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.

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.

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.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Thank you for including our film Ractors in your 2024 festival. Being local from the area, Short. Sweet. Film Fest, is gaining quite a lot of notoriety, and quickly become a top tier festival in the region. Communication was great, and the organizers were kind an responsive. Look forward to more submissions and many more years of The Short. Sweet. Film Fest.

    March 2024
  • Amazing team to work with and I absolutely loved this festival. Thank you again!

    March 2024
  • A regular festival with careful planning

    March 2024
  • neta film

    A good festival
    With proper planning

    March 2024
  • Volkan GİRGİN

    We are very sorry we couldn't be there. We are very happy to be part of the festival.

    March 2024