The Short Film Show
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A free 24-hour channel of short films from independent filmmakers. All times UTC. 43 films on this day, 962 across the next 7 days.
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Book vs An Antiquarian
A curiosity shop owner finds a strange book that does not belong...
Thursday 8 October
Book vs An Antiquarian
A curiosity shop owner finds a strange book that does not belong...
Mothers
A tribute to the mothers of geniuses. They changed their children's world, and these children changed the world.
Desolation Follows
Designated as areas of outstanding natural beauty, the English moorlands elicit in us a sense of the wild and untamed. A pristine wilderness, untouched by the advances of civilisation. Yet all is not as it seems.
The Death of Don Quixote
London, 1968. Alphonse, a young and ambitious filmmaker, attempts to complete his greatest cinematic work yet, "The Death of Don Quixote". But with his ageing star, Patrick Quincey, falling ill, it's unclear what will die first: his vision, Patrick or Don Quixote.
Frogs
Immersed in an endless vortex of reality—where the sun dissolves into a new dream, the line between madness and genius blurs. A journey through psychedelic labyrinths of consciousness, where each dimension is merely a reflection of form.
Milpa - Cumbia del Obrero
MILPA (Music. Inspiration. Life. Poetry. Art) is a genre-defying collective of multi-instrumentalists hailing from the Inland Empire, Southern California. With a passion for cultural exchange, MILPA fuses traditional and modern music, crafting a unique sound that spans continents and transcends boundaries. This video celebrates the passing of family traditions through vibrant colors, dance, food, song, and inspiring the youth with art. Shot in San Bernardino.
"За Дверью..." / "Behind the door..."
A silent room. A discarded dress. A closed bedroom door. When a husband returns home to find a dress on the floor, what will he discover behind the door...
based on a fake story
A man returns after years away, he doesn't recognise himself, and feels like a stranger in his hometown.
Shroud of Mist
Out in the wilderness sometime in the 1800s, a lone rider on horseback makes his way through the forest. He encounters a stranger who is searching for his missing friend, Gunnar. The stranger asks if the rider would be kind enough to help him in the search. The rider agrees, seeing it as the morally right thing to do. Together, they leave the horse behind and venture deeper into the forest to find Gunnar. As they progress into increasingly challenging terrain without finding any trace of Gunnar, the rider begins to doubt the stranger’s intentions. This leads the rider to question whether the friend might even exist at all. Should the rider continue helping him, or should he return to his own journey?
Who are you, OiAu? Episode 5. Fish of the desert.
OiAu adore meeting everyone who comes into her field of vision. Today OiAu lies on the lawn, sees clouds and invites them to visit. The clouds do not respond. She asks herself out loud: why do clouds walk in the sky and not on the streets, that on the earth she would be able to lure them into visits. At this moment, Sad Camel appears and answers the question. OiAu doubts that he can know anything about clouds, because he cannot fly. Sad Camel is offended and says that he can sail and that is why he is called the ship of the desert. OiAu cannot believe it, because Sad Camel does not look like a ship at all. He has neither a captain nor a ship's cook. She thinks that he looks more like a desert fish than a ship of the desert. Professor returns home and, trying to smooth things over, says that being a desert fish is wonderful. Sad Camel agrees, but states that in reality he has long dreamed of being a cloud. OiAu dreams Sad Camel is jumping on the clouds, imagining himself as a cloud. He heads towards his homeland, the Gobi Desert, but suddenly begins to fall down. OiAu tries to catch him, but gets hit on the head. She wakes up and finds a bump on her head, and suddenly realizes that dreams and imaginary things are real. She is delighted with her discovery..
Home
“Home” is a short animated film depicting an astronaut’s return from a long space mission to his family. After spending 437 days alone in a tiny spaceship, he discovers that the concept of “Home” holds a unique meaning for him, diverging from conventional interpretations. Through subtle visual storytelling and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, “Home” explores themes of isolation, longing, and the emotional complexities of finding one’s place in the universe. The animation style emphasizes realism, with detailed environments that reflect the character’s internal journey. Technically, the short employs a mix of traditional and digital techniques to create a rich, immersive experience.
I dissolved the universe
A young man travels to Bratislava to find the superlative of purposelessness.
Lux et Tenebrae
Award-winning short experimental documentary showing the light and darkness of interstellar space as captured by the Hubble, Keppler and Voyager. This film has been accepted into the official archives of the European Space Agency.
French Movie
An animated short set to a Poem by David Lehman.
Silent Scream
A man wakes up in a white room, unable to move. He has also lost his memories. Where is he? Why is he here? Little by little, he pieces the mystery together in order to escape the room.
Comic
A group of friends has a den in the woods. They have been friends for as long as they can remember. They never fight, but they do sometimes argue, and then they have a timeout. Their simple rules keep the peace and all is well until, one day, Tom buys a Comic that everyone wants to read. Tensions grow, the group splits, reforms using a timeout, but splits again, and this time things get really out of hand.
iRony
A film that explores the relationship between man and technology...told from the perspective of a phone. Variously described as an Animation, an Experimental Film, a Narrative, a Documentary or a Film-Poem depending on who you speak to, this hand drawn animated film is based on the poem 'Seven Billion' written by the film director that won 2 National poetry awards: The Young Australian Writer’s National Award for Poetry, selected out of a field of 30,000 and the Karen W Treanor Poetry Award (Youth). iRony has been selected to 7 Academy Award Qualifying Festivals. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZUdUJdpuw&feature=youtu.be
Beautiful Smile
Amid the chaos of a dark cattle car, a fragile bond forms between Viktor, an Estonian boy, and the German girl Magda. In the midst of hunger, fear, and despair, Magda’s smile offers Viktor a fleeting moment of hope — but the brutal reality soon catches up with them.
The Interrogation of Olivia Donovan
Following the arrest of Bradley Donovan for the abduction of a young schoolgirl, DI Watkins and child psychologist Sarah Hardy set out to Donovan’s house in the hope of finding the missing victim. When they arrive, they are greeted by Donovan’s worried wife, Olivia. With Olivia’s state of mind in a very vulnerable place, Watkins and Sarah must use all their experience and tact to try to encourage Olivia to cooperate
The Vampyr: A Gothic Horror
Edmund, a Victorian Englishman starts a perilous journey to rescue his beloved Mira, whom he believes has been kidnapped by a Vampyr. Accompanied by a seasoned Hunter, Edmund's quest leads him to a ruined castle to save the woman he loves.
1976
A short film. Music. Directed by Daniel Shapiro.
INFECTED
A body decays. A forest regrows. A virus mutates. In silence and shadow, nature remembers what humanity tries to forget. Spanning generations of hidden experiments and unraveling global systems, this fictional record draws a chilling line from buried weapons labs to present-day collapse. The infection spreads—not just through blood, but through behavior, memory, and belief. When control slips from our grasp, what remains of choice, of humanity, of survival?
One Step To Perfection
Upon leaving prison, Jesse incarcerated for 5 years learns that his mother is volunteering for an experiment : Take a pill that will take away her feelings. He then sets out to prevent it.
Smooth Operators
Two doctors enter a smoothie shop that apparently sells more than smoothies
Outside Arcadia
On a southern farmstead just outside Arcadia, more than 20 years after life-altering events, a boy and his sister finally make their moment to break free.
Return to Elenore
The Leader of a sinister cult returns to the site of a terrible incident involving one of his followers, Elenore. She was slain in the event, and now her vengeful presence haunts the town surrounding the house where it all happened. As fear and dark imagination twist the town’s reality, the leader grows desperate to end her wrath. He enlists the help of a renowned exorcist, and together, they must confront the darkness within, battling Elenore’s relentless fury, and the nightmarish imaginings she stirs, in a final, harrowing attempt to banish her soul and undo the terror that grips the town.
Daag
A city housewife is occupied with her daily household chores. Stains have accumulated in various corners of the house—some fresh, some old. Then, the doorbell rings. A gift has arrived. She tries to feel happy, but a shift in her thoughts unsettles her. She notices the stains are not just on the walls—they have settled on her body too. She attempts to clean them, starting with the ones in the house, but she hesitates, unable to bring herself to do it. Caught in the same cycle, she grows weary. Can she break free?
The Widows of BirdLuck
After her beloved lucky bird goes missing, a woman descends into a psychological battle with her suspicious neighbor, convinced she is the thief.
An Illusion
Just like a tiny spark can turn into a big fire, small ego problems over little things in our daily lives can quickly turn into strong anger. In this story, "An Illusion," a man killed his girlfriend because she didn’t answer his calls or messages. He continues to struggle with his ego in his subconscious mind throughout his 20 years in prison. Overall, the dark color palette reflects the dark side of thoughts, and there is red color depicting ego and anger.
Dremboat
The world is wobbling, and Ilona is wobbling with it. In an act of hectic hyperintrospection, we discover Ilona's inner self as it explores the ragged landscapes of dating culture, digitally and physically. Will she find true love along the way?
Oh Sh**
A man is woken up in the middle of the night to a series of bizarre letters that become increasingly more demented. Part 1 of 2 of a short film series
Materre
Award-winning short documentary about the beauty of the Earth as seen from the International Space Station.
naqlah (transformation)
During an ongoing devastating war, a young orphan, who lives with his mother, tries to put an end to the pain he suffers because of his disability. Paranormal activity happens to the world he lives in.
The Letter
‘The Letter’ is a sapphic/lesbian love story and drama, following ex-partners, Jodie and Anna, as Jodie tries to come to terms with how and why their relationship ended. When Jodie receives a letter from her ex-lover, Anna, she meets Anna again to explore her unresolved feelings.
Coffee place
An unusual event happens in a small cafe where many people come.
The Terminus
Adam has played women all his life. He only cares about himself. At the end of the day he'll discover there are things he should have done differently.
Like Glass
A young woman, Kira, wakes in an abandoned wasteland, severely injured, with absolutely no recollection of how she got there. As she struggles to stay alive, strange events begin to unfold that lead her to confront a terrifying possibility.
H Positive
If you had a prolonged terminal illness and money was no object, would you manipulate euthanasia so that you could die on your own terms? This story examines how the protagonist Mark uses his wealth to help create a euthanasia roller coaster. A roller coaster so powerful, it causes cerebral hypoxia, thus suffocating your brain ensuring a euphoric death.
Spill a Little Tea
Spill a Little Tea reimagines Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey as a contemporary act of witnessing and resistance. The work draws on the quiet tension of the original painting, transforming it into a space where suppressed voices rise to the surface. “Spilling tea” becomes both confession and revelation—stories once hidden now shared, honored, and believed. This piece stands for women across time who have been unjustly killed, abused, or silenced. By revisiting a historical moment of innocence and powerlessness, the work insists on remembrance, accountability, and the urgent necessity of speaking truths that were never meant to disappear.
My home
A small spider weaves a web on the window and lives on it. One day the man opens the window, the web breaks and the spider is left without a home. He tries to weave a new web for himself under the bed, in the stove or in the keyhole, but every time someone destroys his house. The wind blows a desperate spider from the windowsill to the bush. Here the spider finds a real home in harmony with nature.
I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU
He will tell you what you want to know.
Who Wants To Be A Cat?
The inner struggles of an introverted cat in a world dominated by extroverted dogs.
New Beginning
A short film. Animation. Directed by Sunyoung Du. 2018.