Announcement of SSFF & ASIA 2025 Shot List vol.5
We are thrilled to unveil the 5th shortlist for the Academy Award®-eligible categories—Live-Action Competition, Animation Competition, and Non-Fiction Competition—at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2025!
In December 2024, we received a total of 240 entries. China led in submissions, accounting for 18%, followed by Japan (12%) and the United Kingdom (5.8%). We were also delighted to receive entries from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Among these submissions, 8% were created by first-time filmmakers, 6% were student projects, and 25% were directed by filmmakers under the age of 30.
Additionally, we observed a significant gender gap in submissions, with only 29% of women filmmakers. This highlights the ongoing need for greater gender diversity and inclusion in the film industry.
This holiday season, drama films dominated submissions, making up 68% of entries. 10% were comedies, while 3% were horror films, and 2% were family-oriented films. A recurring theme in many entries was grief and family relationships, exploring the emotional bonds shared between family members.
~SSFF & ASIA 2025 Short List vol.5 ~
~ The names of the shortlisted films, along with their directors and countries, will be listed in alphabetical order by category. ~
| Project Title | Directors | Country of Origin |
| ◎International | ||
| Atom & Void | Gonçalo Almeida | PORTUGAL |
| Trim | Karim Nasr | LEBANON |
| Rouge | Samaher Mously | SAUDI ARABIA |
| Berta | Lucía Forner Segarra | SPAIN |
| Sixteen | Naomi Iwamoto | UNITED STATES |
| Passarinho | Natalia García Agraz | MEXICO |
| Rhoda | Alex Lawther | UNITED KINGDOM |
| ◎Asia | ||
| The Artist | Suman Sen | Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of |
| Holy Smoke | Niko Ho | CHINA, Macao |
| Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites | Chheangkea | CAMBODIA |
| The Tortoise | Amirreza Jalalian | IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF |
| This is Budi’s Mother | Abimana Aryasatya | INDONESIA |
| ◎Animation | ||
| TV or The Disturbance on Forest Hill Road | Frederic Siegel | SWITZERLAND |
| Cycle or Bicycle | Roxane Campoy | FRANCE |
| Todos los futuros | Bárbara Cerro | FRANCE |
| Steps to Fly | Maria Rosario Carlino | ARGENTINA |
| Holosaurus | Ye-jin SONG | Korea, Republic of |
| ◎Non Fiction | ||
| Embrace the Present | Hiroyuki Fukuyori | ◎JAPAN |
| Fading Frequencies | Wayne Lim | SINGAPORE |
| One day I will hug you | Mohammed Al-Majdalawi | Palestine, State of, Qatar, Sweden |
| Japan | ||
| Thundergod | Umi Ishihara | JAPAN |
| After I died | Yuri Yagihashi | JAPAN |
Festival selections will be chosen from among the shortlisted films. The shortlist will continue to be updated monthly until the end of March 2025, with the final list published on the festival’s official website by the end of April 2025. While this month’s shortlist primarily features films submitted by the end of December 2024, announcement timing may vary.