Short Shorts funds up to seven, 3-5 minute films and aims to encourage the making of ultra short films. The scheme was modified last year so that the films have to conform to a particular genre each year.

The theme for this years short films, whether live action or animated is ‘Films with No Dialogue’. Not specifically meaning silent films, films where the soundtrack can contain anything except audible dialogue such as the Mr. Bean television series is a good example of this type of genre. By packaging the shorts together under this specific genre, this will allow the IFB to market the Short Shorts more effectively internationally.

Some recent shorts to be funded by the scheme include Declan Cassidy’s ‘Whatever Turns You On’ which picked up the Best Film awards at the Florence Film Festival in Italy and Filmstock Film Festival in Britain last November; ‘Atlantic’ directed by Conor Ferguson and starring Liam Cunningham which was released in cinemas nationwide in front of the feature film ‘32A’, and the short horror film ‘Shapes’ by Alan Brennan, which was officially selected for the renowned Palm Springs International Film Festival 2008.