PBS Short Film Festival

PBS Short Film Festival

Also known as: PBS Online Film Festival
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The PBS Short Film Festival is an online showcase of short independent films run by PBS, the US public broadcaster. Launched in 2012 as the PBS Online Film Festival, it does not take submissions directly from filmmakers: PBS member stations and public media partners such as ITVS, POV, Black Public Media, the Center for Asian American Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, Pacific Islanders in Communications, Reel South and Vision Maker Media nominate films, and PBS picks a collection around the edition’s theme. Documentaries, fiction and animation stream free on PBS.org, the PBS App and PBS’s YouTube channel, usually for two weeks, and generally stay online for two years.

At the close of each edition a jury of independent film and public media professionals gives the Juried Prize; audience awards based on viewer votes and views were part of earlier editions and were retired in 2021. The festival won a Webby Award in 2022. The 2024 edition, themed “Story Time”, presents 15 films from 15 to 26 July 2024.

Country

United States (USA)

Categories

Documentary, Short

Awards and prizes

Juried Prize: chosen at the close of the festival by a jury of independent film and public media professionals invited by PBS (introduced in 2017; in 2023 the prize was shared by two films). Audience awards: earlier editions gave a People's Choice award by viewer vote and a Most Popular award by viewership; from 2017 they were combined into a single Most Popular award, which was retired in 2021.

Festival rules

Films reach the festival through PBS member stations and public media partners rather than by direct submission. Each partner runs its own call or selection and nominates films during PBS's submission period; PBS then picks the final collection around the edition's theme. Filmmakers contact their local PBS station or a partner organisation. Example of a station call (Austin PBS, 2024 edition): fiction or non-fiction shorts of 3 to 15 minutes, made no earlier than the previous year; earlier premieres elsewhere are allowed. PBS requires non-exclusive rights to stream the film on all PBS platforms, including social media, full disclosure of funders and underwriters, and edits to meet PBS Standards & Practices, including the credit roll.

Contacts

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