Experience the Very Short Film Festival’s 2023 finalist and semi-finalist films.
Explore the standout finalist and semi-finalist films that earned their spot at the VSFF People’s Choice Awards, captivating voters and audiences alike. Enjoy these captivating stories and be inspired by the exceptional talent from the VSFF 2023 film entries.
An 11-year-old discovers solace in alcohol as he copes with the pain of his parents’ troubled relationship.
Two brothers attempt to compose a heartfelt text message…
ROE follows teacher Jenna as she struggles under the pressure of creating boundaries with her students. This coincides with incidences of family issues and mental health crises in the students under her care.
Delivery Please is a short film that deals with domestic violence. The call that Jenny makes isn’t to a seafood restaurant, but rather to emergency services. She must choose her words and tone wisely, as her abuser is in the next room.
In my bones is a short featurette on Palaeontologist Adele Pentland. Adele lives a double life, spending most of her time on a large remote cattle station in Western Queensland, she occasionally goes to Winton (nearest town to her home, 130km away) where she works as a researcher at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.
When a young inventor chips her tooth she uses her untested time machine to attempt to change the past.
Food waste isn’t just scraps at the end of a meal, it’s the tonnes of food that never make it into shopping bags. Best Before is a timely portrait of the human consequences of a destructive society, and the power behind the act of giving.
Call Of The Void follows the story of a disillusioned cook who contemplates what it would be like jump into a bottomless pit and fall for eternity, and how that would affect his sense of self.
Sisters come together to spread their mothers ashes only to find old wounds haven’t healed.
Jo comes home from work to find Liam, her deadbeat boyfriend, has swallowed her prototype microchip which isn’t ready for human consumption. To her surprise, the chip seems to have made some improvements and has maybe turned him into the perfect boyfriend… maybe.
A struggling violinist longs to be ‘held like those fish in the magazines’. The fish in question is a popular pianist playing sold out shows on the scene.
An untold chapter of the migrant dream.
Brenda Saunders’ Nan lived in a tiny workers cottage next to the boot factory near Redfern station. Perplexed by the twists and turns of family life, the ties that seemed to grow more complicated year by year, she learnt her Nan was part of the Stolen Generation, constantly looking for family members, with a tangle of knots too sad or too hard to undo.
This is a story of the universal struggle: Man vs remote. Who will win?
It’s business as usual at Dr. Madglass’ lab.
An 11-year-old discovers solace in alcohol as he copes with the pain of his parents’ troubled relationship.
Shows the relationship of a father, generationally passing down the passion for wood-chopping to his son and cultivating the talent for such a physically demanding sport.
On a winter afternoon, a troubled man speaks about the pile of firewood he has collected.
Joe, a dedicated cleaner, finds himself in a battle for his job when his routine is unexpectedly disrupted at the office he’s been cleaning for years.
A dedicated investigator interrogates a boy that witnessed a crime scene.
Gardenia ventures into a mystical forest to heal the broken heart that beats in her pocket, straying away from the enchanted tree she calls home.
A light comedy about two best chip friends coming to terms with their freedom, until it is cut short.
A studious artist and a rebellious bookworm clash in a library, continuously attempting to out-irritate the other into leaving, all whilst evading the Librarian’s keen ear.
A story of what two cups and a teapot get up to when the people leave the room to allow the tea to cool.
A young student battles a world of imaginative distractions while striving to complete his homework.
The Polish Nut is a story that revolves around a boy’s routine visits to his Bubi’s house until a significant event alters their daily routine.
A girl has set up a booth in the park, offering the answers to any question.
A mockumentary style comedy following a group of young queer time travellers, who come back to the 21st century to try to discover the reason for humanity’s decline.
Climbing trees, scraped knees, Duck Face explores the push and pull of sisters on the very edge of childhood.
A man in police uniform wake up in a dimly lit shed next to a dead woman in red dress, with hints suggesting the relation between this place and a infamous serial killer. He finds himself unable to escape and is forced to confront a ghostly woman that haunts him for his past.
‘Tangible Assets’ follows a neurotic, rabbit-like creature as they wander through a train station, learning to let go of the old and embrace the new.
Rose, a 17-year-old girl, falls in love with teenager Milo through someone else’s memories by using a new chip-based technology. A turn of events reveals that Milo isn’t exactly who he appears to be through the screen.
Small town boy deals with the passing of his grandfather and sole caretaker, as he goes through unfamiliar emotions of grief.
A young woman mourns the death of her brother, as she goes to clean out his apartment with the help of his neighbour.
A girl takes a tablet that shows how her decisions could affect her future.
In a dystopian world, a person trapped indoors tests the outdoor heat using uncooked chips. As the chips burn due to extreme temperatures, they become trapped indoors and experience a descent into madness.
The journey of a potato from the ground to a plate.
Paul seeks out a known fugitive in order to remove The Chip, a device created to control the civilians of District 6.
