HollyShorts Film Festival to Launch London Edition

HollyShorts Film Festival is set to launch a London edition, Variety has learned.

The renowned event, which celebrates its 20th anniversary next year, is one of the world’s most prestigious short film festivals. It also boasts a number of Oscar-qualifying categories.

For the first time, the festival has also been accredited by BAFTA, meaning that films selected for HollyShorts will be eligible to submit to the BAFTA awards.

A number of HollyShorts winners have gone on to take the top prize in the Academy Awards shorts categories, including Guy Nattiv’s “Skin.”

The London edition of the festival is set to take place in the U.K. this December, from 6-8, right in the middle of award season.

This year’s regular HollyShorts takes place in L.A. and online from Aug. 8-18. It will showcase 400 films – whittled down from 6,000 – including Ben Whishaw’s “Good Boy,” Mika Simmons’ “My Week with Maisy” featuring Joanna Lumley, Thomas May Bailey’s “The Talent” with “House of the Dragon” star Emma D’Arcy, Louisa Connolly-Burnham’s “Sister Wives” starring Mia McKenna-Bruce and the animated short “An Angel on Oxford Street” with narration by Christopher Eccleston.

Other standouts include Benjamin Verrall’s resonating “Shouting at the Sea”, Oz Arshad’s “Opening Up” starring Tamzin Outhwaite and Gary Beadle, Simon Woods’ “Such A Lovely Day” featuring Eve Best and Edward Bluemel, Emma Miranda Moore’s “The Night,” Elizabeth Peace’s “The Golden Boy,” Scottish comedy “Da’s” and “Dragon Slayers United” with Adam Pearson and Rosie Jones.

Film fans can watch in person at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood or via the official festival streaming platform, BITPIX.

To view the complete list of official selections, visit hollyshorts.com.