Show Me Shorts is New Zealand's leading international short film festival. It screens a selection of short films from New Zealand and around the world in cinemas nationwide each Spring. Show Me Shorts is a charitable organisataion that has three aims: 1. To connect New Zealanders with the best short films from around the world 2. To celebrate excellence in short film making 3. To foster the New Zealand short film community Each year approximately 60 top short films are selected and contend for awards. Both international and New Zealand films are eligible. The festival awards are then presented to the top filmmakers at the opening night and awards ceremony in Auckland. Show Me Shorts is New Zealand’s first Academy Awards®-accredited festival, with the Best Film and Best International Film award winners becoming eligible for nomination for the Oscars®. The programme covers a diverse range of themes and subjects including documentary, sci-fi, horror, drama, animation and comedy. Judges from the screen industry decide the winners of the awards. As of 2014, Show Me Shorts Film Festival also accepts music videos as part of a new New Zealand music video competitive category. There are a number of supporting events such as a lab for screenwriters and filmmaker talks for aspiring filmmakers that run as part of the festival.
History
Show Me Shorts Film Festival Trust is a registered charitable trust founded in Auckland, New Zealand in 2006 by Gina Dellabarca, Tamara Liebman, Katrin Hagen and Kate Nicholson. The first screenings took place at Auckland's Academy Cinema in November, 2006. The following year the festival expanded to a full week in Auckland, plus screenings in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Every year since then, more locations and venues have been added to the circuit. There are now more than 25 regular venues across New Zealand. In 2013 Show Me Shorts gained Academy Awards-accreditation for their Best New Zealand Film Award. This milestone recognised the quality of the programming, and allowed the festival to provide a pathway to the Oscars for filmmakers. In 2016 the festival additionally acquired Academy Awards-accreditation for their Best International Film Award. In 2014 the Opening Night and Awards Ceremony took place at the iconic picture palace, The Civic, in Auckland. This venue has since become a fixture for the festival.
