Established in 2012 as a quarterly screening series in Toronto, Canada, Shorts Not Pants is now a festival weekend held each November.

We've screened more than 650 films from more than 40 countries so far, and we're looking for more undiscovered gems to show our shorts-savvy Toronto audiences. Members of our programming team have experience working for some of the biggest and best festivals in the world (TIFF, Sundance, Hot Docs, Cannes) and travel to festivals around the world seeking out the best films and the brightest filmmakers to support.

Your submission will be evaluated by our team and if chosen, will screen at our festival in November 2024. We have more than a decade of great programming experience behind us, with lots of audience momentum.

See some of the nice things filmmakers have said about us here: http://www.shortsnotpants.com/testimonials/

Awards for Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short, Best Canadian Short as well an Audience Award. Each award comes with a cash prize of US$250.

Important note: a film can only compete in the category in which it is submitted (ie. Narrative, Documentary, or Animated).

We are currently accepting submissions of short films up to 20 minutes in length. All genres are welcome, and we don't disqualify films that are already available online, though we do look favourably on films that want to premiere with us.

We screen from digital files ONLY. Films not in English must contain English subtitles. Films with open captions are welcome (and encouraged!).

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Liam Thrush

    What a great toronto film festival. it was so welcoming and nice and the whole team was super friendly. I would certainly submit to this festival again

    November 2023
  • Jeffrey Ulrich

    Really well curated short film festival! It was a privilege to show my film alongside such talented creatives. Kudos to James and the entire Shorts Not Pants team for putting on an exceptional weekend.

    March 2023
  • Luis Puente

    It's a very well curated festival. I got to premiere a short there that later played Sundance with another short that played at Shorts Not Pants! We established a great connection with Canadian Filmmakers because of this festival.

    March 2023
  • Nina Ross

    Really great festival, with a lovely collection of films. Would definitely enter again!

    December 2021
  • Great festival! we were honoured to have our film selected to Shorts That Are Not Pants!

    December 2021