Watch out for stellar international shorts

Award-winning European shorts, and highlights from leading international festival programmers are included in this year's programme. Don't miss out!

New Norwegian short film in competition has and always will be the very core of our programme. We recently published the list of this year's nominees for the Golden Chair in all categories, including 40 international films But there are many gems to be found outside of the competition sections. KFF has long collaborated with the European Film Academy, as well as with the Sundance and Toronto festivals, in presenting special programmes with highlighted international short films. 2021 is no exception.

The Sundance Film Festival takes place each year in Utah and attracts a large audience for its annual programme of dramatic and documentary films, installations, performances, panel discussions, and music events. The short film program consists of four sections, as well as short programs in sections for documentary and animation, and is assembled from more than 9,000 submissions that come in each year.

Programmer Lisa Ogdie will attend this year's edition of the Norwegian Short Film Festival, and she brings with her a selection of seven films from Sundance's line up. The include Black Bodies by the Canadian filmmaker Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, a heartbreaking spoken word piece on the modern black experience. Little Miss Fate is an energetic animated piece on the choices we make and how much control we truly have, whereas BJ’s Mobile Gift Shop depicts life as a street vendor in Chigaco and is a lovely take kindness and discovering what is truly important.

– This selection is a sampling of our 2021 short film catalogue, including thought-provoking documentaries, stunning animation, and heartfelt narratives. It features films from new American talent and filmmakers from all parts of thw world. We are very happy for the collaboration with Grimstad and for this occasion to present our films to a Norwegian audience, says Lisa Ogdie

Several Norwegian short films have screened in Sundance recently, including Rikke Gregersens The Affected in 2021. The film premiered at the Norwegian Short Film Festival in 2020. THE AFFECTED gjennom nåløyet etter å ha vært vist på Kortfilmfestivalen i 2020.

Jason Anderson leads programming for the Short Cuts section at the Toronto Film Festival, one of the largest and most diverse platforms for cinema. The festival takes place every September. Torill Kove and Bobby Peers are among the Norwegian filmmakers whose films have been presented there.

– The Short Cuts team at TIFF has been thrilled to develop such a warm bond with the Norwegian Short Film Festival through its annual collaboration. It’s become a valuable opportunity to provide a point of connection between our festival and so much emerging Nordic talent. It’s also a means of giving further exposure to films we’ve been excited to share and support at TIFF. Such opportunities are surprisingly rare and very treasured, even more so at a time when we’re not able to come and enjoy those long, shrimp-and-beer-filled summer evenings in Grimstad. So while we Canadian programmers won’t be back this year, we’re happy to share a few great Canadian shorts , Anderson says.

Among the selection for this year's festival in Grimstad, he highlights Vincent Toi’s amazing Aniksha, a drama set in Mauritius, where a young woman takes a job at a call centre and has to balance freedom in her professional life with the tradition that comes with her arranged marriage. Another one to watch is Sophy Romvari’s heartbreaking Still Processing – part family drama, part essay film on photography and memory.

Also remember to check out our selection of steller European short films. Two sections are devoted to award-winning films from other festivals and are part of the Shorts Tour organised by the European Film Academy.

Our selection includes 11 of the 24 award-nominees, including the winner film All Cats Are Grey in the Dark , a Swiss short documentary about an eccentric cat owner and his plans to secure the "family" in future generations. This gem also played last year's edition, so if you missed it, here is another chance to watch it. Another highlight is the visually stunning French animation film Genius Loci and Sun Dog , which portrays a locksmith working in the Arctic part of Russia and includes some jaw-dropping nature depictions. The EFA programmes span wide in terms of visual style, themes and narrative techniques, and include films from countries such as Portugal, Georgia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, the UK, and Spain.