2023 Short Short Story Film Festival

The Short Short Story Film Festival comes to Cinestudio in Hartford on Saturday, November 25th.

This unique festival offers audiences a unique chance to sample rare works from more than twenty countries on six continents, culled from hundreds of submissions from all over the world. Of the 35 total films in the festival, 23 are US Premieres and seven are World Premieres. Audiences can attend one or both of two distinct programs, each running just under 80 minutes and including live-action and animated shorts.

The festival’s concept is implicit in the title: “Short Short” because every film is under six minutes, and “Story” because the films have a strong narrative element, unlike many shorter experimental pieces one may encounter at festivals.

The first program, “Heartstrings,” screens at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. As the name implies, the films explore themes such as finding (or losing) love, the human cost of war, or pursuing one’s dreams in an often indifferent world.

The second program, “Headtrip,” screens at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. The flavors here range from darkly comic or satirical, to surreal or absurdist to deeply unsettling.

Audiences will select their favorite three films in each program, which are then tallied across screenings to determine winners. Each program also awards a jury prize from a panel of film industry professionals who were guests on Spoiler Alert Radio, MergingArts’ nationally syndicated interview broadcast and podcast. The awards themselves are custom art objects created by previous festival participants, which is a unique way to honor each new crop of filmmakers.

Tickets can be purchased online at cinestudio.org or at the door on the day of the festival.

More information about the festival is available at mergingarts.org.