025 or 2026. Earlier films are ineligible.

Recommendations

None of the following criteria disqualify a film but may count against films in consideration for acceptance:

Films under 2 minutes
Films from 2025
Films available publicly online or that played regionally (Northeast US)