Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rose McGowan and Taylor Kitsch are among the directors who will have films at the 2014 Palm Springs International ShortFest, PSISF organizers announced on Thursday.
Actors appearing in the films at the festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, include Oscar Isaac, Danny DeVito, Sarah Paulson, Natalie Dormer, Ioan Gruffudd, Nick Offerman, Jenna Fischer, Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Tony Hale and Alex Karpovsky.
The festival will also include “Human Voice,” a new short from Italian director Edoardo Ponti featuring Ponti’s wife, Sophia Loren.
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The 330 films to screen in the desert resort town 100 miles east of Los Angeles will include 84 world premieres, 71 North American premieres and 22 U.S. premieres. They will appear in 52 thematically-organized programs and will screen from June 17 to June 23 at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. A 3,000-film short film market will run concurrently.
The complete line-up will be posted on www.psfilmfest.org on June 8, with tickets on sale on June 10.
In a press release announcing the selection, PSSF director Kathleen McInnis said this year’s submissions moved “away from the angst-ridden drama of the past few years, and more towards hopefulness and sheer fun.”
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The festival’s films will include “Dawn” (photo at top), the directorial debut of actress McGowan; “Pieces,” directed by Kitsch; “Columbite Tantalie,” directed by Ejiofor, “Jerome’s Boquet,” directed by Bebe Neuwirth
Others include Sarah Paulson in “#twitterkills,” Nick Offerman in “The Gunfighter,” Jenna Fischer in “It’s Okay,” Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent in “The Phone Call,” Shohreh Aghdashloo in “Still Here,” Oscar Isaac in “Ticky Tacky,” Danny Devito in “Today’s The Day” and Alex Karpovsky in “The Young Housefly.”
Also: Jayma Mays in “Awkward Expressions of Love,” Natalie Dormer and Rufus Sewell in “The Brunchers,” Ian Hart in “Conversation with a Cigarette,” Lee Meriwether in “The Curse of the Un-Kissable Kid,” Alan Ruck in “DESTROYER,” Ioan Gruffudd in “Eddie,” Martin Starr in “Leonard in Slow Motion,” Mark Strong in “Nosferatu in Love,” Josh Ackland and Juliet Stevenson in “The Portrait,” Luke Kirby in “Sure Thing,” Sally Kirkland and Burt Young in “Tom in America,” Tony Hale and Frankie Faison in “Trouble & the Shadowy Deathblow,” Rutger Hauer in “Turn,” Richard Kind in “What Cheer?,” Barry Bostwick, Missi Pyle, Cheyenne Jackson, Rob Riggle and Carmen Electra in “Dragula” and Pyle in “Somebody’s Mother.”
Winning films in the festival’s 21 competitive categories will receive $21,000 in cash awards and more than $115,000 in total prizes. First-place winners in four categories automatically qualify for the short-film categories at the Oscars. Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 22.
In addition, 12 of the festival’s films will screen in an online film festival, with the ShortFest Online Audience Award announced on closing night.