Screening at a short film festival is a sure-fire way to start creating a buzz around your film and your career. You are also likely to bump into short-film buyers eager for content for the dozens of fledgling websites desperate for movies. Short films are much easier to see on the web or on a mobile telephone than features (at the moment, at least). Here's a list of few short film festivals that you should dig-in in February.

1) Boulder International Film Festival: Named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” in the world by MovieMaker Magazine, the Boulder International Film Festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Boulder for a four-day celebration of the art of cinema. BIFF has developed a reputation as one of the most influential young film festivals in the U.S., with an extraordinary number of new-but-unknown feature films, documentaries, and shorts that have gone on from early screenings at BIFF to significant box-office success and multiple Oscar nominations.  

2) Fast forward Film Festival: The Fast Forward Film Festival encourages films from Rochester, NY residents that tap into the local experience and compel audiences to engage with the community and raise environmental awareness. Embracing the short film format, Fast Forward challenges filmmakers to utilize the power of visual storytelling to convey the urgency of our environmental problems. Shorts are a liberating form that allows for greater experimentation and gives voice to both aspiring and veteran filmmakers. By focusing creativity into films under five minutes in length, Fast Forward films become an important communication tool to inspire change, connect people and build an environmentally concerned community.

3) Transylvania International Film Festival (Romania) (TIFF): This festival is organized by Romanian Film Promotion and it is the first international feature film festival in Romania. The main objective of Transylvania IFF is to promote the cinematic art by presenting some of the most significant films of the moment, films which exhibit not only originality and independence of expression, but also unusual forms of cinematic language and modern trends of the young culture. Note: deadline for films submitted in the Official Competition, the Shadows section (both short and feature films) and What’s Up, Doc? The festival has been running since 2nd February 2018.

4) Raindance Film Festival London: Raindance is dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film around the world. Based in the heart of London, Raindance combines Raindance Film Festival, training courses — which are offered throughout the year at our 10 international hubs — and the British Independent Film Awards. The organisation was founded in 1992 by Elliot Grove as a thought experiment: can you make a film with no money, no training and no experience? The first Raindance event was a masterclass with Dov Simens held in London in April 1992. Operating for more than 25 years, Raindance offers a wide range of evening and weekend film training courses in cities around the world, including London, Toronto, LA, Berlin and Paris, as well as online — all taught by experienced film professionals. Our courses, classes and workshops include some of the most popular in the world, spanning disciplines and crafts such as screenwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, special effects, editing, lighting, sound and short film making to name just a few. The festival is open for submissions.

5) Chennai International Short Film Festival: Chennai International Short Film Festival has been started by persons having long associations with film festivals under the aegis of Chennai Academy of Motion Picture, a non-profit trust to promote good cinema to the film enthusiasts of Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu. Short films have emerged as a universal experimental platform for both professional and amateur film makers alike. With the proliferation of high-quality digital technology at relatively low prices, every film enthusiast wants to embark on film making and short films are the first stepping stone in that effort.

CISFF is the unique event in India which showcases talents to short filmmaking. It is the only annual International Short Film Festival happening in India with awards in all categories. The festival runs till 24th February.