This season, the top honor at Cal Film Festival goes to Spare!, a sharp, darkly comedic short film written and directed by Jules Cales and Balthazar Ullmann (France). What begins as a grim assignment for two hapless henchmen ends in runaway chaos: a story about luck, desperation, and the irresistible absurdity of two men who stumble…
In addition to the top honor this season — Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) awarded to Spare! (France) — Cal Film Festival’s jury team highlights a select group of films that made a strong impression through their storytelling, craft, and creative vision. These Jury Picks are not awards — they are a recognition of distinctive filmmaking that stood out within this…
Very Soon Now by Jeremy Heilmeier (USA) Outstanding Achievement Award A sharply constructed one-night horror thriller that uses primal fears — isolation, dead phone lines, a stranger in the house — to create a terrifying countdown. Jess, a college-age babysitter, finds herself in a secluded home surrounded by dark woods, spotty cell service, and a…
With breathtaking visual poetry and emotional depth, Lamp by Zoe Peng has been awarded Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) of the Summer 2025 season at Cal Film Festival. Originally created as the central interlude VCR for singer Angela Zhang’s 2025 Seeking Light world tour, Lamp reaches far beyond its concert-film origins. It unfolds as a mesmerizing cinematic fable—a space where stagecraft meets storytelling and spectacle gives way to soul.…
A quietly brilliant and emotionally layered film, Dolldays uses surreal humor and striking originality to explore the silent crisis of men’s mental health in rural Norway. Cal Film Festival is proud to announce Dolldays, written and directed by Morten Hansen (Norway), as the recipient of the Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) for the Spring 2025 edition. This gently absurd, emotionally resonant…
Precision-crafted and visually gripping, “Ice Cold Ricky” delivers raw emotion with striking cinematic control.
Interview with film director Qi Tan and writer and producer Peihong Situ, of “A Show of the Stray” (China), awarded Best Foreign Short (Grand Jury Prize) of Spring 2024. A powerful 15-minute drama, between reality and surreal, about someone who is pursuing his dream. But also about “love, marriage, personal growth, and how these elements…
Interview with Leigh Marling, director of “Ana Paula”, awarded Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) of Spring 2024. Directed by Leigh Marling, the disturbing 46-minute film revolves around a young woman seeking to retrieve her dignity, become a mother and – after a life of exploitation and abuse – learn to trust a man who…
Interview with Caroline Bevaart & Harald Swinkels, the Dutch directors of “Drawback”, awarded Best Narrative Short (Grand Jury Prize) of Fall 2023. Award-winning Caroline Bevaart & Harald Swinkels talk about the amazing 20-minute “Drawback” (Netherlands), a short film that follows Simon, a lonely comic strip artist with an unattainable love, and Rachel, a woman he…
Interview with Iranian filmmaker Kiarash Bokaeyan, recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award (Grand Jury Prize) for Foreigner Short in the Fall edition, for the drama short “Varanus”. Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Kiarash Bokaeyan talks about “Varanus”, an impressive 15-minute film that revolves around a hearing-impaired teenage boy who is forced by a man to participate in secret and illegal fight competitions. Born in…