recommended watching & reading watching shorts One of the best ways to learn how to make short films is by watching them and learning from other people's successes and mistakes.

There are film festivals that take place all over the UK and around the world. Most festivals have a section for shorts and there are some festivals that are solely dedicated to short films. A full and comprehensive Directory of International Film & Video Festivals can be found at: www.britfilms.com/festivals

This directory lists over 600 international film festivals, including television and video festivals, and provides details on how and when to enter these events. There is a search feature that enables you to look up film festivals by country, town, festival title, category or month of the year.

See our related links: festivals for links to some of the biggest UK and international film festivals, as well as a list of specialist UK festivals.

There are a number of organisations across the UK that run short film screenings, often in combination with other events. Many local filmmakers' groups also run short film screenings in their area. Look out for information on filmmaking websites (see our related links: filmmaking organisations & communities) and in filmmaking magazines (see our related links: recommended reading).

See also our related links: exhibition & distribution - shorts for links to a selection of organisations who run regular short film nights.

Although shorts are rarely shown on terrestrial, over the last few years there has been a growth in digital channels and Video On Demand services showing shorts.

See our related links: recommended watching - television for a list of where you can watch shorts on television.

Past short film competition winners and other successful shorts have been compiled into video and DVD collections that are widely available.

See our filmmaking guide: shorts on dvd for a selection of recommended short film DVDs.

See our related links: recommended watching - DVD labels for links to short film DVD labels.

As technology is improving the Internet is becoming a far more reliable place to see short films. Short films have been available online for quite a few years, but only now, with broadband and improved software, is watching short films on the Internet becoming a viable viewing option.

See our related links: recommended watching - online for links to websites where you can watch shorts.

For links to places where you can watch shorts, see our related links: recommended watching

For collections of shorts on DVD, see our filmmaking guide: shorts on dvd

If you've spotted a factual error or have a suggestion for an organisation or information that we should include, then please help us improve the filmmaking guide

Talking Point: Is DVD Best For Shorts? Can selling shorts on DVD be profitable?

Cinema 16 Gets An American Accent Luke Morris, the man behind the Cinema 16 DVDs, talks about the Cinema 16 US shorts collection.

Who I Am & What I Want DVD The co-director of Who I Am And What I Want on his collaboration with David Shrigley - out now on DVD.

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