Aspen Film, a year-round film and arts organization, announced its program for their short-film festival. Aspen’s Shortsfest will return for its 28th year bringing talent from all around the world to Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House and Carbondale’s Crystal Theater from April 2-7.

The 2019 program includes 69 short films from 26 countries. Forty-one percent of the films are female-directed, a monumental feat for the film industry as a whole. The diversity of the program has been an intrinsic part of the film festival since it’s inception.

“Once again we’re excited to present a diverse and global lineup of films for our 28th Aspen Film Shortsfest. We had an unprecedented nearly 2600 submissions this year; our programming team worked tirelessly to craft a program that is depictive of today’s world, showcasing film from all over of the planet, representing 26 distinct countries. In true Shortsfest fashion, this year’s lineup promises a ground-breaking array of documentary, animation, comedy and dramatic offerings,”  said  Aspen Film executive director Susan Wrubel

For the first time in festival history, Shortsfest will screen a feature film, with filmmaker Destin Cretton in-person to present a special presentation of his feature film “Short Term 12.” Cretton is an indie darling that helped launch and further the careers of Oscar winner Brie Larson, Rami Malek and award winner LaKeith Stanfield.

Aspen Shortsfest is an industry-recognized event that has hosted some great contributors to the film industry including Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”), Jason Reitman (Up In The Air”), Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club”) and Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell”). 

For a full list of the program and information about tickets visit Aspen Film’s official website.