Out of a whopping 2463 short film submissions, the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival selected 45 for participation, with one final short to be selected by viewers through Delta’s Fly-In Movies Competition. The 46 total shorts will be presented in six thematic programs throughout the Festival's run, from April 22 to May 3. All films that screen in the 2009 short film line-up are eligible to compete for combined cash and prizes totaling more than $15,000. Prizes include Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Student Visionary Award, sponsored by Apple.

Among the highlights is a short narrative written and directed by actor Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do, TV's Saved), as well as a documentary narrated by Richard Gere. Five directors are returning to the Festival: Jason DaSilva, Brian Durnin, Paula Gaitán, Ken Jacobs and Mark Street.

"These six thematic programs contain elements that everyone can relate to—from growing up to dealing with work issues to being faced with irrevocable decisions. It's a solid line-up with narrative, documentary and experimental short films, all of which express a unique way of storytelling in this format,” says Sharon Badal, Tribeca Film Festival shorts programmer.

In a press release, Tribeca announces, "This year’s Festival shorts are a culmination of works from around the world, including Cuba, Brazil, Norway, Italy, South Korea and Australia. The voices behind these works range from first-time to veteran filmmakers that include animators, graphic artists and actors taking the lead behind the camera. Collectively, through captivating narratives and gripping documentaries, they tell stories about life’s lessons drawn from dreams, desires and the coming-of-age experience."

Maggie Kim, Tribeca Film Festival shorts programmer, explains. “The films in this year’s program represent a strong showcase in the craft of short filmmaking. It's exciting that as digital content platforms continue to emerge, short films are accessible to—and being watched by—an increasingly larger audience.”

With larger audiences in mind, film fans this year have the opportunity to help select a short film to premiere in the Festival! For the first time in TFF history, five films—selected by Tribeca Film Festival programmers—are competing in Delta’s Fly-In Movies Competition through April 12. Travelers on select Delta flights (on aircraft equipped with Delta on Demand) can watch the films during their flights. The five shorts are also available online at delta.com/flyinmovies, where viewers are invited to rate each film. These ratings determine the winner of the competition; the grand prize includes a slot in the Mixed Feelings shorts program (see below).
 

 
The selected short films will be presented in six programs:
 

Means to an End

Everyone’s just trying to make it through another day in these short films. Discover what’s on the menu at Café Paraíso. A dancing pineapple loses her rhythm in Oda a la Piña, while a rickshaw driver tries not to miss the boat in 3 Wheels. A loyal employee longs for a promotion in The Company Man. Two Average Joes dig their way through the meaning of life in Deconstruction Workers. In Glock, a new secret agent “kills” time waiting for his first assignment, while in Almost Every Day, Polly navigates work, love and the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

3 Wheels, (China, Taiwan R.O.C.), Narrative, World Premiere, directed by Tony Wei, written by Chung Lee (Student film)

Almost Every Day (Quase Todo Dia), (Brazil, USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed and written by Gandja Monteiro

Café Paraíso, (Mexico), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios (Student film)

The Company Man, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Andrew Zappin

Deconstruction Workers (Bygningsarbeidere), (Norway), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Kajsa Næss, written by Kjartan Helleve

Glock, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Tom Everett Scott, written by Michael McMillian, Tom Everett Scott

Oda a la Piña, (Cuba), Narrative, North American Premiere, directed and written by Laimir Fano (Student film)
 

Mixed Feelings

Dreams and desires are contemplated and complicated in this group of shorts. Practically perfect simply isn’t enough in This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday. Prepare for emotional turbulence in the Delta’s Fly-In Movies Competition Winner. Interwoven stories with a cultural connection show the challenges of living in Nueva York. A big helping of truth is served at a dinner party in Oil Change. Mary Jane wonders if she’ll ever leave the Navajo reservation in Shimasani. Five characters collide with cosmic consequences in Of Best Intentions. In Cutlass, Robin remembers what it’s like to want something really, really badly.

Cutlass, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Kate Hudson

Nueva York, (USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed and written by Manolo Celi

Of Best Intentions, (Ireland), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Brian Durnin

Oil Change, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Todd Luoto

Shimasani, (USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed and written by Blackhorse Lowe

This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Long-Cuu Phan

Wake-up Call

These shorts show life lessons learned, some the hard way. An ex-con confronts an abusive guard from his past in Deadline. Whom would you rat out in Section 44? An immature twenty-something grows up and comes out in Cal Express. Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore in The Tinwoodsman’s Home Movie #2.  “Unhappy” is a seven-letter word in Wu. Gail is torn between a fish and her family tradition in Gefilte Fish. After 20 years, a man takes The North Road home to Beirut to reclaim his father and his past.

Cal Express, (USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed and written by Sergio Carvajal (Student film)

Deadline, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Joseph Bakhash, written by Sean McPhillips

Gefilte Fish, (Israel), Narrative, North American Premiere, directed and written by Shelly Kling-Yosef (Student film)

The North Road (La route du Nord), (France), Narrative, North American Premiere, directed and written by Carlos Chahine

Section 44, (UK), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Daniel Wilson

The Tinwoodsman's Home Movie #2, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Naomi Uman, Lee Lynch

Wu, (France), Narrative, North American Premiere, directed and written by Cécile Vernant

Truth or Consequences

These mature shorts concern growing up, getting off and getting by. Not recommended for those under 16. Twelve-year-old Adriana spends a steamy summer at the sea in Sunspots. Step back to the pre-Internet world of porn in Love Does Grow on Trees. An Irish lad seeks solace from a priest in The Confession. Kenny is a country club lifeguard living in a haze, but one day all that changes in Blue Boy. Sophie hopes for a visit from the Tooth Fairy in Small Change, and two teenagers ditch school and discover a dark place in Search. Georgia’s journey to find her biological mother veers off-course when she meets the Nowhere Kids.

Blue Boy, (USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed by Alex Jablonski, written by Alex Jablonski, Kevin Canty (Student film)

The Confession, (Ireland), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Thomas Hefferon

Love Does Grow on Trees, (UK), Narrative, USA Premiere, directed and written by Bevan Walsh

Nowhere Kids, (USA), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Eric Juhola, written by Eric Juhola, Jeremy Stulberg, Lindsay Goldwert

Search, (USA), Narrative, World Premiere, directed by Lisa M. Perry, written by Aaron Walker (Student film)

Small Change, (Australia), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed and written by Anna McGrath (Student film)

Sunspots (Macchie di Sole), (Italy), Narrative, New York Premiere, directed by Stella di Tocco, written by Enrique Esteve

Time Will Tell

This group of documentary shorts will leave a lasting impression on the heart and mind. A sacred Tibetan cultural site is restored in Mustang–Journey of Transformation. Flooded with memories, home is where the heart is. Will you root for Team Taliban? In The Last Mermaids, a story swims beneath the surface about generations of women divers. A filmmaker chronicles his personal experience with multiple sclerosis in First Steps. Finally, in Skin, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

First Steps, (USA), Documentary, World Premiere, directed and written by Jason DaSilva

home, (USA), Documentary, New York Premiere, directed by Matthew Faust

The Last Mermaids, (USA, South Korea), Documentary, North American Premiere, directed by Liz Chae

Mustang–Journey of Transformation, (USA, Nepal), Documentary, New York Premiere, directed by Will Parrinello, written by Sarah Kass

Skin, (Australia), Documentary, New York Premiere, directed and written by Rhys Graham

Team Taliban, (USA), Documentary, New York Premiere, directed by Benjamin Kegan

Human Landscapes

Drawn from filmmakers on three continents, this program of experimental short films and videos centers around the theme of the individual’s relationship to the environmental space he or she inhabits. The avant-garde filmmaking enterprise is essentially one defined by creative artists working single-handedly and with great sensitivity to interpreting the field of vision before their camera lenses. Unlike more conventional modes of storytelling, they employ such diverse techniques as found footage, collage, animation, superimposition of texts, the absence of visible characters, voiceless sound tracks and the transformation of the human figure and manmade constructions into studies of formal abstraction. In so doing, these filmmakers manipulate quotidian reality into beautiful and stirring tales of the fragile nature of human existence.

The Bather, (USA), World Premiere, directed by George Griffin

Camera Roll (for Taylor), (USA), World Premiere, directed by Joel Schlemowitz

Chop Off, (USA), New York Premiere, directed and written by M.M. Serra

densen, (Sweden), World Premiere, directed by Anna Linder

Ha’Aki, (Canada), New York Premiere, directed and written by Iriz Pääbo

Hot Dogs at the Met, (USA), North American Premiere, directed by Ken Jacobs

influenza/Composition II (chrome square), (Netherlands), World Premiere, directed by Jeroen Jongeleen

KOGI, (Brazil), World Premiere, directed by Paula Gaitán

Métro, (Canada), World Premiere, directed by Martin Laporte

A Time and A Time, (UK), North American Premiere, directed and written by Sarah Cox

Trailer Trash, (USA), New York Premiere, directed by Mark Street

Us (Nous), (France), USA Premiere, directed and written by Olivier Hems

Without You, (UK), North American Premiere, directed by Tal Rosner