The term "short" for films can be broadly interpreted. Many festivals have shorts that are over half an hour. To emphasize the fact that our films are all under six minutes, we call them "Short Short" films.

The "Story" emphasizes the fact that these are not experimental pieces, which many very short films are. Our films emphasize a narrative despite their brief running times.

We felt that in a typical film festival, short short films get buried amongst feature-length or longer short films.

We wanted to give them a unique place where their strengths could be most appreciated - hence, the Short Short Story Film Festival was born.

The festival consists of two distinct programs of short films.

The first, the Heartstrings Program, includes stories of a emotional nature - either poignant or charming.

The second program, the Headtrip Program, presents forays into bizarre or unsettling territory.

Each program has between 15 and 20 films, with a typical running time of around 80 minutes. It is hard to narrow it down to this number from hundreds of fine submissions, but we have found this is plenty of material to present to the audience without overwhelming them.

The festival screens in select cities and towns in the northeastern United States. The festival typically screens at one or two locations per year, in late November.

The locations have been as follows:

• 2023 - Hartford, CT (details)
• 2022 - Bethel, CT (details)
• 2021 - All Stars Edition, Virtual (details)
• 2020 - Cancelled due to Covid pandemic
• 2019 - Providence, RI (details)
• 2018 - Providence, RI (details)
• 2017 - Providence, RI (details)
• 2016 - Providence, RI and Worcester, MA (details)
• 2015 - Worcester, MA and Providence, RI (details)
• 2014 - Providence, RI (details)
• 2013 - Pomfret, CT and Providence, RI (details)
• 2012 - Concord, NH and Providence, RI (details)
• 2011 - Hartford, CT and New Bedford, MA (details)
• 2010 - Waitsfield, VT; Easthampton, MA; and Concord, NH (details)
• 2009 - New York City and Providence, RI (details)
• 2008 - Concord, NH and Brattleboro, VT (details)
• 2007 - Providence, RI (details)

With around three dozen films in the festival, not all filmmakers can attend, so we encourage them to send along photos. We then create a pre-festival montage with music that greets the audience. In the past, some filmmakers have provided video introductions as well.

The organizers also travel personally with the festival and are available to answer any questions about the films and get feedback from the audience.

We also want to make the festival a bit more than just the screenings, so we may include a reception after a set of films with some food, drink, and entertainment. Past events have incorporated live music, DJs, and spoken word performers.

Each program of the festival, Heartstrings and the Headtrip, has an audience award. Those attending at the various festival screenings select their three favorite films from each program. The films with the highest cumulative total from all screenings is the award winner.

For each of the two programs, a jury panel consisting of guests from our film interview program Spoiler Alert Radio will review and select their favorites.

Additionally, awards are presented in unique categories such as Mind's Eye or Petit Prose.

Each award is a hand-crafted commissioned art object made by a previous festival filmmaker.

Unless otherwise indicated, all films are eligible for any awards.

Click the links at the top left to see award winners and judges for previous years.

We usually accept submissions in September and October.

We do not charge a fee to submit to the festival.

Read more about the submission process by touching here.

We prefer to think of it as a Short Short FAQ.

If you do have any questions, you can contact us at:

mergingartsfilmMergingArts@MergingArtsgmailMergingArts.MergingArtscom