February 2008

We've been making some changes at Short Film Central lately, starting with a new, fresher, more modern logo, and many more improvements under the hood. We've made several parts of the website simpler and quicker to use, and it's now easier to find some films and events you're searching for. Here's some more of the new and updated features...

Rate and Review Short Films

Filmmakers love feedback! If you've recently seen a short film at a festival or elsewhere, you're encouraged to visit the film's profile on Short Film Central and add your rating or comment, where it can be seen not only by the filmmakers, but by film festivals and other fans interested in the film. It's easier to rate films now - just click the reels on the film profile, and adding a comment is optional. The average user rating is now displayed both on the film profile and in film search lists.

Event Ratings

Filmmakers often want to know which are the best film festivals and events to send their films to. Well, we've added a new feature where filmmakers can rate the events at which their films have screened as a way of recommending them to other filmmakers. These filmmaker ratings are shown on the event profiles and in event search lists.

Trailers

Film profiles can now display a trailer or short excerpt from the film. If you haven't yet uploaded a movie for your film, feel free to do so now - just go to your film profile editor and click the Trailer or Excerpt link.

RSS News Feed

Our news updates are now available on an RSS feed. If you don't know what RSS is, it's a way of receiving our latest news and updates without having to visit our website manually. Updates are automatically downloaded to an RSS reader, which is included in many new browsers, mobile devices etc. So if you want automatic daily updates of the latest short film awards, calls for entries, and other updates at Short Film Central, just subscribe to the RSS feed.

Make Your Own Compilation DVD

We currently have 21 great award-winning short films available on our Make-Your-Own Compilation DVD system, which allows film fans to build a custom DVD with one or more short films, which we make on-demand and send by mail.

Show all films available on DVD

If you're a film owner (filmmaker, producer or distributor) and you're looking for the most flexible, transparent way to make your short films available to your audience, please contact us and we'll send you some more information about the system.

If there's a film listed on Short Film Central which you'd like to have a copy of, but it's not available, just go to the See It page on the film profile, add yourself to the Wish List and we'll see if we can organise it.

Latest Short Film Awards

Here's some of the latest short film awards to be announced:

The Pearce Sisters
Best Short Film
at Anima: Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival

Madame Tutli-Putli
Best Short Animation
at Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival
Special Mention
at Anima: Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival

The Tale of How
Grand Prize
at Anima: Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival

Fetch
Best Animation
at Vincitori di Cortiamo

Show all the latest awards

Calls for Entries

These festivals and events have entry deadlines approaching very soon:

Worldwide Short Film Festival
Canada
Deadline: 22 February 2008

Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival
Canada
Deadline: 22 February 2008

Festival of Nations
Austria
Deadline: 1 March 2008

Breckenridge Festival of Film
United States
Deadline: 1 March 2008

USA Film Festival
United States
Deadline: 1 March 2008

Charleston International Film Festival
United States
Deadline: 1 March 2008

Melbourne International Film Festival
Australia
Deadline: 11 March 2008

Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival
Brazil
Deadline: 14 March 2008

Algarve International Film Festival
Portugal
Deadline: 15 March 2008

Cannes Film Festival
France
Deadline: 17 March 2008

Show all events with upcoming entry deadlines

New Short Film Profiles

The Short Film Central website has a database of award-winning short films, contributed to and updated by filmmakers and by us. Some of the latest short film profiles to be added include:

Madame Tutli-Putli
Directors: Maciek Szczerbowski and Chris Lavis
Madame Tutli-Putli boards the night train, weighed down with all her earthly possessions and the ghosts of her past.
17 awards to date

Film for the Boxed
Director: Bryn Chainey
Tobias, a miraculous boy born with a TV set for a head, embarks on a quest to invent colour and find his estranged father.
2 awards to date

In The Tradition of My Family
Director: Todd Davis
Billy wants a better scar than the one his father gave him.
7 awards to date

Show all the latest short films added

Upcoming Festivals & Events

If you're keen on short films, you can't beat seeing them on the big screen. Here's a selection of festivals and events starting soon:

Animac: International Animated Film Festival
Spain, 25 February

Genie Awards
Canada, 3 March

Tampere International Short Film Festival
Finland, 5 March

South By Southwest Film Festival
United States, 7 March

Hong Kong International Film Festival
Hong Kong, 17 March

Show all upcoming events

Add your short film or event profile

Short Film Central is a hub for film fans, filmmakers and festivals. If you're a filmmaker, producer, or distributor and you have short film which is screening at festivals, or you organise an event which screens short films, adding your profile to our searchable Short Film Central database will help expose it to those who are most interested in it, and make your latest news, screenings, awards and other updates available to all our visitors.

You can use your film profile as your main film website if you don't have your own, or if you do, you can provide a link to your website from here. All you need to do is register as a user - it's free and only takes a minute - then you can add and update your profiles whenever you like. We hope to see you soon!