How Shorts Propelled These Filmmakers to Make Their Sundance Features

This year, there were 1,861 narrative features and 1,642 documentary features submitted to the Sundance Film Festival. And due to COVID-19, that number was less than in previous years. Holy hell, that’s a lot of competition!

How do you make a feature film that makes it into Sundance?  For some filmmakers below, a short version of a feature is a great way to prove the concept, not to mention get attention and funding. For others on the list, their short film got them noticed by future collaborators. For others, it merely went to sharpen and hone the voice they would need for their feature debut.

Take a look.

Filmmaker: Shaka King

Film at Sundance 2021: Judas and the Black Messiah

Short film: Mulignans (2015)

Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya appear in 'Judas and the Black Messiah' by Shaka King, an official selection of the Premieres section at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Glen Wilson

Made for Warner Bros., Judas and the Black Messiah is one of the biggest films playing at Sundance 2021. With performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Dominique Fishback in the tale of how the FBI tried to infiltrate the Black Panther, King’s “magnetic” directorial vision was honed through short films such as Mulignans. Watch it for yourself.

Filmmaker: Erin Vassilopoulos

Film at Sundance 2021: Superior

Short film: Superior (2015)

Ani Mesa appears in 'Superior' by Erin Vassilopoulos, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mia Cioffi Henry

Erin Vassilopoulos is a great example of the power to explore in a short what you can expand into a feature. In 2015 she came to Sundance with the same sister actresses (Alessandra and Ani Mesa) in the short version of Superior. This year, they returned to the screen in her feature! The feature film builds and continues her exploration of identity in dramatic ways, with her feature receiving much critical acclaim.

(Click through directly to Vassilopoulos' Vimeo page to watch the short.)

Credit: Superior (2015) on Vimeo

Filmmaker: Carey Williams

Film at Sundance 2021: R#J

Short film: Emergency (2018)

Camaron Engels and Francesca Noel appear in 'R#J' by Carey Williams, an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Charles Murphy

Carey Williams brought his short film Emergency to Sundance 2018, and in fact, it won the Sundance Short Film Award. This attracted the attention of “Screenlife” filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov and Igor Tsay, who approached him to make a movie that could be told through screens. The result is R#J, the tale of Romeo and Juliet as seen through their phones.

Read our interview with Williams on R#J here, and take a look at the teaser for Emergency to get a sense of his style.

Filmmaker: Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.

Film at Sundance 2021: Wild Indian

Short film: Shinaab, Shinaab Part 2 (2017, 2019)

Michael Greyeyes appears in 'Wild Indian' by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Eli Born

Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. has made tons of short films, but with Shinaab in 2017 and Shinaab Part 2 in 2019, he further honed his directorial voice and paved the way for his visionary feature. This year, his feature Wild Indian premiered at the festival, helmed by renowned cast Michael Greyeyes, Kate Bosworth, and Jesse Eisenberg, the latter of whom also executive produced the film.

While we can’t find either of his shorts online to share, read our latest NFS interview with him here.

Filmmaker: Carlson Young

Film at Sundance 2021: The Blazing World

Sundance Short film: The Blazing World (2018)

Carlson Young appears in 'The Blazing World' by Carlson Young, an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Actor-director Carlson Young came to Sundance with her short film version of The Blazing World, where she explored and cut her teeth on the unusual fantasy and horror hybrid that characterizes both the short and the feature. Take a look at the short to get a sense of the tone in the feature.

Filmmaker: Jessica Beshir

Film at Sundance 2021: Faya Day

Sundance Short film: Hairat (2017)

A still from Faya Dayi by Jessica Beshir, an official selection of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Merkhana Films.

Jessica Beshir has spent 11 years traveling back and forth from Mexico to her childhood home in Ethiopia to capture her story. Illustrating with her mesmerizing visual style and black and white cinematography, her short film Hairat is the story of a man and his unusual bond with wild hyenas. The short was released by Criterion and helped to show the type of story she was in the process of capturing on a greater scale.

After over a decade, she was able to share the mesmerizing journey of a young boy growing khat (a stimulant leaf) in the feature documentary Faya Dayi. Take a look at her exemplary style in Hairat below.

Do you have a short that has helped you make your feature? Would you consider starting with a short as a path to get a feature one made? Start a conversation in the comments!