If there’s one film festival that’s crushing it in the short film game in 2025, it’s Tribeca. This year, they’ve programmed 93 short films, more than any other major festival has dared to, declaring that our beloved shorts deserve the royal treatment. With curated thematic strands, including an animation programme by Whoopi Goldberg, the films explore bold stories of passion, joy, friendship and trauma. Tribeca is throwing short films the party they’ve always deserved, complete with their own fancy new Shorts Cinema screening room at Spring Studios. We were delighted to see a great number of DN alums showing their work, some of whom are featured below as they impress us once again. With a heavy focus on contemporary questions of identity, family dynamics and belonging being lauded by the festival, Tribeca audiences have been confronted by intimate examinations of cultural exchange, displacement, and the complex dynamics between human beings seeking acceptance and understanding.
Ovary-Acting – Ida Melum
According to medical science, pregnancy after 35 is called geriatric (appealing), and with those around me freezing eggs at an alarming rate, it is safe to say Ida Melum’s Tribeca world premiering Ovary-Acting struck a chord in me. Melum was last featured on DN for her BAFTA-nominated Night of the Living Dread, and her newest short is a brilliant, overtly mad and absurdist look at the real pressures women face every day in their decision whether or not to pursue motherhood. The stop-motion characters are beautifully crafted, and while it might normally be a bit sweet for my tastes, this hit the proverbial spot.
ATTAGIRL – Klimovski
ATTAGRIL is in your face, unapologetic and sincerely fabulous. Very quickly switching our expectations of what is to come, director Klimovski suddenly adopts a contemporary use of silent movie text cards in neon pink after the first scene and then throughout, eschewing our typical presumptions of where this queer film will take us. Siren is a ruthless bookie whose designer Birkin handbag and meticulous makeup belies the threat she poses as she struts her way through New York. ATTAGIRL is truly unlike anything I have seen and that delights me.
Cherry-Colored Funk – Chelsie Pennello
A collection of a grifter’s shady deals and disastrous business and personal relationships all come to a head in Chelsie Pennello’s exploration of human hopes, dreams and flaws in Cherry-Colored Funk. In the fast-paced and brilliantly edited short, we experience, in what feels like real time, his house of cards collapse around him. Pennello doesn’t shy from putting the cameras right in the face of the action, and as the mayhem continues to snowball, every moment plays out on our confidence man’s face.
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African Family Dinner – Ibrahim Mursal
Meeting your partner’s family can often be an intimidating affair but Ibrahim Mursal takes this to the extreme in his comedy short African Family Dinner. Good intentions soon descend into a cringeworthy nightmare as a young woman’s attempt to impress her boyfriend’s Ghanaian family keeps getting worse and worse. Deftly highlighting the danger of stereotypical assumptions on both sides of the cultural divide, Mursal delivers a nuanced exploration of how we perform identity for others.
Ask Me Anything – Wyneke van Nieuwenhuyzen
These are the types of conversations we need more of. Wyneke van Nieuwenhuyzen’s documentary short Ask Me Anything follows a Sudanese refugee as he opens up the floor to local residents to ask him anything and initiates a much-needed dialogue and opportunity for understanding. Filmed over four unfiltered sessions in Rotary clubs, van Nieuwenhuyzen shows how easily we can break barriers between communities with open, honest conversation.
Zodiac – Hans Buyse & Titus De Voogdt
A friendship is put to the test when two men, out on a fishing trip, come across a boat of struggling refugees. Tensions immediately arise between the two, but it is what is left unsaid that speaks volumes. The stunning scenery and vivid cinematography in Zodiac sharply juxtapose questions of moral and human responsibility we all face, but all too often choose to ignore.
Neil Armstrong and the Langholmites – Duncan Cowles
Here at DN we’re big fans of Duncan Cowle’s dour tones and entirely captivating films. His ability to draw out a story from the most obscure starting points, here an American’s visit to a small town in Scotland, is unparalleled and made all the better as he doesn’t shy away from including himself. Forget talking heads, Cowles manages to make every interviewee feel like they are the star of the show, telling the most unique story, which I could happily listen to, whatever the subject matter.
Baby Blues – Helen Komini Knudsen
The voices in our head and the commentary we feel the need to make on every aspect of our lives (something I am no stranger to) are brilliantly framed in Helen Komini Knudsen’s comedy short Baby Blues. Told entirely from the POV of a baby in a pram, I felt every inch of this mother’s pain, meandering mind and daily struggles. It is raw and honest, something which I’m sure all mothers need more of.
Fire at Will – Morgan Gruer
A family gathered around a table with more disastrous results. Morgan Gruer, whose lovelorn short Ghosted we featured on DN in 2020, directs a frenzied comedy which sees both parents and children turn on each other as the subject of inheritance rears its ugly head. Generational conflict, long-hidden grievances and a battle of wills play out loud and fierce, with no one involved coming out of it looking good.
Almost Graduated – Florencia Peña & Samantha Copano
By far the quietest and most contemplative selection in this list, Florencia Peña and Samantha Copano’s Almost Graduated (Futura Licenciada) is an evocative coming-of-age story told from an older point of view where a university student struggles with the vast future ahead of her. As the near graduate struggles with the transition, her focus on the seemingly simple task of passing her driver’s test becomes all-encompassing and is a perfect example of the symbolic power of small achievements.
You can find more DN film festival favourites in our Best of Fest collections.
