New York audiences will truly be treated to an embarrassment of riches by our Shorts Program at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T. Curated from 3076 submissions, this year’s program of 60 short films from 18 different countries includes a record 40 world premieres.

The 2015 Shorts Program will be divided into 9 programs: 5 narrative, 3 documentary and 1 combination of both genres. The ‘Gallery Opening’ program celebrates the creative and the cerebral with films from artists like JR and Daniel Arsham. If you’re not in NYC, you can still enjoy select titles from our 2015 Shorts Program. The 7 films in the ‘FML’ program all will be available three hours after their premieres as part of the Tribeca Online Festival. These shorts deal with wearable tech, online dating, homeland security and the issues of living a digital life.

The Festival is happy to welcome back some stellar TFF alumni including filmmakers David Darg and Bryn Mooser who, along with producer Olivia Wilde, return for the fourth time with their short doc, Body Team 12, about the Ebola outbreak. Producer Ellen Bar (Ballet 422, TFF 2014) embraces the narrative form with her short, Early Sunday Morning, starring American Ballet Theatre dancers Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside. Miss Meadows (TFF 2014) star Katie Holmes will make her directorial debut with the sports doc, Eternal Princess, about the life of gymnast Nadia Comaneci.

Don’t forget! Recipients of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Short and Best Documentary Short Awards will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Annual Academy Awards provided the films comply with the Academy rules. Last year’s Festival winner for Best Narrative Short, The Phone Call, won this year’s Academy Award for the Best Live-Action Short. So there is a good chance that a few 2016 Oscar winners will be screened at this year’s Festival! 

Click to see titles in the TFF 2015 World Documentary Competition, World Narrative Competition, Viewpoints, Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Screenings categories.

Be Yourself

Shorts in this documentary program focus on personal stories about self-identity.

• American Renaissance, directed and written by Ryan Scafuro, and Jarred Alterman. (USA) - North American Premiere.
• Live Fast, Draw Yung, directed by Stacey Lee and Anthony Mathile. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Eternal Princess (Printesa Vesnica), directed by Katie Holmes. (USA) - World Premiere. ESPN Film’s 30 for 30 short.
• All American Family, directed by Andrew Jenks. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Elder, directed and written by Genéa Gaudet. (USA) - World Premiere.
• My Enemy, My Brother, directed and written by Ann Shin. (Canada) - World Premiere.

Family Dynamics

Relationships are often complicated, particularly so for the characters in this narrative short program.

• Merry Xmas, directed by Boman Modine, written by Matthew Modine. (USA) - World Premiere.
• SexLife, directed by Stefan Georgiou, written by Kefi Chadwick. (U.K.) - New York Premiere.
• A Boy's Life, directed and written by Howard McCain. (USA) - US Premiere.
• The Arrest (HAMA'ATZAR), directed by Yair Agmon. (Israel) - North American Premiere.
• Birthday, directed and written by Chris King. (USA) - New York Premiere.
• Personal Development, directed by Tom Sullivan, written by Muirinn Lane Kelly. (Ireland) - International Premiere.
• The Parker Tribe, directed and written by Jane Baker, co-written by Roberta Munroe. (USA) - World Premiere.

FML

This thought-provoking narrative program curated for a contemporary audience that lives online ponders, “Does technology rule, or rule us?”

• Cafe Glass, directed and written by Wen Ren. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Rita Mahtoubian is Not a Terrorist, directed and written by Julia Lerman and Roja Gashtili. (USA) - World Premiere.
• The Girlfriend Experience, directed and written by Mark Kunerth. (USA) - New York Premiere.
• The Evolution of a Gen-X Music Purchaser, directed and written by Jack Marchetti. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Aphasia, directed by Luke LoCurcio, written by Robin Rose Singer. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Like (Gilla), directed and written by Crazy Pictures, co-written by Christoffer Nordenrot. (Sweden) - International Premiere.
• Ghettotube, directed and written by Saïd Belktibia, co-written  by Jérémie Delon. (France) - World Premiere.

Gallery Opening 

This combination of artistic and cerebral documentaries and narratives will captivate you with some very visual storytelling.

• Catwalk, directed by Ninja Thyberg, written by Ninja Thyberg. (Sweden) - North American Premiere, Narrative.
• Future Relic 03, directed by Daniel Arsham, written by Tim Stanley & Daniel Arsham. (USA) - World Premiere, Narrative.
• Where We Begin, directed and written by Mitsuyo Miyazaki. (USA) - World Premiere, Narrative.
• The Artist Is Absent, directed and written by Alison Chernick. (USA) - World Premiere, Documentary
• Walter Potter: The Man Who Married Kittens, directed and written by Ronni Thomas. (England, USA) - New York Premiere, Documentary
• Les Bosquets, directed by J R, written by jr. (France) - World Premiere, Documentary.

Home Improvement

Home is definitely where the heart in these short documentaries.

• The Lights, directed and written by Manuel Abramovich and Juan Renau. (Argentina) - North American Premiere.
• The Gnomist, directed and written by Sharon Liese. (USA) - World Premiere.
• The House is Innocent, directed by Nicholas Coles. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Interview With a Free Man (Entrevue avec un homme libre), directed and written by Nicolas Lévesque. (Canada) - International Premiere.
• Body Team 12, directed and written by David Darg, co-written by Bryn Mooser. (Liberia) - World Premiere.
• The Trials of Constance Baker Motley, directed and written by Rick Rodgers. (USA) - World Premiere.

Interference 

Some are futuristic, others fatalistic, but always expect the unexpected in this group of narrative shorts.

• Grow, directed by Micah Levin, written by Chris Basler. (USA) - World Premiere.
• The Shaman, directed and written by Marco Kalantari. (Austria, Japan) - World Premiere.
• Warning Labels, directed by Jennifer Morrison, written by Jenelle Riley. (USA) - World Premiere.
• A Mighty Nice Man, directed and written by Jonathan Dee. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Foul, directed and written by Rune Denstad Langlo. (Norway, Mexico) - North American Premiere.
• Listen, directed by Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni, written by Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni. (Finland, Denmark) - New York Premiere, Narrative
• Nostradamus, directed and written by Thomas Ikimi, co-written by Joshua Banta. (USA) - World Premiere.

NY – Double Espresso

Our popular New York narrative program returns with everyday life imagined – past, present, and future.

• Early Sunday Morning, directed and written by Yoonha Park. (USA) - World Premiere.
• The Statistical Analysis of Your Failing Relationship, directed and written by Miles Jay. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Let's Not Panic, directed and written by Heather Jack. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Blitz, directed and written by Faraday Okoro, written by Faraday Okoro. (USA) - World Premiere.
• George and the Vacuum, directed by Chadd Harbold, written by Charlyne Yi. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Wrapped, directed and written by Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper, and Florian Wittmann. (Germany) - New York Premiere.
• Stop, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, written by Reinaldo Marcus Green. (USA) - New York Premiere.
• Best Man Wins, directed by Stéphane Dumonceau, written by Frederick Waterman, Stéphane Dumonceau. (USA) - World Premiere.

NY-Daily Grind 

Life in New York is tough but the subjects of these documentary shorts are up to the challenge. 

• We Live This, directed and written by James Burns (USA) - World Premiere.
• Better to Live, directed by Linda G. Mills. (USA) - World Premiere.
• What Lies Beneath The Sky, directed and written by Vladimir de Fontenay. (France, USA) - World Premiere.
• Man Under, directed by Paul Stone, written by Vincent Tozzi. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Last Call, directed by Stefan Nadelman. (USA) - World Premiere.
• The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano, directed by Joshua Seftel. (USA) - World Premiere.

Tightrope 

Life is a delicate balancing act in these narrative short films.

• The Kiss, directed by Carlos G. Davila, written by Mark Harvey Levine. (Mexico) - New York Premiere.
• Big Boy, directed by Bryan Campbell, written by David R. Larson. (USA) - World Premiere.
• Boogaloo and Graham, directed by Michael Lennox, written by Ronan Blaney. (Northern Ireland) - New York Premiere.
• The Way Of Tea, directed and written by Marc Fouchard. (France) - New York Premiere.
• Kingdom of Garbage, directed and written by Yasir Kareem. (Iraq, U.K.) - World Premiere.
• Bandito, directed by Evan Ari Kelman, and co-written by Evan Ari Kelman and Parker Hill.  (USA) - World Premiere.
• Last Base, directed and written by Aslak Danbolt. (Norway, U.K.) - New York Premiere.