From June 23 to June 27, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour – created by the nonprofit Sundance Institute – came to the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque. The showcase featured seven short films spanning genre and medium, from animation to documentary.
Three of the seven films received awards. “Bug Diner,” directed by Phoebe Jane Hart, won the Jury Award for animation.
“Bug Diner” follows three stop-motion couples: a pair of praying mantises in an unhappy marriage, an anteater pining after a squirrel who does not feel the same and a fly in love with a mole with a “hot ass.” The film culminated in an explicit and chaotic ending – especially for a claymation film – as Hart pushed the medium to its limits.
Documentary “ALOK” follows nonbinary activist, poet and public speaker Alok Vaid-Menon as they speak about their experience being othered and their effort to incorporate the “other” into their life. The film was executive produced by Jodie Foster, and additionally featured Dylan Mulvaney — a prominent advocate for trans women’s rights who rose to fame on TikTok.
“What trans people have to teach the world is a love lesson. It’s a love letter,” Vaid-Menon said in the documentary.
“Pisko the Crab Child is in Love,” directed by Makoto Nagahisa, is a Japanese coming-of-age film about a girl who is half crab. She falls in love with her music teacher and they start a relationship. However, he later rejects her because of her half-crab heritage.
Pisko eventually finds unconditional love in her best friend. The film closes with an original song by the same name, and won the Special Jury Prize for directing.
Also featured were “Dream Creep,” a horror film in which a man must try to help his girlfriend escape her nightmare; “The Masterpiece,” a short film about class struggle as a wealthy couple attempts to undercharge a man for his rare painting; “Essex Girls,” a film about a young, Black, prep school girl forming an unexpected bond with the only other Black student at her school; and “Pathological,” a film about a compulsive liar whose lies magically become true, causing chaos.
The broader Sundance Film Festival was established in 1978 in Salt Lake City, Utah, under a different name, according to the BBC. In 1981, actor and filmmaker Robert Redford established the Sundance Institute; he acquired the festival in 1984, according to Park City Museum.
Sundance Film Festival is now held annually in Park City, but more changes may be coming to it. In 2026, Sundance’s contract with Park City will expire, and the city of Santa Fe submitted a bid to host, according to KOB4. If Santa Fe is selected, the festival would move to the city in 2027.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
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