HollyShorts Film Festival celebrates their 20th anniversary with a star-studded 2024 line-up

The Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival returns for its much-anticipated 20th edition from August 8-18, 2024.

From over 6000 entries, over 400 films form this year’s anniversary program. This Friday, July 12, HollyShorts will share the entire 2024 selection on YouTube. 

Last year, the Academy granted the festival their 4th OSCAR®-qualifying award for Documentary Short Film, this accolade joined their other three top awards, Best Short Film Grand Prize, Best Short Animation and Best Short Live Action. The winners of these awards will be eligible for consideration for a 2025 Academy® Award.  

HollyShorts has also launched an inaugural Sports category with NBA Champion, Metta World Peace as the head judge, he is also a producer of a film to be premiered on opening night called, With Love Charlie. The festival’s sports category is led by producer Jessica Badawi and will include work from former NBA player and champion Matt Barnes premiering his documentary Black Mark, an episode from the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks series “The Sound of the Seahawks”, “The Syd & TP Show” with WNBA stars Theresa Plaisance and Sydney Colson, the show is produced exclusively by TOGETHXR, a media and commerce company founded by four of the world’s greatest athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Sim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bidr. Also joining this new category will be Red Bull Media House’s Life of Kai‘ featuring ESPY award winner Kai Lenny and Race and Surf from Selema Masakela, NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies Marc Gasol: Memphis Made, ESPN 30 for 30 and two documentaries from the Italian powerhouse soccer team AC Milan including Roots-Bennacer. 

Some of the documentary short films selected for the 20th edition include Alok directed by Alex Hedison and executive produced by Jodie Foster, The Final Copy of Ilon Specht directed by two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot, Benjamin Alfonsi’s Whitney Houston in Focus, John Beder’s How to Sue the Klan and XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture directed by Ferne Pearlstein and produced by Trevor Noah. 

The star-studded 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 BAFTA Rising Star Award winner Mia McKenna-Bruce, Hearts of Stone with Noomi Rapace and Jessica Barden, French directed by Dylan Joseph and produced by Oscar nominee Kobi Mizrahi, Vlog starring and directed by Yvonne Strahovski in her directorial debut, Edge of Space directed by Oscar nominee Jean de Meuron, Russell Goldman’s Burn Out produced by Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis, Fall Risk featuring Victoria Pedretti, directed by Alex Martini, and produced by Bella Thorne, and Jim Cummings’ Pretty Sad, Yasmin Afifi’s BAFTA winning Jellyfish and Lobster and  Tom Stuart’s Good Boy starring Ben Whishaw also join this fantastic lineup.  

Among the animated short film entries are Nadia Hallgren and Jamie-James Medina’s The Brown Dog with voice performances by Steve Buscemi and the late Michael K. Williams, Paul Shammasian’s An Angel on Oxford Street narrated by Christopher Eccleston, Play Again directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Zen Pace, voiced by Benjamin Bratt and Eric Briche’s Volcelest. 

Notable music videos include Shania Twain’s Giddy Up! and Nikki Lorenzo’s Lista, directed by Bianca Poletti and starring Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. 

Additional noteworthy selections include Bella Thorne’s Unsettled featuring Chris Zylka, Eli Newman’s Concrete starring Ed Harris and Sophia Ali, Mackenzie Davis’ directorial debut Woaca, If Not Now, When? starring Kate Dickie, Hanna Gray Organschi’s Merci, Poppy with Victoria Pedretti, Danielle Baynes’ “The Dog” starring Kate Walsh, Francesca Scorsese’s Fish Out of Water, Richie Keen’s The Grievance with Rosie O’Donnell and Kevin Pollack, Mika Simmons’ My Week with Maisy starring Joanna Lumley, Annie Girard’s One in the Chamber starring Wilson Bethel, Hector Prats’ Heaven is Nobody’s starring Roger Guenveur Smith, Michael Perez-Lindsey’s Will I See You Again? featuring  Richard Lawson, Blake Winston Rice’s Tea, co-directors Brit Crawshaw and Josh Hayward’s Female Captive starring Pauline Chalamet, Academy Award winner’s Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton’s Slick Films selected shorts include Rhys Chapman’s Ryan Can’t Read and Elizabeth Peace’s The Golden Boy, Benjamin Verrall’s Shouting at the Sea starring Harry Michell, Maia Scalia’s His Mother, Ethan Kuperberg’s Paper Towels starring Josh Brener, and Swollen directed by Roxy Sorkin.   

HollyShorts is devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe, advancing the careers of filmmakers through screenings, networking events, and various panels and forums. The festival showcases the top short films produced in 40 minutes or less. 

To view the full list of official selections visit here.