Announcing the Official Selection of the 21st BuSho
We’re excited to announce the official selection for the 21st BuSho (Budapest Short) Film Festival, which will take place this September at Puskin Cinema. This year, we’ve made one important change: instead of 30 minutes, the maximum length of each film is now 25 minutes. This new rule challenged filmmakers to tell their stories in a shorter time—but that didn’t stop them from sending in amazing work.
Despite the stricter time limit, interest in BuSho remains strong—more than 500 short films were submitted from around the world. The selection process began with a nine-member “pre-pre-jury” who selected roughly 15 hours of shortlisted content. From there, a smaller three-member “post-pre-jury” made the final cut, distilling the films into a 12-hour program. The process was competitive and difficult, but ultimately 53 films were selected for the official competition.
The final selection includes 35 fiction films, 11 animations, and 7 experimental films. These come from 20 different countries. Hungarian filmmakers are especially well represented this year, with 13 local films in the lineup—the most we’ve had in a long time. Belgium and France follow with five films each, and Germany and the Netherlands with four. Other countries featured include Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Luxemburg, Estonia, the UK, Iran, China, Canada, the USA, Mexico, and Brazil.
We want to say a big congratulations to all the filmmakers who were selected this year. The full list of films is available [here].
All selected films must upload their screening copies by 1 June. On 15 June, we’ll announce the full screening schedule, which will be shown in blocks during the festival. The 21st BuSho Film Festival will run from 2–7 September at Puskin Cinema in Budapest.
We can’t wait to share these exciting films with you!