The Holly Shorts Film Festival returns this summer for its 22nd edition, continuing its legacy as one of the world's premier showcases for short-form cinema. Taking place August 13–23, 2026, at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatres and venues throughout Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, the Oscar®-qualifying festival will present 430 films selected from thousands of submissions from filmmakers around the globe.
Among this year's headline premieres is Renée Zellweger's directorial debut They, while Martin Freeman stars in Little Bug, the story of Laika, the first dog to orbit Earth aboard a Soviet space mission. Michael Keaton directs and stars opposite Kyra Sedgwick in Sweetwater, while Alexandra Shipp makes her directorial debut with For Niko, in which she also stars. Vincent Cassel leads the sports drama The Colosseum, and Michael Caine lends his voice to the poetic wartime drama Bobby.
Additional marquee selections include Selah, Lara Everly's comedy-drama starring Milana Vayntrub; It's Complicated, written by and starring Iman Karram and executive produced by Zoe Saldaña; and The Sisters of Scott County, featuring Kaitlyn Dever and Ava Phillippe. Michael Gandolfini and Christopher Meloni lead Sophia Meloni's coming-of-age comedy Chop Cheese, while Lara Condor, Owen Teague and Kaia Gerber star in Get Her Back!, written by acclaimed New York playwright Leah Nanako Winkler and executive produced by Margot Robbie.
Other featured titles include Renée Marie Petropoulos' Souvenir; See You, Soon, starring Asante Black and Isaiah John; Gregory Kasunich's Meeting Your Maker, starring Jonathan Kite; Callum Adams' Townies (or, My Little Town), starring Maren Lord and Michel Gil; and Rachel Olson's Homebodies, starring Sam Richardson and Martha Kelly.
Other notable live-action shorts include the Jordan Peele-produced horror Spilled Milk, directed by Jared Leaf and starring J. Alphonse Nicholson and Kid Cudi; Charlie Dennis' The Pigs Underneath, executive produced by Jordan Peele; Alanna Longo's Am I a Bad Person?; the comedy-horror FruitHead, starring Bradley Whitford; Emily Alpren and Marchelle Bradanini's Floored, starring Mara Wilson; Hazart's Stay for the Q+A, starring Jim Cummings; Kendra Jo's Please Return Your Cart, starring Russell Hornsby and Kimrie Lewis; Aristides Mantilla's In the Still of the Night, starring Academy Award winner Yalitza Aparicio; and Nell Riley's Missed, starring Anna Camp.
among the standout British entries is Joke, directed by Bob Cryer, son of legendary comedian Barry Cryer, featuring an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Alison Steadman. Pippa Lore Feldberg Collins' Gobstopper, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce and Annabel Scholey, is executive produced by Barry Keoghan and Simon Curtis, while BRUVVAS, directed by and starring Katie McGuinness, features Ben Whishaw. Also screening is Darius Norowzian's Fox, starring Todd Von Joel and Kierston Wareing. Zak Jarvis’ Signal starring Emmy award winner, 2 x BAFTA nominee Christopher Eccleston as Ray, a railway Signalman whose routine night shift turns into a race to save a life after spotting Billy - a distressed young man trespassing on the tracks, played by BAFTA winner Jack Rowan.
Other notable British selections include David Ledger's sock-puppet comedy Odd Socks, starring Sandi Toksvig and Paterson Joseph; Alex Lanipekun's Echoes, featuring Ashley Walters, Nathalie Emmanuel and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and executive produced by Nicholas Pinnock; Sai Karan Talwar's I Am the Prize, starring Russell Tovey; Still Life, starring Ophelia Lovibond; How to Hide It, executive produced by Idris and Sabrina Elba; Kat Butterfield and Daniel Audritt's Life Goes On, starring David Bradley; and Catherine Joy White's documentary Swim Sistas, narrated by Naomie Harris, exploring the relationship between Black women and swimming.
The documentary programme includes The Revolution Against Death from Oscar-nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer; Daniel Straub's A Short Documentary About a Giant Pencil; and Victoria Trow's Eructation, following the woman attempting to break the world record for the loudest burp.
Animation highlights include Pigeons, directed by Amos Sussigan and featuring the voice of Andy Serkis, and Stephen P. Neary's Sundance-winning Living with a Visionary, narrated by James Cromwell. Natasha Lyonne, Yara Shahidi and Daveed Diggs lend their voices to ChikaBOOM!, while Oscar-nominated Butterfly and Academy Award-winning The Girl Who Cried Pearls further strengthen the animated programme. Also screening is Apart, directed by Pola Maneli and written by Academy Award winner Spike Lee, a moving story of two boys whose friendship is tested during apartheid in South Africa. Rounding out the programme is Send Nudes, directed by Student Academy Award nominee David Sick.
