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Short Film Competition
These bite-sized films prove that great stories don’t need feature-length runtimes to make a lasting impact. Competing for top festival honors, each selection offers audiences a chance to discover fresh talent, inventive perspectives, and unforgettable moments in a single sitting.
The Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) celebrates the art of short-form storytelling with its Short Film Competition, showcasing an exciting lineup of compelling and innovative short films. This competition brings together a diverse selection of outstanding works across three categories: Live Action Short, Animation Short, and Documentary Short.
Dedicated to emerging filmmakers, SIFF provides a premier platform for new voices to connect with audiences, industry professionals, and fellow creators. From gripping narratives to visually stunning animations and thought-provoking documentaries, these films exemplify the power of storytelling in a concise and impactful format.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of California’s wine country, the Sonoma International Film Festival offers an inspiring and dynamic space for short filmmakers to gain recognition, network, and celebrate the best in independent cinema.
Jury Members
Kerry Barden is a native of Atlanta. He majored in theatre at the University of Georgia and has cast over 300 films, including Boys Don’t Cry, American Psycho, The House of Mirth, The Help, the Pitch Perfect franchise, Dallas Buyers Club, Spotlight, and four films for director John Waters. His series credits include Sex and the City, Hand of God, Good Girls Revolt, School Spirits, and 13 Reasons Why. As a producer, his credits include the award-winning Conversations with Other Women, starring Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter. Kerry is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The British Film and Television Academy, and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings, and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry, and calls the Bay Area his home, where he lives with his husband and son.
Schuyler Fisk is an actress and singer-songwriter. Her breakout role was in the 1995 comedy The Baby-Sitters Club. She has also acted in projects like the cult comedy Orange County, TV shows One Tree Hill, Fear the Walking Dead, Castle Rock, and The Chicken Sisters, and the film Sam and Kate, alongside her mother, Sissy Spacek. Her music includes "Paperweight", a song featured on the soundtracks of films The Last Kiss and Dear John, her debut album, "The Good Stuff" in 2009, her sophomore album "Blue Ribbon Winner" in 2011, and her latest album “We Could Be Alright” in 2022.
Live Action Shorts
All Competition Films
Festival Film
In 1981 in suburban Long Island, New York, the mullets are long, the metal is heavy, and 14-year-old Douglas gets a birthday surprise that will change his life forever.
Festival Film
A Bird Hit my Window and now I'm a Lesbian
After a mysterious girl shows up at Gray's doorstep holding the corpse of a bird that had just cracked her window, an impromptu bird funeral changes the way Gray views herself and her lesbian identity.
Festival Film
A filmmaker struggles to find the right project, while he deals with his supportive father who shares his fantastic ideas for his son's next film.
Festival Film
Abalone Stories: Loss, Connection, Renewal
Red abalone is in drastic decline along Northern California’s coast. For former ab divers and a Yurok regalia maker, the challenge of renewal takes different shapes.
Festival Film
In a frantic race against time, struggling actress Anne must juggle chaos- and a high-maintenance dog named Macy- as a series of mishaps threaten her chance at a career-changing audition.
Festival Film
Maria, burdened with caregiving for her sick husband, gets invited to a party.
Festival Film
Two grocery store employees have an unexpected, helium-fueled encounter with a late-night customer.
Festival Film
In the heart of Kathmandu, a young woman, denied an education as a girl, steps into a classroom for the first time, finding hope and community.
Festival Film
Two siblings meet their father’s secret parallel family—an autobiographical tale seen through innocent, childlike eyes.
Festival Film
Two headstrong friends can't agree on who's treating whom to dinner at a Korean restaurant, causing their casual dinner to spiral into a martial arts deathmatch.
Festival Film
At Genesis Original Development, the quirky designers in the Fauna Design Department led by the rule-following Albert Miller look forward to an easy Friday afternoon.
Festival Film
The Deep Desire to Get Lost at Sea
During World War II, lovers Franco and Jorge reunite at a motel in the Port of Ensenada, but the uncertainty of the visit and some unexpected news will force them to reconsider the future of their relationship.
Festival Film
Lotte Reiniger meets Sergio Leone in this animated short, where desire burns as bright as the desert sun. A brand-new animated short that premiered in June 2025, successfully touring the festival circuit now.
Festival Film
In a peripheral zone of Mexico City, extortion from the area's merchants and residents is an everyday occurrence. On a sunny Sunday, hired killers have come to give an ultimatum to a merchant who has not paid his due.
Festival Film
Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighborhood fox. Together they embark on a magical journey to the attic to discover the surprising things they might have in common, and how to celebrate their differences.
Festival Film
On the last day of school, an undocumented mother's promise to cheer her daughter on at graduation collides with a cruel reality when she is suddenly detained by ICE.
Festival Film
“The Finger Wife” is a domestic horror story with a biting sense of humor - part hand-drawn animation, part stop-motion, all bizarro feminist propaganda! It’s 1975.
Festival Film
Two bumbling ad men launch a ‘revolution’ themed marketing campaign in a small town and inadvertently ignite a real revolution.
Festival Film
Garden gnomes live happily, until a golf ball wrecks their lives. They will seek revenge!
Festival Film
A heterosexual handyman agrees to let the director film him naked, as long as it's set to his favorite song.
Festival Film
A resentful teenager is forced to babysit her turtle-obsessed half-brother; meanwhile, he dives into a vivid fantasy world where he is a sea turtle and she is a tortoise.
Festival Film
When a plumbing leak tears a hole between their apartments, lonely Sybil climbs through to spy on reclusive neighbor Hugo—sparking broken bones, bruised egos, and an unexpected, heartwarming friendship.
Festival Film
A ride on a bike’s luggage rack is a sensory roller coaster through a land full of cuddles.
Festival Film
A change in her husband’s scent sends Anne spiraling into a late-night existential crisis.
Festival Film
A tender, unsettling portrait of girlhood confronting bias, silence, and fragile sibling love.
Festival Film
When their South Florida trailer park is slated for closure, three friends face an uncertain future, navigating the crisis with humor, compassion, and resilience.
Festival Film
On an isolated Tokyo island, fishing is not only a centuries-old way of life, but a meditative connection between humans and the natural world.
Festival Film
M.R.I. (or, Michael Returns Indefinitely)
When Michael’s frustrations with the healthcare industry cause him to openly question his doctor’s motives, he awakens shadowy forces that threaten to fight back.
Festival Film
When three nuns find out their church is shutting down, they take matters into their own hands by... robbing a bank.
Festival Film
Our Monsters is a short film about two kids, Daniel and Peter, who team up to defeat the monster in Daniel’s closet.
Festival Film
In a buffet restaurant, a diverse group of characters access a wide variety of exquisite delicacies without being aware of the serious sin that gluttony represents.
Festival Film
In the throes of his overstimulated, energy poor midlife, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) fantasies about everything he’d love to do in retirement, once he finally has the “time.”
Festival Film
Locked out on a freezing New Year’s Eve, Cleo discovers the real threat isn’t the cold — it’s the man beside her.
Festival Film
Inspired by true events, this animated short follows a sibling’s letter bridging history’s wound with hope.
Festival Film
A high school senior goes on his first college campus tour the day his parents’ marriage begins to fracture.
Festival Film
A love letter to first responders, this short film tells the story of Bryan, a local paramedic struggling with the emotional, mental and spiritual highs and lows of his profession.
Festival Film
A repressed, Italian-American father is thrust into his worst nightmare when his online crush shows up to his family’s traditional Sunday Sauce dinner.
Festival Film
Finding the courage to overcome family tragedy, Indigenous artist Dana Tiger embarks on a decades-long quest to transform grief and hardship into a revival of the family’s iconic Tiger T-shirt line.
Festival Film
A movingly tender animation, based on Dean Atta’s eponymous poem, sees two boys — Edan, 19, and Dula, 18 — on a journey of self-acceptance and love – for each other and themselves.
Festival Film
Two parents—worlds apart—confront desperate choices within the moral maze of organ trade.
Festival Film
In Voices from the Abyss, we explore the nature of their dives through slow-motion footage, personal testimonies, and an original poem recited by the divers themselves.
Festival Film
Amid opposite views, siblings Jessica and Robbie navigate the difficult decision to maintain their mother on life support, ultimately ending in a family vote.
Festival Film
Two bullied 13-year-olds cling to their fierce friendship in a world that rejects them.
Festival Film
A young moth named Pedro seeks new wings. He enters a tailor shop run by Patricia, a meticulous spider, who warns him of the risks involved.
Festival Film
Javier’s hungry cat wakes him up after a long day of work, but his mischievous drawings create obstacles that prevent him from fulfilling his responsibilities.