Seven nights, one two-hour block at a time
The 21st San Francisco Short Film Festival screens live at the 4-Star Theater across seven nights, 15 to 21 October 2026. The festival's own welcome copy dates the whole run 15 to 22 October. Every live programme runs two hours. Opening Night starts Thursday 15 October at 8:15 p.m. and closes at 10:15 p.m.
The clocks for the week
Funny LOL opens Friday 16 October at 8:30 p.m. and runs to 10:30 p.m. An Animated World takes Saturday 17 at the same 8:30 p.m. start. True Stories takes Sunday 18 at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m. Spontaneous Connections opens Monday 19 at 8:15 p.m., Spine-tingling Stories takes Tuesday 20 at 8:15 p.m. and Closing Night takes Wednesday 21 at 8:15 p.m. Six of the seven nights begin at 8:15 or 8:30 p.m.
True Stories is the week's one 5 p.m. start. Its 7 p.m. finish leaves the rest of that evening open.
The titles per night
The programme listing carries eight films on Opening Night, eight on Funny LOL, twelve on An Animated World, eight on True Stories, seven on Spontaneous Connections, eight on Spine-tingling Stories and seven on Closing Night. The seven live nights carry 58 titles between them, seven to twelve to a night, inside 14 hours of live programming.
Twelve virtual programmes across eight days
The festival also runs twelve virtual programmes, open 15 to 22 October. Each carries a Virtual Admission ticket at 10 dollars. The twelve programmes carry between four and twelve films each, 97 slots in all, and the welcome page routes viewers to a How to watch on your TV page.
The film list behind the week
The platform's film guide lists 89 titles, and the film records behind it publish runtimes that total 1,023 minutes. The country field on those records names sixteen countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay, with two records crediting more than one country.
The seat and the ticket
Each live programme holds 120 general admission seats at 15 dollars, with reserved seating off, in a room the platform records at a capacity of 120. The live route is one ticket to one two-hour block. The pass route prices a Live+Virtual Screenings Pass at 95 dollars and a Virtual Screenings Pass at 65 dollars.
The categories on the list
The film guide sorts the titles under ten tags: Animation, Bay Area, Comedy, Dance, Documentary, Experimental, Genre, Music Video, Narrative and Young Filmmaker.
Seats open on 8 October
The platform's seat counters on 8 October 2026 read 26 sold for Opening Night, 12 for Funny LOL, 6 for An Animated World, 27 for True Stories, 14 for Spontaneous Connections, 4 for Spine-tingling Stories and 36 for Closing Night. Across the seven live programmes that is 125 seats sold and 715 open of 840.
Building the attendee day
With one two-hour block a night, the day is built around a single start. An 8:15 or 8:30 p.m. opening puts the block in the evening and leaves the afternoon free. The Sunday 5 p.m. start moves the block forward and frees the evening. The 4-Star Theater is at 2200 Clement St, San Francisco 94121, and gives its own contact line as 415.418.6712. The organiser advises booking ahead and takes tickets online or at the box office.