Announcement of SSFF & ASIA 2026 shortlist (2nd)
We will release a shortlist from among the entries for the Academy Award(R) eligible categories (Live-action Competitions, Animation Competition, and Non-fiction Competition) for the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2026.
In September, we received an impressive total of 1,316 submissions from around the world, reflecting the growing diversity and passion of creators working on short films. Among these, 32 films were student projects, and 278 were created by first-time filmmakers. Women filmmakers represented approximately 43.8% of the entries, while men accounted for 54.6%.
International Competition Overview
In the International Competition, we received 726 submissions. The top submitting countries were the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The prevalent themes focused on the core unit of family and the complexities of human relationships, with recurring stories relating to memory, historical events, and unresolved issues from the past.
Asia International Competition Overview
The Asia International Competition received 249 submissions, showcasing a diverse range of voices from across the region. The leading countries in submissions were China, Korea, and Taiwan. Common topics included family dynamics, personal struggles, grief, and life-changing experiences. The average film duration in this category was 14 minutes and 32 seconds.
Japan Competition Overview
The Japan Competition received 37 submissions, highlighting the unique qualities of Japanese filmmaking. Several films explored themes of motherhood, alongside recurring themes of family conflicts and romantic relationships. The average film duration in this category was 14 minutes and 19 seconds.
Animation Competition Overview
The Animation Competition received 144 submissions, with the United States leading, followed by France and Germany. Many works in this category addressed characters confronting personal challenges, social disconnection, mental health issues, and dementia.
Non-Fiction Competition Overview
The Non-Fiction Competition received 92 submissions, with the top submitting countries being the United States, Germany, and Austria. The average duration of these films was 14 minutes and 13 seconds. Many explored environmental issues such as global warming, flooding, and nature, while a few films revisited nuclear history and the creation of the atomic bomb.
〜SSFF & ASIA 2026 shortlist(2nd)～
~ The name of the film, the director name, and the country name will be listed in alphabetical order by category
| Project Title | Directors | Country of Origin |
| International | ||
| A Day in May | Camilo Escobar Henao | COLOMBIA |
| Cleanse the Streets | Aysha Shahaltough | JORDAN |
| Crazy For You | Greta Díaz Moreau | SPAIN |
| Found&Lost | Reza Rasouli | AUSTRIA |
| GEORGES | Ilan Teboul | FRANCE |
| Jazz infernal | Will Niava | CANADA |
| L’Avant-Poste 21 | Camille Surdez | SWITZERLAND |
| Let’s Settle This! | Jack Woon | NEW ZEALAND |
| Living Stones | Jákob Ladányi Jancsó | AUSTRIA, HUNGARY |
| No Skate! | Guil Sela | FRANCE |
| Ofélia | Carlos Lobo | PORTUGAL |
| Pharmacies | Martín Montellano | MEXICO |
| Photos of Her | Bar Cohen | ISRAEL, UNITED STATES |
| Plague Season | Gabriela Calvache | ECUADOR |
| SALT OF OUR SEA | Nada Bedair | UNITED STATES |
| Sardine | Justine Le Guilloux | FRANCE |
| Solid Ground | Timothy Grubisic | AUSTRALIA |
| The Death Notice of Eamonn McCarty | Aaron Chalke | IRELAND |
| The end of the world | Alessandro Mosca | PERU |
| Asia | ||
| Allergy | Seyoung Kim | KOREA, REPUBLIC OF |
| Attock | Awais Gohar | PAKISTAN |
| Bye Bye Garbage | Bahman Ark | IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF |
| CHOBOM | Bang Hyunjeong | KOREA, REPUBLIC OF |
| DHET! | UMMID ASHRAF | BANGLADESH |
| EXIT | Yong Chao Lee | MYANMAR |
| Guanyin Hostel | Qiancao Xiao | CHINA |
| In the waves | Inyoung KIM | KOREA, REPUBLIC OF |
| Mahi | Yasamin Molaei | IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF |
| My Brother Lyosha And I | Lena Tronina | KAZAKHSTAN |
| Nak Muay | Tinge Krishnan | THAILAND, UNITED KINGDOM |
| Orlo with Karma | Kangdrun | CHINA |
| River People | Peter Toyat | MALAYSIA |
| The Cycle | Arpita Mukherjee | INDIA |
| We Will Follow The Wind | Demon Wong | CHINA |
| Animation | ||
| Desi Oon | Suresh Eriyat | INDIA |
| Floating | Jelena Milunović | SERBIA |
| HOLY HEAVÊNESS | Negah Khezre Fardyardad, Farnoosh Abedi | UNITED STATES |
| Keko & Kiki | Mauro Carraro | SWITZERLAND |
| Leave The Island | Chen Wu | TAIWAN |
| Like Friend, Like Deer | Malek Eghbali | IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF |
| Luz Diabla | Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo, Patricio Plaza | ARGENTINA |
| Murmuration | Janneke SWINKELS, Tim FRIJSINGER | NETHERLANDS |
| Scherzo | Wojciech Wojtkowski | POLAND |
| Something Greater than You | Gordon LePage | UNITED STATES |
| The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) | Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski | CANADA |
| The Synthetic Age | Dimitris Armenakis | GREECE |
| THEY | Renée Zellweger | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Water Girl | Sandra Desmazières | FRANCE |
| With Tapes and Toasts in the Car (Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot) | Kiana Naghshineh | GERMANY |
| Non Fiction | ||
| Embodying Pasolini – Law of Attraction (Complete Version) | Hsu Jack (Chia-Cheng) | TAIWAN |
| Good Luck To You All | Cordell Barker | CANADA |
| La Mar | Jean Chapiro Uziel | MEXICO |
| Memoria Colectiva | Cristina Colmenares, Manuel-Antonio Monteagudo | COLOMBIA, FRANCE, PERU |
| Per Chi | Alessandro Spallino | ITALY |
| Rising from the Fire | Nanako Senda | JAPAN |
| Seddy: Drive Me, Kiss Me, Take Me, Dodo | Dong-hyun GWON, Sea-jung KWON | KOREA, REPUBLIC OF |
| SHELL YEAH | Sam Graff | UNITED STATES |
| Sound Guardians | Leah Varjacques | INDONESIA |
| The Tuners | Pawel Chorzepa | POLAND |
| Three Acts | Marjoleine Boonstra | NETHERLANDS |
| Japan | ||
| MILK LADY | Sachiko Miyase | JAPAN |
| ～Kadynma / Wind Horse～ | Aika Higashimori | JAPAN |
| Over The Mountains | Kisa Ito | JAPAN |
Festival selections will be made from among the shortlisted films. The shortlist films will be selected monthly until the end of March, 2026 and will be uploaded on the festival’s official website by the end of April, 2026. This month’s shortlist is mainly for films submitted by the end of September, but the timing of the announcements may vary.
■SSFF & ASIA 2026 Call for entry https://app.lifelogbox.com/festival/shortshorts?tab=competition