Sundance short films

Sundance 2025: Twelve short films that stood out for The Utah Review this year: comedy, horror, documentary, drama, animation

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This year’s Sundance slate included short film programs, including focused tracks in animation, documentary and midnight-appropriate stories. The slate is filled with outstanding examples of the short film category, from around the world. The 57 shorts were selected from 11,153 submissions this year.  The Utah Review presents 12 that were standouts in a superlative lineup. … Read more

Sundance 2024: University of Utah film among select short documentaries; Midnight Program a feast of horror, dark comedy, psychological thrillers

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This year’s Sundance Film Festival slate of 53 short films included a solid selection of nonfiction and narrative stories, in the documentary and Midnight program categories. The bar for juried selection was pitched higher than ever before, given the record number of 12,098 submissions for consideration. One of the nonfiction shorts came from Utah: dêtetsi … Read more

Sundance 2023: A look at some of the festival’s elite class of short films and Animation Short Film Program

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Sundance’s elite short film slate is highlighted. Les Roka’s reviews five short films from various offerings while Thomas Dugrosprez reviews this year’s Animation Short Program. The following five films from this year’s Sundance Short Film program stand out for their distinction and impact, as part of The Utah Review’s coverage of the 2023 … Read more

Sundance 2022: Eight short films emphasize excellent range of options featuring the best of international filmmaking

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This year’s Sundance Film Festival’s shorts offerings are filled with plenty of excellent options. The 59 short films for the 2022 program were selected from a record 10,374 submissions. Of these submissions, 4,701 were from the U.S., and 5,673 were international, representing 26 countries. The Utah Review selected eight shorts from around the world to … Read more

Sundance 2021: Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and Turkish sociological thriller shine as part of festival short films slate

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A Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and a Turkish sociological thriller surrounding two university students underscore just how rigorously curated this year’s Sundance short film program is. Gregory Barnes’ The Touch of the Master’s Hand and Serhat Karaaslan’s The Criminals are among this year’s 50 short films which were selected from 9,933 submissions. The Touch of … Read more