Sunderland Shorts
A 7 day celebration of cinema in the North East!
Sunderland Shorts Film Festival returns in 2023 for our 8th year of proudly showcasing the best short films from around the World and across the country, while championing the homegrown talent from here in the region.
SSFF23 will take place on 16 – 22 October 2023 at venues across Sunderland City Centre and submissions are OPEN NOW!
We can’t wait to see what you have been working on! As always, we welcome filmmakers from all levels of their career journeys, from emerging to established talent, as we know how important providing a supportive community is in the development of creative work.
All attending filmmakers are invited to take part in Q&As following every screening as well as being invited to our closing award ceremony, and all selected films will be eligible for our Awards and various prizes.
“AMAZING festival and fabulous champions of short filmmaking! Thank you for being so wonderful, for the great social media shout-outs and communication. Programming was first-class, with a truly sensational line-up of films 🙌 Highly recommend”
Annette Westood (Director – This Little Girl)
Sunderland Shorts
Awards & Prizes
All selected films will screen in competition and will be eligible for our awards which are decided upon by a jury of industry experts, our reviewing panel and our festival audiences.
All screened films will receive a festival laurel, with honourable mentions and winning films receiving an additional corresponding category-based laurel.
We will be awarding a variety of different winners across the film festival recognising:
- Best Comedy Award
- Best Young, Emerging and Student Award
- Best Animation Award
- Best Horror Award
- Best Drama Award
- Best Art & Experimental Award
- Best Thriller Award
- Best Sci-Fi Award
- Best Music Video Award
- Best Documentary Award
- Judges Recognition Award
- Audience Choice Award
- North East Recognition Award
Our 2022 edition of the festival included over £1000 of prizes provided by the University of Sunderland and Giggster.com
Our 2022 edition of the festival included over £1000 of prizes provided by the University of Sunderland and Giggster.com
“A great festival, brilliant at supporting filmmakers and really makes an effort to be inclusive in selecting films. A real pleasure to work with and to attend.”
Beacon Films
Introducing our partners
Supported by
