SHORT FILM BREAKS is the only film festival taking place within private companies, public and non-profit organizations, in a bid to offer smart break opportunities while promoting the independent movie industry around the world.
Find out moreShort Film Breaks is the only film festival taking place within public, non-profit and for-profit organizations.
Created by filmmakers and human resources people, Short Film Breaks had its mission statement, from the start, to create a bridge between hard to distribute films (especially independent short films) and hard to reach audiences (employees and beneficiaries from our partner companies and NGOs and people living in remote villages around the world).
During our first nine years we’ve managed to screen over 600 films to audiences totaling around 50000 people, from 7 countries.
We started in 2013, with screenings over a three months period for the 1000+ Ipsos employees in Bucharest and Brasov and our first edition also had special events and Q&A with guests from the Romanian filmmaking industry like Tudor Giurgiu, Adrian Sitaru or Tom Wilson, among others.
In 2016, for our 4th edition, we moved to the next level and added a competitive component to the festival. From the 1985 films submitted, we selected 7 for the Best Romanian Short Film category and 26 films for the Best International Short Film category. We've also organized our first public event, a White Night at J'ai Bistrot Bucharest, which continued in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
We organized the 1st edition of our amazing Kathmandu Short Film Breaks event in 2017 and along with our screenings from Ipsos, we started our partnerships with Zitec (Bucharest and Brasov), Estuar Foundation (Bucharest) and UBIS Club (Bucharest and Iasi). What's more, we added an online festival, i-Say Short Film Breaks, to our live screenings! The first edition was won by THE STORY OF 90 COINS, while the 2018 edition was won by TIME 2 SPLIT.
DXC Technology, Casa Pariurilor and eFortuna joined us in 2018, we've increased our prizes FIVE TIMES, to $1500, while the number of received submissions for the 6th edition reached the stunning 3851!
For 2019 we're increasing the prizes once again, reaching a RECORD total prizes of $3000. That's ten times more than the prizes we started with just two years ago, in 2016!
In 2019, after a few years of testing, screening films in 19 communities from 7 countries (Nepal, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, Romania, Senegal and Guatemala) in 2019 we launched our Patreon page with the aim to create recurrent cinema experiences in 50 communities from 17 countries.
We’ve also organized an event for the Romanian Mental Health community, in front of a full house, in partnership with The Estuar Foundation and Mental Health Europe, at ARCUB Bucharest.
And the cherry on top, for the first time in history, we organized a film screening at 5364 meters, in the Everest Base Camp, in October! Most probably, the highest films were ever screened!
Your short and feature films will compete in the following categories:
Short films, of any genre, under 30 minutes, from all around the world, except Romania.
Short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, produced in Romania or all around the world but having Romanian as the single (or main) dialogue language.
Our audience will vote, during our main events, for the film they like the most, in all categories.
Feature films, of any genre and length, from all around the world.
Documentary films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Animation films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Experimental films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Music videos, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, with no dialogue or spoken words, from all around the world.
Short films of any genre, under 20 minutes, created all around the world, with a theme or story related to human rights, environment & ecology, activism, citizenship and community mobilization, local development, the rights of minorities, migration, global justice etc.
Short films of any genre, under 20 minutes, created all around the world, with a theme or story related to mental health.
Bold and edgy short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, that touch on the subject of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Short films of any genre, having the length of under or exactly 3 minutes.
Short films, of any genre, under 30 minutes, from all around the world, except Romania.
Short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, produced in Romania or all around the world but having Romanian as the single (or main) dialogue language.
Our audience will vote, during our main events, for the film they like the most, in all categories.
Feature films, of any genre and length, from all around the world.
Documentary films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Animation films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Experimental films, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Music videos, under 20 minutes, from all around the world.
Short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, with no dialogue or spoken words, from all around the world.
Short films of any genre, under 20 minutes, created all around the world, with a theme or story related to human rights, environment & ecology, activism, citizenship and community mobilization, local development, the rights of minorities, migration, global justice etc.
Short films of any genre, under 20 minutes, created all around the world, with a theme or story related to mental health.
Bold and edgy short films of any genre, under 30 minutes, that touch on any subjects related to the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Short films of any genre, having the length of under or exactly 3 minutes.
ÁRTÚN
written and directed by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson
NADA S.A.
written and directed by Caye Casas and Albert Pintó
L'AUTOSTOPPEUR
written and directed by Julien Paolini
HALF SHAVED
written and directed by Bogdan Muresanu
TWO DOLLARS
directed by Emmanuel Tenenbaum
I’LL QUIT TOMORROW!
directed by Jean-Pierre Michaël
DARREL
written and directed by Marc Briones and Alan Carabantes
SLACKER
written and directed by Max Lowe
BLACK SQUARE
directed by Timo Zhalnin
THE PROJECTIONIST
directed by Norbert Fodor
THE STORY OF 90 COINS
directed by Michael Wong
FUCKING DRAMA
directed by Michael Podogil
DATE NIGHT
directed by Stela Pelin
ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
directed by J.J. Vanhanen
DAD IS PRETTY
directed by Soo-min Park, Seung-Hyeob Kim
WATER PATH FOR A FISH
directed by Mercedes Marro
33 MICROLITER
directed by Manuel Zimmer
SOULCASH
directed by Elina Maligina
NADIA SCHILLING – KITE
directed by João Pombeiro
RAHA
directed by Yeganeh Balouchi
NIK SUMMER
directed by Oscar Aubry, Tom Goyon, Elie Martens, Heloise Solt
BREASTS
directed by Eva Contis
HIPPOPOTAMUS & CROCODILE HUNT
directed by Germain Kanda
INMATURE
directed by Jorge Ponce Betti
HAWAII
directed by Jesús del Cerro
THE BEST CUSTOMER
directed by Serghei Chiviriga
NOBODY DIES HERE
directed by Simon Panay
MONSTERS ARE SUCH INTERESTING PEOPLE
directed by Blazej Kujawa
SINGLE SHOT - WE WANNA MAKE MOVIES
directed by Ieva Veiverytė
COLLEGE OF GIRLS
directed by Hassan Alizadeh
DIFFERENCE
directed by Ali Asadollahi
BRINGING SCHOOLS WHERE THERE ARE NONE!
directed by Gianmarco D'Agostino
COVER
directed by Vahid Alvandifar
COVER UP
directed by Marie-Amélie Steul
THE TOWER OF PISA
directed by Bogdan Iliesiu
MISSION LIFELINE
directed by Markus Weinberg, Luise Baumgarten
DEEP ROOTS
directed by Luc Godonou Dossou
FIGHTING PABLO
directed by Robbe Vervaeke
TWIST AGAIN
directed by Andy Guérif
SANSARA – MIAMI
directed by Ivan Sosnin
EDITH AND HENRY
directed by Clémence Lebatteux
TERROR
directed by Yonatan Shehoah
CHATTER
directed by Natasha K Lewin
HEAD OVER HEELS
directed by Leonid Grigurko
MOTHER MARIAM
directed by Mustafa Gürbüz
THE TREATMENT
directed by Álvaro Carmona
THE FUNERAL
directed by Paul Berenstain
I DON'T WANT TO BE WITHOUT YOU
directed by Mauro Mauad
PEOPLE OF THE WASTELAND
directed by Heba Khaled
RAIN
directed by Piotr Milczarek
THE MATHS TEACHER
directed by Nadia Barbu
BREAKLINES
directed by Matu Harvey, Trevor Cone
THE BEDS OF OTHERS
directed by Jonay García
WELCOME TO THE WORLD
directed by Albert M. Chan, Anthony Grasso
THE KISS
directed by Nia Syazwani
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
directed by Pablo Alen and Breixo Corral
TRUST FRANK
directed by Penny Moore
NO SINGING AFTER EIGHT
directed by Alex Pintică
GENERATION 328
directed by Veranika Nikanava
ROBERTO
directed by Carmen Córdoba González
1941
directed by Asim Abdulaziz Abdullah Ahmed
ARAMIS - YEUX CLAIRS
directed by Jay Hughes
HERMIT
directed by Omid Mirzaei
HEART OF KENYA
directed by Patryk Majchrzak
THE SECRET LIFE OF TOM LIGHTFOOT
directed by Ray Jacobs
SCARS
directed by Alex Anna
DADDY'S SHOES
directed by Naomi Amarger
We started our Short Film Breaks screenings in Ipsos, back in 2013, for the 1000+ employees in Bucharest and Brasov and the SFB Elephant is gaining ground every year!
We are continuously looking to innovate the way the independent cinematography can be promoted, around the world. If you want to become our partner, send us an email to ask@shortfilmbreaks.com and let’s do amazing things together!
Here are our main screening locations:
Any questions you might have, about the festival, the films, locations or screenings, drop us a line below, or as a Facebook message on our Facebook page, and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible. Our email address is ask@shortfilmbreaks.com
Did you miss one of our screenings, but would still like to watch the films? If you're an employee or beneficiary of one of our partners, you can!
Follow these steps and enjoy the Short Film Breaks amazing films!
1. Register here.
2. Send us an email at shortfilmbreaks@gmail.com, with your username and the name of our partner you are an employee or beneficiary at.
3. We will get back to you once your account is validated.
4. Watch the Short Film Breaks selection.
If you already have an account...
Enjoy the films