The 2020 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour “Virtual Edition” is a 82-minute program of 6 short films selected from this year’s Festival. Widely considered the premier American showcase for short films and the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers for more than 30 years, the Short Film Tour includes fiction, documentary and animation from around the world, giving new audiences a taste of what the Festival offers.

NOTE: There is some mature content, animated nudity, and a strobe effect in one film.

BENEVOLENT BA

Malaysia, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Diffan Sina Norman)

A devout woman’s lust for virtue thrusts her family into a sacrificial slaughter of biblical proportions.

HOT FLASH

Canada (Director and screenwriter: Thea Hollatz)

Ace is having a hot flash, and she’s about to go live on local television. How one woman tries to keep her cool when one type of flash leads to another.

THE DEEPEST HOLE

U.S.A. (Director: Matt McCormick)

While the space and arms races are Cold War common knowledge, few know about the United States and Soviet Union’s race to dig the deepest hole. This is particularly surprising since Hell may have been inadvertently discovered in the process.

MEATS

U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ashley Williams)

A pregnant vegan struggles with her newfound craving for meat.

T

U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Keisha Rae Witherspoon)

A film crew follows three grieving participants of Miami’s annual T Ball, where folks assemble to model R.I.P. t-shirts and innovative costumes designed in honor of their dead.

SO WHAT IF THE GOATS DIE

France, Morocco (Director and screenwriter: Sofia Alaoui)

Abdellah, a young shepherd living in the mountains, is forced to brave the elements blocking him in order to get food and save his goats. Once he gets to the village, he faces a supernatural phenomenon. Winner, Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize.

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Fueled by artistic expression and limited only by their runtime, short films transcend traditional storytelling. They are a significant and popular way artists can connect with audiences. From documentary to animation, narrative to experimental, the abbreviated form is made for risk-taking. The Festival has always treated short films with the highest regard and created a home for both established and new filmmakers with shorts for audiences to discover and celebrate.

The Festival’s Short Film Program has long been established as a place to discover talented directors, such as past alumni Dee Rees, Taika Waititi, Debra Granik, Damien Chazelle, Wes Anderson, Jill Soloway, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Lake Bell, Jay and Mark Duplass, Todd Haynes, Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, and many others.