HollyShorts Film Festival is returning for its 20th edition with a star-studded lineup.
400 films have been selected from over 6,000 entries with films from Zoe Saldana, Bella Thorne and Jamie Lee Curtis making the final cut.
HollyShorts includes four Oscar-qualifying categories, including documentary short film, best short film grand prize, best short animation and best short live-action.
The live-action short film entries include “How Can I Help You” directed by Eliza Scanlen and starring Thomasin McKenzie, Marco Perego’s “Dovecote” with Zoe Saldana, “Dammi” starring Riz Ahmed and Isabelle Adjani, Ken Cheng’s “Summons” starring Jimmy O. Yang and Alexandra Shipp, “Midnight” from legendary Japanese director Takashi Miike, Louisa Connolly-Burnham’s “Sister Wives” featuring Mia McKenna-Bruce, “Hearts of Stone” with Noomi Rapace and Jessica Barden, “French” directed by Dylan Joseph, produced by Shira Nagan and exec produced by Kobi Mizrahi, “Vlog” starring and directed by Yvonne Strahovski, “Edge of Space” directed by Jean de Meuron, Russell Goldman’s “Burn Out” produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, “Fall Risk” featuring Victoria Pedretti, directed by Alex Martini, and produced by Bella Thorne, and Jim Cummings’ “Pretty Sad.”
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The documentary shorts category includes “Alok” directed by Alex Hedison and executive produced by Jodie Foster, Benjamin Alfonsi’s “Whitney Houston in Focus” and “XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture” directed by Ferne Pearlstein and produced by Trevor Noah.
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Other shorts set to appear at the festival include Bella Thorne’s “Unsettled” featuring Chris Zylka, Eli Newman’s “Concrete” starring Ed Harris and Sophia Ali, Francesca Scorsese’s “Fish Out of Water” and Richie Keen’s “The Grievance” with Rosie O’Donnell.
For the first time HollyShorts will also include a sports category, with NBA champion Metta World Peace joining as head judge. He has also produced a film, “With Love Charlie,” which will premiere on opening night. The sports category is led by producer Jessica Badawi and will include films such as “Black Mark” from former NBA player Matt Barnes, “The Syd & TP Show” with WNBA stars Theresa Plaisance and Sydney Colson and Red Bull Media House’s “Life of Kai” featuring Kai Lenny.
The festival is set to take place from Aug. 8-18 in Los Angeles at TCL Chinese Theatres and through the official festival streaming platform Bitpix. The awards gala takes place August 18.
The entire 2024 selection is available on YouTube from today and the full list of official selections is at hollyshorts.com.
