It's a format that is finding a growing audience, says festival director Gina Dellabarca.
"I think it's the popularity of the internet.
"Ironically, I think it has helped the short-film genre establish itself as something that is far more in the public consciousness than it used to be," says Ms Dellabarca.
"People have access to a lot more and are watching a lot more online."
As a result, their interest is piqued, they are a lot more film-literate, and they are keen to see some short films at their best on the big screen.
Ms Dellabarca says it is still true that short films provide a training ground for budding film-makers, which also makes them an ideal place to do some talent spotting.
But as careers tend to be less linear, film-makers also move between formats, including producing advertisements and music videos, while others find the short film suits their style best.
"They are more like storytellers," she says of the modern film-maker. "It is about finding the right medium to fit their story."
Among those who can be said to have cut their teeth on the short-film format, and who have featured in previous years' festivals, is Weta Workshop employee Paul Campion.
Previous festivals have carried his short films Night of the Hell Hamsters and the multi-award-winning Elle Girl.
Ms Dellabarca says he has now just completed his first feature-length film, The Devil's Rock.
On the other hand, another Show Me Shorts alumnus, James Cunningham - who has also screened at Cannes - has made a string of short films without ever making a feature.
"The short film obviously fits the stories he wants to tell," she says.
There is a parallel between the short film and the written short story, she says, as both need to push the narrative along to a relatively swift conclusion of some sort.
"The thing that is better about short films than feature films is the way the short time frame forces the film-maker to distil the essence of the story down to the heart of it."
It is this that makes the most successful short films so powerful, she says.
Films to watch out for this year include The Six Dollar Fifty Man, another award-winner, which tells the tale of an 8-year-old who fancies himself as a superhero of the playground.
This is Her tells the story of a woman's unravelling life, looking into the future from the delivery suite.
Another of Ms Dellabarca's picks is Oscar's First Kiss, in which a teenager is mistaken for someone else on a train, leading to an intimate moment.
Vampires and the post-apocalyptic feature among themes, as does the particularly topical area - for the film industry - of industrial unrest.
The North Pole Deception details the "disturbing working conditions of Santa's elves in the North Pole".
The festival
• The festival screens in Dunedin from November 11 to 21 at Rialto, and in Arrowtown from November 21 to 24 at Dorothy Browns.
www.showmeshorts.co.nz
Freebies
• The Otago Daily Times has five double passes to the festival to give away. To go in the draw, email playtime@odt.co.nz with Show Me Shorts in the subject line.
