Sherman Oaks Film Festival

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

Imagine you could become rich with with the push of a button – there’s just one, tiny catch…

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Ben Rejzer
• Writer(s): Ben Rejzer
• Producer(s): Gabrielle LeBlanc
• Key Cast: Garrett McKenna
• Editor(s): Ben Rejzer
• Cinematographer(s): Jens Ericson
• Production Designer(s): Willie Flores
• Composer(s): Jon Monroe

Language: English

Runtime: 16m

Country: United States

Synopsis: When posed a with a simple choice – get rich, but be hunted forever – a young man must fight sanity and survival under the careful watch of an tiny, striped tormentor.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony date & tickets — to be announced

After a life-transforming journey migrating West, a spoiled Southern belle elopes with a Union soldier who opens her eyes to the evils of slavery. Inspired by a true story.

• Writer(s): Stephanie Hutchinson

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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Naive but feisty Southern belle Talitha comes of age during a covered wagon move West, encountering hunger, Indians, and a steamboat fire and sinking. She is unaware that her wealthy father has lost his fortune in a stock market crash and has borrowed money from a rich old merchant – who plans to marry her. Talitha falls in love with a pro Union Southerner who confronts her about the family’s African American slave. Inspired by a true "Romeo & Juliet" Civil War love story.

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Comedy

Some family secrets are just too big.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Henry Bock, Nick Tiffany
• Writer(s): Henry Bock, Nick Tiffany
• Producer(s): MK Goss, Joey Walsh, Amy Sedaris
• Key Cast: Sean Finnegan
• Editor(s): Camille Getz
• Cinematographer(s): Gabriel Armstrong
• Production Designer(s): Matt Adams
• Sound Designer(s): Justin Enoch
• Composer(s): Curtis Green

Language: English

Runtime: 14m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: While celebrating his engagement, Sean finds out that his future brother-in-law has an unnaturally large penis.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

don’t hold it in

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Caden Lacy
• Writer(s): Caden Lacy
• Producer(s): Caden Lacy, Alexis Kihm
• Key Cast: Georgia T Willow
• Editor(s): Matt Farren
• Cinematographer(s): Marcelo Solis Mercado
• Production Designer(s): Cene Paris
• Sound Designer(s): Kyle Riccio
• Composer(s): Gabriel Scott

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

Synopsis: A young woman gets sick and begins to panic as increasingly concerning things start coming out of her nose.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

After hearing a rumor among the young novices, Sister Eleanor begins investigating a haunting at the abbey, only to discover that the spirit is deeply connected to her own past…

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Xihe Huang
• Writer(s): Xihe Huang, Erika Dunn
• Producer(s): Wenhan Zhang
• Key Cast: Geraldine Bielke, Kennedy Taylor Taylor, Simone Link
• Editor(s): Zhengzheng "Lexy" Zhao
• Cinematographer(s): Daniel Qi
• Production Designer(s): Mel Garcia
• Sound Designer(s): Yaning "Scott" Liu
• Composer(s): Zoey Lim & Tiffany McConnell

Language: English

Runtime: 15m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Sister Eleanor notices the haunting in the Abbey, and witnesses Fiona (a young girl in the Abbey) being possessed and saying Sister Eleanor’s name before she became a nun. Sister Eleanor confesses to Father Abernathy, and Father Abernathy mentions he wants to choose Fiona to be a new novice nun. And this moment, the haunting starts again. Sister Eleanor runs away, but meets Fiona again, this time she realizes that the ghost possessing on Fiona is Sister Eleanor’s childhood

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Animation

A faceless man escapes his empty life through a mirror that reveals everything he lacks.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Writer(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Producer(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Editor(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Production Designer(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Sound Designer(s): Daniel Robichaud
• Composer(s): Adrián Berenguer

Runtime: 9m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Faceless Greg discovers in his mirror reflection a vibrant world containing everything missing from his life: color that sings, wonder that breathes, and adventure that calls his name. Drawn across its threshold, he wanders a living dream where beauty blooms and danger takes shape, then flees it by the narrowest margin.

Yet something follows him back: a dragonfly’s quiet grace, a sudden burst of sunlight, a dying flower remembering how to live. And in that fragile

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

Ceremony date & tickets — to be announced

Driven to the desert by her mother, a woman is forced to confront a terrifying legacy passed down through generations.

• Director(s): Kyle Hatley
• Writer(s): Kyle Hatley
• Producer(s): Kyle Hatley

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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A drive through Death Valley becomes a brutal rite of passage when a woman learns her mother has brought her there to show her that motherhood is not juts a gift, but a curse, a covenant, and a test of survival.

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – SciFi

A romantic night in isn’t all it seems when a man discovers his lovestruck date has a peculiar room full of male mannequins.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Monisha Dadlani
• Writer(s): Monisha Dadlani
• Producer(s): Monisha Dadlani, Sofia Snyder
• Key Cast: Monisha Dadlani, Alexander Chard
• Editor(s): Will Mason
• Cinematographer(s): Brian M Tang
• Production Designer(s): Elli Kypriadis
• Sound Designer(s): Brianna Tang
• Composer(s): Xander Rodzinski

Language: English

Runtime: 15m

Country: United States

Synopsis: A romantic night in isn’t all it seems when a man discovers his lovestruck date has a peculiar room full of male mannequins.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

New to the city, Marci battles a crippling fear while searching for answers from barista Kurt. As time runs out, she must find the courage to reveal the truth.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): JOHN SCHWERT
• Writer(s): JOHN SCHWERT, CAMERAN BELLAMY
• Producer(s): JOHN SCHWERT, CAMERAN BELLAMY, ERIK MURPHY
• Key Cast: CAMERAN BELLAMY, KYLE RIGGS
• Editor(s): John Schwert
• Cinematographer(s): Erik Murphy
• Sound Designer(s): Ross Wissbaum
• Composer(s): Jason Hausman

Language: English

Runtime: 14m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: Marci’s arrival to a new city finds her facing a crippling fear that conflicts with her determination to fulfill a promise.  She follows a handsome local barista named Kurt to his home and work in search of an answer to her pressing question.  Marci’s opportunities, days, and courage dwindle as she holds out for the right moment, the right place, and the right sign.  As time runs out, she must confront what brought her to Kurt and reveal the truth to him.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Animation

Stranded on a distant world, a small, worn-out robot named Helen wanders through strange, beautiful landscapes, guided only by a song and the quiet weight of an unfinished mission.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Carlos Fernandez Puertolas
• Writer(s): Anthony Hodgson, Carlos Fernandez Puertolas
• Producer(s): Paige Johnstone

Language: English

Runtime: 9m

Country: Spain

Synopsis: Stranded on a distant world, a small, worn-out robot named Helen wanders through strange, beautiful landscapes, guided only by a song and the quiet weight of an unfinished mission.

The short film was created by a single artist, whose creative journey at times mirrored the lonely travels of the robot in the story.

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