We are a dedicated team of filmmakers and cinephiles wishing to create a forum for quality short-length cinematic works from all around the world.

Short-form filmmaking is an often sidelined art form. Delivering concise and meaningful storytelling in a small package requires creativity and determination. These are also our guiding principles. We wish to celebrate creativity and determination in short-length filmmaking. So send us your ambitious and original short projects and let us help you reach an even wider audience.

Join us at the renowned Pollack Tempe Cinema for an evening of short but memorable cinematic experiences. Pollack Tempe Cinema has historically been a family-oriented venue and it is their welcoming and friendly atmosphere that has made us eager to partner up with them in our celebration of high-quality short films. For one night, Pollack Tempe will be home to ambitious short works from all around the world.

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Arizona Short Film Festival is run in association with Close:Up, a collection of international film festivals supporting indie filmmaking. By establishing a working network among filmmakers, producers and marketing professionals, we share one common goal: to forge productive and lasting relationships between independent filmmakers and audiences.

Awards & Prizes

The festival program will consist of international short films of different genres. All styles, genres and languages are welcome. Our team of judges, who come from filmmaking and academic backgrounds, will select the best films to screen for the audience.
We will award winners in categories such as:

Best Short Film
Best Documentary Short
Best Drama Short
Best Comedy Short
Best Experimental Short
Best Animated Short
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Cinematographer
Best Student Short Film

The winners will be announced at the festival, after the screening, and online the next day. The evening will be closed with a networking party.

Rules & Terms

✓ All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles (if in a different language).

✓ All films must have been made in or after 2019.

✓ Short films must not exceed 30 minutes.

✓ Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.

✓ By submitting to us, you give us the right to screen your film in front of a live audience at Pollack Tempe Cinema.

✓ Nominations: These are all the films that have been nominated for an award in a category. Not all nominated films will be screened.

Official Selection: These are all the nominated films selected for screening, which will be notified via email. If you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but is still a contender for an award in its category.

Award Winners: Chosen from the Nominations (which includes the Official Selection).

✓ We may promote clips from your film on social media, based on the press kits you provide us with.

✓ We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through email and our online platforms.

✓ We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.

✓ Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.

✓ We cannot provide refunds.

✓ If you have submitted your project in the previous year, please do not resubmit the same project to current edition.

✓ By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.

✓ We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.
5 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Greg Hall

    A great festival to be selected at, couldn't attend but well worth being part of.

    December 2019
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  • Thiago Dadalt

    Happy for being part with y project "Duke" and honored for the award, "Best Writer". Thank you fest team, I can't wait to be back.

    April 2019
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  • Tom J. McCoy

    The screening had a perfect venue and a lot more people should have been in attendance for such a great lineup. And it was free! The team that put it together was very generous and did an incredible job. Projection was spot on.

    April 2019
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  • Kevork Demirjian

    Happy to have been a part of this awesome festival! Would definitely recommend!

    April 2019
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  • saba ghasemi

    Thank you for your nice festival

    April 2019
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