The 2023 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is an 90-minute theatrical program of seven short films curated from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, including two Festival Award-winning titles. Considered the premier showcase for short films and the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers, the Festival includes fiction, documentary and animation from around the world. Throughout its almost 40 years of history, the Festival has always supported short films, providing a platform for both established and new filmmakers to connect with audiences. The 2023 Short Film Tour program is a sampling of Festival offerings and a testament to the unique storytelling potential that the format holds. Audiences who missed the Sundance Film Festival — which took place online and in-person in Park City, Utah Jan 19-29 this year — can enjoy a mix of fiction, documentary and animated shorts that are funny, sad, inspirational, and full of strong characters.
The Festival’s Short Film Program has long been established as a place to discover talented directors, such as past alumni Andrea Arnold, Lake Bell, Damien Chazelle, Destin Daniel Cretton, Jay and Mark Duplass, Debra Granik, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Todd Haynes, Sterlin Harjo, Don Hertzfeldt, Sky Hopinka, Shaka King, Lynne Ramsay, Dee Rees, Joey Soloway, Taika Waititi and many others.
Help Me Understand
Dir. Aemilia Scott | USA | 2022 | 14 min.
Six women come to a consensus. (Fiction)
Inglorious Liaisons
Dirs. Chloé Alliez and Violette Delvoye | France/Belgium | 2022 | 11 min.
In French with English subtitles
On the night of a big party for Lucie, Maya and their friends, Jimmy has also come. Everyone knows he is here for Maya, but does she have the same feelings for Jimmy? (Fiction/Animation)
Parker
Dirs. Catherine Hoffman and Sharon Liese | USA | 2022 | 13 min.
Three generations of a Kansas City family are finally unified when they do something that countless other Black Americans could not — choose their own last name. (Non-Fiction)
Pro Pool
Dir. Alec Pronovost | Canada | 2022 | 8 min.
Newly graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and civilization, Charles-Olivier struggles to find a job in his field and must rely on a clerk position in a pool shop. Feeling down, he navigates his gig as best he can. (Fiction)
Rest Stop
Dir. Crystal Kayiza | USA | 2022 | 12 min.
In English and Luganda with English subtitles
On a bus ride from New York to Oklahoma, Meyi, a young Ugandan-American girl, realizes her place in the world through her mother’s ambitious effort to reunite their family. (Fiction)
Take Me Home
Dir. Liz Sargent | USA | 2022 | 16 min.
After their mother’s death, a cognitively disabled woman and her estranged sister must learn to communicate in order to move forward. (Fiction)
When You Left Me On That Boulevard
Dir. Kayla Abuda Galang | USA | 2022 | 13 min.
In English and Tagalog with English subtitles
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006. (Fiction)
