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PALM SPRINGS, CA- Now in its 22nd year, Palm Springs International ShortFest will showcase 327 films including 46 World Premieres, 63 North American Premieres and 13 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts and award-winning films from 54 countries around the world. There are 56 curated programs, which will screen June 21-27, 2016. More than 4,100 of the festival submissions are available in the Film Market for industry attendees to view.

Festival Director Helen du Toit says, “After a 31% jump in submissions this year, our programing team, led by the sharp-minded and quick-witted Penelope Bartlett, is exhausted but exhilarated. Our audiences will see a broader international representation of stories than ever before. Much like with their feature films, Romania appears to be breeding especially bold and original filmmakers while France’s long entrenched policy of supporting the arts, continues to bear fruit as well. With the new crop of talented filmmakers emerging around the world, the future looks bright indeed.”

Programming Director Penelope Bartlett is excited to be embracing some of the evolving trends in world cinema, “We are showing more documentaries, more experimental films, and more of the hard to categorize, hybrid films which play with film form in exciting ways. We cast the net far and wide to ensure we had more films from less represented regions, like Africa and the Middle East, and films by indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers of color. In terms of female director representation, although there is still a ways to go to achieve parity, we are heartened to see that a third of our program is by female directors.”…more

For more on the Palm Springs Int’t Shortfest including Festival Schedule & Festival Events please visit appropriate links.