The 34th Aspen Shortsfest begins Monday, March 31, and runs until Saturday, April 5, with screenings at the Aspen Film Isis Theatre and Wheeler Opera House.
Shortsfest is one of five Oscar-qualifying festivals in the U.S. that completely dedicates itself to short films.
This year’s Shortsfest includes 68 short films selected from 3,000 submissions, 11 world premieres, with films from 29 countries.
Programming Director Jason Anderson said this year’s program includes dramas, comedies, narratives, documentaries and animated films.
“So many great comedies,” he said. “And a bunch of those are world premieres here. And we're always really happy to have really great comedies because that’s something hard to do. I think a really great comedy is one of the hardest things of all.”
In addition to films, Shortfest includes panel discussions, workshops, networking events and apres screenings that will run from 2 to 10 p.m. most days.
All the films will compete for eight prizes awarded by three juries, in addition to an Audience Award, voted on by viewers. A youth jury of local middle and high school students will also award a prize.
Anderson said something that stands out about this year’s program is that it showcases several films about older characters.
“And that is something that is not usually the case,” he said. “Some years everything you're most thrilled with leans toward childhood stories or adolescent stories.”
The festival showcases award-winners from the Cannes, Toronto, Locarno and Sundance Film Festivals.
Four recent winners in the Sundance Film Festival’s short film competition will also make their Colorado premieres in Aspen this week.
“And we have two recent Oscar nominated films that are really incredible work, so you kind of have this mix of stuff that we know is having an impact already, mix that with stuff that is very new and really cool,” Anderson said.
Festival passes and individual tickets are available at the Shortsfest website. Teachers and students can receive free tickets.
