For 23 years San Francisco IndieFest has presented the best new independent films from around the world to thousands of San Francisco film fans and as of a few years ago, we now have an annual program of all short films: short shorts, long shorts, cool shorts, comedy shorts, weird shorts, music shorts, documentary shorts, experimental shorts, genre shorts, student shorts.

Not only do we love shorts programs, but our long standing loyal audience in San Francisco REALLY loves shorts. The shorts programs at SF IndieFest, SF DocFest and Another Hole in the Head are consistently some of our best attended programs so we created a festival to showcase the best short films we can find. AND the best rated film in the festival, as decided by the audience, will win a $500 cash prize.

SF IndieFest is a founding member of the FILM FESTIVAL ALLIANCE.

Awards & Prizes

Best of the Fest - $500 cash prize
Best US Narrative
Best Foreign Narrative
Best Local Narrative
Best US Documentary
Best Foreign Documentary
Best Local Documentary
Best US Comedy
Best Foreign Comedy
Best Local Comedy
Best US Drama
Best Foreign Drama
Best Local Drama
Best Music Video
Best Dance Film
Best Genre Film
Best Student Film
Best Animation
Best Experimental Film
Best US Single Take Film
Best Foreign Single Take Film
Jury Prize for Best Narrative
Jury Prize for Best Documentary

Rules & Terms

Any short film under 40 minutes and no more then 18 months old is eligible for consideration.

LEGAL STUFF: Submitters understand that submission of their work authorizes the Festival to use the work for exhibition, education and/or publicity purposes related to the festival; that the Festival will handle the prints and drives with a maximum of care but cannot be held liable for any damage or loss during shipping, preview, or screening; and that the Festival is also not responsible for any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, or royalty infringement related to the work. Submitters may receive future correspondence from the Festival. The festival will never publish your film online under any circumstances.
49 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Mathieu Baillargeon

    Hi ! We are blessed to have the opportunity to share our work in this beautiful festival. In these special times for the world and for the movie industry, it's always a challenge to be able to give life to our creations... so thank you very much for this ! B Take care and bless you ! Mathieu Baillargeon #LastCall

    December 2020
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  • Shruti veeramachineni

    Honoured to have our film selected at SISFF. We are living in time when we are all learning new ways to communicate. The festival has done a beautiful job at making sure all the film makers were connected to the festival virtually. Thank you 🙏🏻

    November 2020
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  • Attila Rostas

    Jeff Ross and the SF IndieFest programmer team took many many amazing filmmakers under the wings for their brilliant 2020 lineup. Starting from their effective new age cinema-marketing tools all the way to their artistic care for our films all deserve serious recognition. Thank You!

    November 2020
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  • Sara Bonaventura

    Went online this year due to Covid but still arranging Q&A talkies getting in touch with other directors. Excellent communication in this crazy year!

    November 2020
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  • Mathieu Mathieu Di Muro

    What a fantastic festival, the communication was great, they hosted a Q&A which is so appreciated in the current times and not being able to be present at the events.

    All and all this was an amazing experience and I look fwd to submitting new projects to them!

    October 2020
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