The 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market, which will screen June 21-27, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, announced its roster of 331 films. New this year, Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its inaugural ShortFest Online Film Festival featuring ten films playing on a special section of the festival web site starting a week prior to the festival and will continue to play online for two months after the end of the festival.
This year’s star-studded shorts feature Academy Award winners and nominees, film and television stars and studio executives. Sarah Paulson and Wes Bentley star in After-School Special (USA); Selma Blair and Jeremy Davies in Animal Love (USA); Michael Cera stars in Bad Dads (USA); Billy Burke in David and Goliath (USA); Anthony LaPaglia in In Loco Parentis (Australia); Campbell Scott in Love, Lots of It (USA); Jason Alexander, James Avery, Sid Ganis, Amy Heckerling, Sally Kirkland, Kathy Najimy, Amy Pascal, and Joe Roth in Not Your Time (USA); Seymour Cassel and Fionnula Flanagan in the North American premiere of Pass the Salt, Please (USA); Melissa Leo in the World Premiere of The Sea Is All I Know (USA); Kirsten Dunst and Brian Geraghty in the U.S. premiere of The Second Bakery Attack (Mexico/USA); Tom Hardy in Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother (UK); Julia Stiles stars in Sexting (USA) directed by Neil LaBute; Keira Knightley and Colin Firth star in Steve (UK) directed by Rupert Friend; Adam Arkin, Clifton Collins, Jr., Carla Gugino and Jesse Spencer star in Tell-Tale (UK); and Jessica Chastain stars in and serves as a producer for The Westerner (USA).
In addition to familiar faces in front of the camera, some recognizable names directing shorts this year include: Peter Cattaneo directs Bunce (UK) starring Stephen Fry; David Hayter directs the World Premiere of Chasm (USA); Heather Hemmens directs the World Premiere of Designated (USA); Jay Duplass directs Kevin (Spain/USA); Terry George directs the North American Premiere of The Shore (UK); Olivia Wilde and Maria Bello serve as executive producers for the documentary Sun City Picture House (Haiti) directed by David Darg.