Festival Theaters is hosting its first Horror Shorts Film Festival on October 25th, Palm Screams 2025! Located in Downtown Palm Springs and close to bustling bars and the Walk of Fame. We are also home to the Palm Springs International Film Festival and ShortsFest! Friday, October 24th, we will be hosting a Filmmaker Night to kick off the the fest with a party! After a full day of horror shorts and other festivities, we will start the evening with an awards ceremony. If your short is selected for Best Short or People's Choice and you attend the fest, you have the option to do a filmmaker Q&A. Following the award ceremony, we will have an incredible Farewell party to close out our very first Horror Shorts Film Fest!

Awards & Prizes

If your horror short film is accepted, you will be in the running for the following awards:

Best Short - This award will be selected by a panel of experienced judges (Judges will be announced in early October) and accompanied by a unique Palm Scream 2025 trophy and a cash award of $800.

People's Choice - All attendees will be able to vote for their favorite shorts, and we will close votes after all shorts have screened. The short with the most attendee votes will receive a Palm Screams trophy and a cash prize of $500. 1. Filmmakers whose shorts are chosen may attend the event for free, with a +1. If your filmmaker team exceeds 2 members, we will have reduced-rate passes for additional crew.

Rules & Terms

1. Filmmakers whose shorts are chosen may attend the event for free, with a +1. If your filmmaker team exceeds 2 members, we have reduced-price tickets available for your additional crew.

2. If selected, all commercial/private property, including all trademark/copyrighted materials shown or recorded on the project, is the responsibility of the filmmaker; you will need to agree to these terms.

3. All films will be required to be converted to DCP to play via our commercial projectors. Assistance can be requested to convert your film to DCP. Submissions do not need to be DCP to be considered.

4. All films must be classified in the HORROR genre. Scary, suspenseful, gore, thrillers, slashers, psychological terror, murderous robots, alien invasions, horrifying hauntings, and the strange and unusual. Horror parody, campy horror shorts, and documentaries about the horror genre may be considered. Examples include shorts such as Zygote, Lights Out, The Old Chair, Too Many Cooks, and The Cat With Hands.

5. We ask that shorts do not exceed 20 minutes; if your short film is longer, it may still be considered, depending on the space available.

6. September 30th is our submission deadline, and selections will be announced on October 3rd.

1 Review
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Jason Ewert

    Fantastic communication and organization from start to finish. Palm Screams truly valued us as filmmakers and went above and beyond to make the experience welcoming. Very honoring and inspiring!

    November 2025
    Helpful