Vanessa McMahon

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PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL SHORTFEST ANNOUNCES LINE-UP FOR 2014

Festival to Showcase Shorts Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Taylor Kitsch, Rose McGowan, Bebe Neuwirth, Michael Urie, and Starring Danny DeVito, Natalie Dormer, Ioan Gruffudd, Jenna Fischer, Ian Hart, Tony Hale, Rutger Hauer, Sally Hawkins, Oscar Isaac, Cheyenne Jackson, Sophia Loren, Nick Offerman, Sarah Paulson and Mark Strong.

Palm Springs, CA (June 5, 2014) – The shorts are back in town at the 2014 Palm Springs International ShortFest & Short Film Market. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, ShortFest will showcase 330 films including 84 World Premieres, 71 North American Premieres and 22 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts and award-winning films from 54 countries around the world and 82 submissions. There are 52 thematically curated programs which will screen June 17-23, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. More than 3,000 of the festival submissions are available in the ShortFest Market for industry attendees to view. The complete line-up will be posted on www.psfilmfest.org on June 8 with the online box office launch on June 10.

“This 20th anniversary edition of Palm Springs ShortFest is the year of ‘”more”,” said Festival Director Kathleen McInnis. “This year we’ve had more films submitted from more countries than ever before. We saw stronger work from all our submissions, as well as a shift in storytelling—away from the angst-ridden drama of the past few years, and more towards hopefulness and sheer fun. There are more high profile actors lending their weight to the short films in our program, which speaks directly to both the quality of filmmaker and filmmaking. And we have more premieres, especially World and North American, than in years past—a direct result, I think, of the active, year-round outreach we do on the festival circuit. All in all, it’s an extraordinary year in which to celebrate our 20th birthday!”

This year’s star-studded shorts feature Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as film and television stars including Sarah Paulson in #twitterkills (USA); Jayma Mays in the World Premiere of Awkward Expressions of Love (USA); Natalie Dormer and Rufus Sewell in The Brunchers (UK); Chiwetel Ejiofor directs Columbite Tantalie (UK); Ian Hart in the World Premiere of Conversation with a Cigarette (USA); Lee Meriwether in The Curse of the Un-Kissable Kid (USA); Rose McGowan’s directorial debut Dawn (USA); Alan Ruck in the World Premiere of DESTROYER (USA); Barry Bostwick, Missi Pyle, Cheyenne Jackson, Rob Riggle and Carmen Electra in Dragula (USA); Ioan Gruffudd in the World Premiere of Eddie (USA); Nick Offerman in The Gunfighter (USA); Edoardo Ponti directs Human Voice with Sophia Loren (Italy); Michael Urie directs The Hyperglot (USA); Jenna Fischer in the World Premiere of It’s Okay (USA); Bebe Neuwirth directs Jerome’s Boquet (USA); Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine directs Kuhani (Uganda); Martin Starr in Leonard in Slow Motion (Canada); Mark Strong in the North American Premiere of Nosferatu in Love (UK); Taylor Kitsch directs the World Premiere of Pieces (USA); Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent in The Phone Call (UK); Ankur Vikal in the World Premiere of Points of Origins (India); Josh Ackland and Juliet Stevenson in The Portrait (Ireland); Shohreh Aghdashloo in the World Premiere of Still Here (USA); former ShortFest jury member Missi Pyle in the World Premiere of Somebody’s Mother (USA) and Dragula (USA) ; Luke Kirby in the US Premiere of Sure Thing (USA); Oscar Isaac in the World Premiere of Ticky Tacky (USA); Danny Devito in Today’s The Day (USA); Sally Kirkland and Burt Young in the World Premiere of Tom in America (Brazil); Tony Hale and Frankie Faison in the World Premiere of Trouble & the Shadowy Deathblow (USA); Rutger Hauer in Turn (UK); Richard Kind in What Cheer? (USA); Alex Karpovsky in the World Premiere of The Young Housefly (USA).

Throughout the Festival the selected short films are organized into programs covering a variety of genres – including action, comedies, dramas, horror stories, thrillers and mysteries– and themes such as altered states, animals, animation, art, Australia, couples, crime, culture, dreams, family, games, history, jobs, kids, LGBT, love, Palm Springs, secrets, strangers and travel shorts.

Nigel Daly (Vice President Business Affairs, Screen International/Chairman BAFTA-LA), Steve Gaydos (Vice President/Executive Editor, Variety) and Katie Holly (Managing Director, Blinder Films) will serve on the ShortFest jury. Over $115,000 in prizes, including $21,000 in cash awards, will be given out in 21 categories to this year’s short films in competition. The Panavision Best North American Short Award winner will receive a camera package valued at $60,000. First place winners in four categories will automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for a possible Academy Award nomination. Over the course of 19 years, the Festival has presented 97 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations. Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 22 at a Closing Night screening and reception.

12 films will screen in the ShortFest Online Film Festival. Now in its fourth year, the select films will play on a special section of the festival website (www.psfilmfest.org/shortfest). Online voting for these films will open on June 10 and run through June 21, with the “ShortFest Online Audience Award” announced at the Festival Award Ceremony on Closing Night. The ShortFest Online Film Festival will continue to play online through August after the end of the festival.

About Palm Springs International ShortFest: Designated by AMPAS as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the Palm Springs International ShortFest and its Short Film Market is the largest and most prominent short film showcase in North America. The Festival and its concurrent 3,000-plus Film Market continue to serve as a scouting ground for new filmmaking talent and are well attended by those in the business of buying and selling short films.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is supported by an ever-growing number of new and longtime sponsors with local, national and international prominence. The Title Sponsor is the City of Palm Springs with Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major Sponsors include: Ignition, Panavision, Stampede Post Productions, Smart Source Rentals, the Hard Rock Hotel, the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, KQED San Francisco, the Casting Society of America, Nickelodeon and The Australian Consulate General in Los Angeles. The official host hotel and media center is the Renaissance Palm Springs. More information is available online at www.psfilmfest.org

Palm Springs Shortfest Official Press Release

Edited by Vanessa McMahon