The Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival returns for its 22nd edition from 13–23 August 2026, at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles.
Showcasing 430 films from around the world, this year’s programme is set to be the festival’s “most ambitious yet”, with an exceptional lineup of British shorts featuring “award-winning talent, bold new voices and compelling storytelling”.
Founded in 2005, HollyShorts has become one of the world’s leading platforms for short-form filmmaking, renowned for championing emerging talent and premiering films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations and wins.
This year’s British selection spans drama, comedy, documentary, animation and genre filmmaking, with an impressive roster of established stars and exciting new filmmakers.
Among the standout titles is Bob Cryer’s Joke, inspired by the favourite jokes of his father, legendary comedian Barry Cryer, featuring an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Alison Steadman.
Martin Freeman stars in Little Bug, which tells the story of Laika, the first dog sent into orbit aboard a Soviet space mission.
Charlie Creed-Miles leads Scott Vickers’ medieval drama King of the Iron Will, while Tomisin Adepeju directs the moving drama Life Me Up.
A Scent, directed by Johnny Russell, is inspired by the true story of a nurse who believes she can detect disease through smell.
Louisa Connolly-Burnham returns with the thriller The Intimacy Coordinator, while I Am the Prize stars Russell Tovey as a controversial self-help guru.
Other highlights include Echoes, starring Ashley Walters and Nathalie Emmanuel, a powerful drama exploring trauma; Life Goes On, a time-loop comedy-drama starring David Bradley, and Gobstopper, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce and executive produced by Barry Keoghan inspired by writer-director Pippa Lore Feldberg Collins’ own experiences growing up with a severely agoraphobic mother.
James Arden explores the consequences of rapidly advancing technology in the sci-fi drama Black Cab, while Milo Edwards’ Down the Length, starring Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn, and Sophie King’s Still Life, starring Ophelia Lovibond and Jacob Anderson, each offer poignant reflections on grief.
British comedy is also strongly represented, led by BRUVVAS, directed by and starring Katie McGuinness alongside Ben Whishaw.
Other titles include Odd Socks, a crime caper performed with sock puppets and featuring Sandi Toksvig and Paterson Joseph, Iris Breward’s Micro Bangs, about a woman whose life unravels over a dramatic haircut, Efosa Osagha’s Phantom Carousel, Lewis Rose’s Beshert, and Laundry Day, in which a lonely woman seeks solace at a laundromat.
Several films also arrive with high-profile executive producers attached. Spike Lee backs From Sidney With Love, about a nine-year-old girl convinced she is Sidney Poitier’s daughter, Idris Elba executive produces How To Hide It, Jordan Peele supports the horror short The Pigs Underneath, and Maxine Peake is attached to Laundreams, starring Paapa Essiedu.
Among the notable films directed by women are Isabella Webber’s poignant wartime drama Bobby, featuring the voice of Michael Caine, and Susan Wokoma’s Dark Skin Bruises Differently, which she also stars in.
Georgie Hudson offers a poetic meditation on impending motherhood in Body Song, while Hannah van der Westhuysen explores the relationship between a trans man and his father living with dementia. Emma Moffat’s Scope, starring Antonia Thomas, offers a nuanced portrayal of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Lottie Amor’s Kit, tells a profound story of a teenager with dwarfism, and Mushi Cai´s follows a mother travelling to see her estranged son’s film in Mother and Ulysses.
The documentary programme includes Swim Sistas, narrated by Naomie Harris, a lyrical exploration of Black women’s relationship with water, The Angry Bird, following female stock car racer Georgie, and Daisy Ifama’s SET PACE, profiling Britain’s first Black female motorsport official.
Music videos in the selection include Christmas Ambulance by Saltend Recovery, directed by Academy Award nominee Nina Gantz, alongside Wet Leg’s pokemon.
Animation is another strength of this year’s British programme, featuring Renée Zellweger’s directorial debut THEY, the Gorillaz music video The Mountain, The Moon Cave & The Sad God, and John McDaid’s WildKind, adapted from Ciara Tinney’s book.
The Midnight Madness section includes Blondi, Jack Salvadori’s experimental short told from the perspective of Adolf Hitler’s dog, alongside Bundle, starring Fionn Whitehead, Finn Cole and Anne-Marie Duff.
Also screening are Ava Bounds’ The Witches of Pool Bottom, a darkly comedic short exploring body-image, and Richard Hunter’s Thanks to Meet You!
Student filmmakers are also represented, with Oneiros, following an astronaut stranded on an alien planet searching for his mother, and Molly Mayhew’s stop-motion animation Fawn.
Completing this year’s British selection are Jasmin Nunes’ Ackee and Saltfish, Hobby Holmes’ romantic drama Celeste in the Summer, Isabella Speaight’s Dirt, Kane Wilson’s We Dream in Colour, and Darius Norowzian’s Fox.
Christopher Eccleston and Jack Rowan star in Zak Jarvis’ SIGNAL, a powerful drama addressing suicide, while Hayden McLean’s FarEye, inspired by his Caribbean heritage, offers a deeply personal exploration of identity.
HollyShorts is dedicated to showcasing the world’s finest short films while advancing the careers
The 22nd HollyShorts Film Festival will take place both in person at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood and virtually via the festival’s official streaming platform.
The festival opens on August 13 and concludes with the Awards Gala on August 23, where this year’s winners will be announced.
