The Oscar® Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival will host its 17th edition as a hybrid event from September 23-October 1, 2021 showcasing over 300 short films from over 40 countries. The hybrid event will be both in-person, with screenings at the historic TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and panels at the innovative Japan House in Hollywood, CA, and virtual via the official festival streaming platform Bitpix.
Stand out films for the 17th edition include The Long Goodbye starring Academy Award nominee Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and directed by Aneil Karia; the all-star animated short Save Ralph from director Spencer Susser (Hesher) starring comedian George Lopez, Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman), Ricky Gervais (The Office- UK), Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Tricia Helfer (Lucifer); the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced short Into Dust from Academy Award Winner Orlando von Einsiedel (The White Helmets); Aidan Tanner’s The Sands Between starring Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) and James McAvoy (Split); Paul McCartney presents When Winter Comes directed by Geoff Dunbar; Koreatown Ghost Story starring Grammy and Emmy Award nominated stand-up comedian Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano (Runaways) and directed by Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum.
Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen’s HollyShorts 2019 winning screenplay Desmond’s Not Here Anymore starring Yolonda Ross (The Chi) and S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order), directed by Mmabatho Montsho, executive produced by Marius Müller-Westernhagen, HollyShorts Managing Director Nicole Castro, Seattle Film Summit’s Ben Andrews and Marissa Fujimoto, and HollyShorts/88th Street Productions Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont.
Additionally, Hollyshorts alumni winners and Academy Award winners Guy Nattiv (Skin) and Jaime Ray Newman (Skin) latest short Life Unexpected; Right to Try directed by Zeberiah Newman (The Late Late Show with James Corden) and produced by Octavia Spencer (Ma) and HollyShorts alum and Oscar-winning producer Andrew Carlberg (Skin); Calrberg also executive produced the Luke Benward-directed short Boys starring Cameron Crovetti (Big Little Lies), August Maturo (Girl Meets World), and Scott Reeves (The Young and the Restless) and produced by Modern Family’s Ariel Winter; Julian Joslin’s No Longer Suitable For Use executive produced by Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) starring Michael Godere (The Affair), Ivan Martin (Billions), Craig muMs Grant (Oz), and Laith Nakli (12 Strong); and Academy Award winning short film Two Distant Strangers from Travon Free (Black Monday) and Martin Desmond Roe (Heist) starring Joey Badass (Grown-ish) and Andrew Howard (Watchman).