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The Oscar^® Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival is back and ready for its close up. After a year of virtual screenings, panels, and endless Zoom meetings, the world’s largest short film festival will host its first ever hybrid event from September 23-October 1, 2021. The organizers behind HollyShorts are thrilled to announce over 300 out of 5,000 submissions made the cut and are invited to screen at the 17th edition. The short films are represented from over 40 different countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Jamaica, Kosovo, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen. The hybrid celebration will be both in-person, with screenings at the historic TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and panels at the innovative Japan House in Hollywood, CA, and virtual via the official festival streaming platform BITPIX.

Stand out films for the 17th edition include THE LONG GOODBYE starring Academy Award^® nominee Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and directed by ​​Aneil Karia; the all-star animated short SAVE RALPH from director Spencer Susser (Hesher) starring comedian George Lopez, Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman), Ricky Gervais (The Office- UK), Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Tricia Helfer (Lucifer); the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced short INTO DUST from Academy Award^® Winner Orlando von Einsiedel (The White Helmets); Aidan Tanner’s THE SANDS BETWEEN starring Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) and James McAvoy (Split); Paul McCartney presents WHEN WINTER COMES directed by Geoff Dunbar; KOREATOWN GHOST STORY starring Grammy^® and Emmy^® Award nominated stand-up comedian Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano (Runaways) and directed by Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum; Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen’s HollyShorts 2019 winning screenplay DESMOND’S NOT HERE ANYMORE starring Yolonda Ross (The Chi) and S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order), directed by Mmabatho Montsho, executive produced by Marius Müller-Westernhagen, HollyShorts Managing Director Nicole Castro, Seattle Film Summit's Ben Andrews and Marissa Fujimoto, and HollyShorts/88th Street Productions Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont; Hollyshorts alumni winners and Academy Award^® winners Guy Nattiv (Skin) and Jaime Ray Newman (Skin) latest short LIFE UNEXPECTED; RIGHT TO TRY directed by Zeberiah Newman (The Late Late Show with James Corden) and produced by Octavia Spencer (Ma) and HollyShorts alum and Oscar^®-winning producer Andrew Carlberg (Skin); Calrberg also executive produced the Luke Benward-directed short BOYS starring Cameron Crovetti (Big Little Lies), August Maturo (Girl Meets World), and Scott Reeves (The Young and the Restless) and produced by Modern Family’s Ariel Winter; Julian Joslin’s NO LONGER SUITABLE FOR USE executive produced by Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) starring Michael Godere (The Affair), Ivan Martin (Billions), Craig muMs Grant (Oz), and Laith Nakli (12 Strong); and Academy Award^® winning short film TWO DISTANT STRANGERS from Travon Free (Black Monday) and Martin Desmond Roe (Heist) starring Joey Badass (Grown-ish) and Andrew Howard (Watchman).

Additional noteworthy selections include animator ​​Bill Plympton’s DEMI’S PANIC; Saul Abraham’s ENJOY starring Himesh Patel (Yesterday, Tenet); ALINA from director Rami Kodeih (Maki & Zorro) starring Alia Shawkat (Search Party) and Edin Gali (Mad Men); SNOWSHOE from Chris Wood (Supergirl); Jonathan Glazer’s STRASBOURG 1518; Typhoon’s WE’RE IN IT music video from Rider Strong (Girl Meets World) featuring Jon Huertas (This Is Us) and Leif Gantvoort (The Amazing Spiderman); Jessica Brunetto’s SISTERS starring Mary Holland (Happiest Season) and Sarah Burns (American Vandal), and Rob Huebel (Transparent); A SMALL FAMILY AFFAIR directed by Barbara Stepansky (Outlander) and starring Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue), Timothy Granaderos (13 Reasons Why), and Dawn Didawick (Hart of Dixie); RISE UP from Academy Award^® nominee Bryan Buckley (Asad, The Bronze); Sundance Short Film Jury Award Winner DON’T GO TELLIN’ YOUR MOMMA from Topaz Jones and Rubberband; THE BROKEN CANDLE directed by Felix Kiner featuring Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), Eugenio Derbez (How To Be A Latin Lover), Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants), Mark Feuerstein, (Royal Pains), Vanessa Marshall (Star Wars Rebels), David Boat (Family Guy); Igor Drljača’s THE ARCHIVISTS starring Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek), Bahia Watson (The Handmaid's Tale), Maxwell McCabe-Lokos (Tin Star); THAT NIGHT directed by Samuel Gonzalez Jr. featuring William Fichtner (Mom, Crash) and Eva Hamilton (Ruin Me); BLUE BISON directed by and starring Camrus Johnson (Batwoman) along with David Garelik (Dear White People), Chloë Levine (The OA), Robert Eli (The OA); and NO FUTURE HERE from Grammy-nominated artist J.A. Cruz (a.k.a. BOOTS). For the full list of official selections visit: https://www.hollyshorts.com/2021officialselections

HollyShorts screenings will take place in-person September 23-30, 2021 at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, with the annual, star-studded Awards Gala set to take place on October 1, 2021 at Harmony Gold. Panels will be located at Japan House Los Angeles. The festival will offer a streaming option for fans around the world via its proprietary platform BITPIX.

For more information and tickers visit: hollyshorts.com

To purchase an All Access Early Bird Badge visit: https://hollyshorts2021.eventive.org/schedule/611b01415420df00699a0ad7

About HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) #HSFF2021
The annual Academy Awards^® Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival will celebrate its 17th year in September 2021. HollyShorts (HSFF) brings together top creators, industry leaders, and companies and has launched many filmmakers into the next stages of their careers. HollyShorts, a regular on the MovieMaker Magazine Top 50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee list, also engages its community and spotlights short films year-round through monthly screenings, panels, and networking events. HollyShorts Film Festival will take place in-person between September 23-30, 2021 at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood, with the annual Awards Gala set to take place on October 1, 2021. www.hollyshorts.com

About Bitpix
Born out of the Oscar^® Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, Bitpix is a new Premium AVOD platform, featuring the world's best short films. The platform is already live in alpha mode and available via Bitpixtv.com. Bitpix is streamed through the app for download on Airplay, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, AppleTV, Chromecast, IOS, Roku. https://bitpixtv.com/

About JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles
JAPAN HOUSE is an innovative, worldwide project with three hubs, London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It seeks to nurture a deeper understanding of Japan in the international community. JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles occupies two floors at Hollywood & Highland and offers a place of new discovery of Japan through its spaces and diverse programs. 

• Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
• Website: www.japanhousela.com