The Short. Sweet. Film Fest. is a short film only film festival created by actual filmmakers. We found it challenging to showcase our own short films at film festivals who mainly program around feature films. In the age of streaming there are more opportunities than ever before to share your work, but we often asked ourselves, "do we really want to premiere our short film alongside silly kitten videos?" Even though we love kittens (who doesn’t?), we love short films more and want to present them in the professional setting they deserve.

With twelve festivals under our belt, our goal for our thirteenth annual film festival is to showcase films under 40 minutes to the growing art scene in the greater Cleveland area and highlight the works of student to veteran filmmakers across the country. We look for short, sweet, original, and unique films that would often soar under the radar of most festivals. Our staff are looking for the best short films locally, nationally, and internationally. So send them our way!

Students should submit to the short student film category to receive a significant discount off of the submission fee.

Our festival will take place at Atlas Cinemas in the heart of downtown Shaker Square.

Awards & Prizes

All selections are eligible to win best, outstanding, or honorable mention in their respective categories. These awards will be announced at the end of programming for each category of film and for screenplays.

Rules & Terms

GENERAL RULES
• Productions made after January 1, 2015 may be submitted.
• Do not submit works in progress.
• Do not submit industrial or instructional works.
• A majority of films in digital video formats will be transferred temporarily onto a hard drive system for presentation.
• Filmmakers are strongly encouraged to send films with closed captioning if selected as they as they may be featured in additional programming.
• All entries must be postmarked by Saturday, December 30th, 2023. (Early submission discounts apply until September 30th – see fee schedule.)
• Flash or Memory sticks submitted will NOT be returned.
• Films selected for the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. will be announced no later than Friday, January 19th, 2024.
• Prints or videos for presentation must arrive no later than Thursday, February 1st, 2024.
112 Reviews
Overall Rating
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  • Festival Formula

    Thank you Short. Sweet. Film Fest for screening 15 of our clients! 💚💙❤️

    May 2023
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  • Bryson Schultz

    First festival ever. The hosts were very kind and communicative throughout the whole process before the festival and during. Nice community of people and filmmakers that arrived. Got to see a lot of interesting work and it helped me see more of the film scene in Ohio that doesn't get talked about enough. I plan on submitting to this festival again and hope to build connections through the work. Thank you again for allowing my comedy sketch "Ill Street Rap Battle" to screen. Hope to arrive again next year!

    March 2023
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  • Chris Gierowski

    Great fest! Tho I am partial being from Cleveland. But everyone was nice and awesome place to network with other filmmakers!

    March 2023
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  • Chris Harboldt

    I've been to the Short. Sweet. Film Fest several times and I always come away impressed! Thank you Mike Suglio and your staff for putting on a fantastic event!

    March 2023
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  • Barbara Bargiel

    Short and Sweet :) I only submitted a screenplay. Really kind and good communication from festival. Thank you!

    March 2023
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