Sherman Oaks Film Festival

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

A surreal horror story about a lonely latchkey kid who becomes fixated on a sitcom character as a surrogate father figure.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Sam Ripley
• Writer(s): Sam Ripley
• Producer(s): Borna Jamshidi, Dhruvraj Singh Bhati, Associate Producer: Jonathan Taub
• Key Cast: Ron Livingston, Logan Kaufman, Keenan Moran
• Editor(s): Kyle Moore
• Cinematographer(s): Ian Herz
• Production Designer(s): Bianca Natalia
• Sound Designer(s): Thomas Neugebauer

Language: English

Runtime: 11m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Alienated from his father, lonely twelve-year-old Kyle finds comfort in the warm, familiar world of an old family sitcom. When the show’s kindly patriarch begins speaking directly to him through the television, Kyle believes he’s finally found the father he always wanted. But as his fixation deepens, TV Dad’s comforting guidance takes a sinister turn, offering Kyle a path to a perfect new home… if he’s willing to leave his real one behind.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

When two co-stars unexpectedly meet before an audition for the same role, Eleanor an insecure yet talented performer, must learn to embrace her individuality to secure the part.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Wednesday Peck
• Writer(s): Wednesday Peck
• Producer(s): Marillia Yunis
• Key Cast: Annie Jean Buckley, Kaya Hohensee, Ariana Guliak
• Editor(s): Jonathan Lau
• Cinematographer(s): Benjamin Tinsley
• Sound Designer(s): Benjamin Tinsley
• Composer(s): Thomas Yamada

Language: English

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Eleanor, an insecure yet accomplished performer, attends a stage play audition and encounters a former co-star auditioning for the same role. As they wait for their turn to perform, ego and self-doubt take over, causing the girls to question one another and themselves. After a moment of weakness, Eleanor must perform and embrace who she truly is.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Animation

Winning takes everything you’ve got

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Mike Stamm
• Writer(s): Mike Stamm
• Producer(s): Mike Stamm, Dimos Vrysellas
• Key Cast: Bob Carter, Cadence Winter, Jack Carter, Ray Scarborough
• Editor(s): Mike Stamm
• Cinematographer(s): Mike Stamm
• Production Designer(s): Matt Evans
• Sound Designer(s): Sweet Justice Sound
• Composer(s): Abraham Darwich, Zach Heyde

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: The Ottoman, a hotshot mechanic and amateur robot gladiator, is looking forward to proving himself in the arena against the reigning Tournament champion and his massive mechanical Scorpion. But when his obsession with winning endangers the lives of his wife and son, the Ottoman must face some harsh lessons about what victory truly requires.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Arthouse/Experimental

As three strangers make eye contact, we are enveloped into their worlds.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Eva L Hoffman
• Writer(s): Eva L Hoffman
• Key Cast: Sarah Randisi, Beatrix Donnelly, Dom Olivo, Baily Hopkins, Edward McCloud
• Editor(s): Eva L Hoffman, Nicholas Dorsey
• Cinematographer(s): Nicholas Dorsey
• Sound Designer(s): Harsh Yeole

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: ‘Eye Contact’ is an exploration of the visceral moment of recognition and vulnerability when a stranger’s gaze unexpectedly meets your own. It’s about how a brief glance can become a kind of portal, offering a glimpse into someone’s life. It’s about how memories can intrude on the present. It’s about distilling intimacy into its most elemental form.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Farzad Kiyafar
• Writer(s): Farzad Kiyafar
• Producer(s): Farzad Kiyafar, Courtney Shumway, Michael Watt
• Key Cast: Nima Rakhshanifar, Jeremy Urann, Kate Krieger, Katie Kelley
• Editor(s): Farzad Kiyafar
• Cinematographer(s): Aakash Raj
• Production Designer(s): Marcel Andre
• Sound Designer(s): William Tabanou
• Composer(s): Steven Matthew Carter

Language: English, Persian

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Overwhelmed and isolated on his wedding day, a closeted immigrant speaks to his family on the phone moments before walking down the aisle.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

What’s your secret?

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): PJ Germain
• Writer(s): Autumn Palen, PJ Germain
• Producer(s): Sabrina Cooper, Jonathan James
• Key Cast: Brady Gentry, Benjamin Nowak, Bix Krieger, Charlie N. Townsend, Cailyn Rice, Ethan Ahn, Emma Smith Watts, Erin Rae Kuykendall
• Editor(s): PJ Germain
• Cinematographer(s): Jeff Billings
• Production Designer(s): Eleanora Figueroa-Steiner
• Sound Designer(s): Michael Capuano
• Composer(s): Tangelene Bolton

Language: English

Runtime: 18m

Country: United States

Synopsis: HIGH SCHOOL REALLY SUCKS… and no one knows that better than best friends Aaron and Keith. So when they set out to crash the last graduation party of the summer, emotions fly high and the culture clash of teenagers find themselves playing a simple game that has dire consequences.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

Two strangers imagine their lives together upon seeing each other at a party.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Steven Soria
• Writer(s): Steven Soria
• Producer(s): Rachel Leyco, Shea William Vanderpoort, Alpha Faye
• Key Cast: Rachel Leyco, Yssamei, Matt Groove

Language: English

Runtime: 11m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Two strangers imagine their lives together upon seeing each other at a party.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – SciFi

When a middle-aged UberEats driver convinces a documentary crew to film his reunion with his long lost extraterrestrial family, a decades old conspiracy theory is put to the test.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Cesar Cervantes
• Writer(s): Haohan Ding, Cesar Cervantes
• Producer(s): Zoe Tamara
• Key Cast: Ron Song, Luke Barnett
• Editor(s): Abbi Jutkowitz
• Cinematographer(s): Henry Yin
• Production Designer(s): Rixi Xinrui Liu
• Sound Designer(s): Deanna Fielding
• Composer(s): Joe Chris

Language: English

Runtime: 16m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Kevin Chen has spent his life convinced he’s an alien stranded on Earth. When he receives an email from his supposed “family” promising to pick him up in a flying Honda Odyssey, Kevin invites a documentary crew to film the reunion.

Despite everyone’s suspicion that he’s being scammed, Kevin leads the crew into the Angeles National Forest with $3,000 already sent for "space gas."

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Arthouse/Experimental

Two women in mirrored routines find within the rhythm of repetition a moment of unspoken connection.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Tina Salmassi, Erica Scandariato
• Writer(s): Tina Salmassi, Erica Scandariato
• Producer(s): Erick Samayoa, Jennifer Blair, Tina Salmassi, Erica Scandariato
• Key Cast: Julia Wilde, Tanya Raisa, Patrick McDermott, Marcus Khachikian
• Editor(s): Lilit Aloyan
• Cinematographer(s): Guy Pooles
• Production Designer(s): Kenneth Cran
• Sound Designer(s): Matt Harting
• Composer(s): Matt Harting

Language: English

Runtime: 9m

Country: United States

Synopsis: One woman folds paper; the other folds towels. The Phenomenal Nothing explores the unlikely connection between two women on seemingly opposite life paths. A meditation on time, its repetition, rhythm, and quiet grip on our daily lives, the film asks whether time is a straight line or an endless cycle. Rinse and repeat. As routine slowly blurs individuality, these mirrored, meditative gestures open a space for something more: recognition, connection, and perhaps transcendence.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – SciFi

In judgement, we are whole

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Liam J Collins
• Writer(s): Rosalie Lyons
• Producer(s): Matthew Ciancarelli
• Key Cast: Bill Welden, Crystal Porter Bazemore, Jeff Gendelman, Eric Toms, Bella Edelmann, Theodore Mark Martinez
• Editor(s): Gianni Gibbs
• Cinematographer(s): Jackson Burns
• Production Designer(s): Alanis Rosa
• Sound Designer(s): Tavin McAllister
• Composer(s): Connor Low

Language: English

Runtime: 15m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: In a world where each dying human must sit on a trial to determine which digital afterlife they will reside in, aging politician Simon Peterson must make a case for his consciousness to be uploaded to the artificial heaven instead of hell.

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