The WVU School of Art & Design’s Digital Art and Animation program will host the 2026 West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival (WVMSFF) from Thursday, March 5, to Sunday, March 8, at the WVU Canady Creative Arts Center. The festival presents cutting-edge short films, animations and digital media artworks by WVU students, regional filmmakers and artists from around the world.
The WVMSFF is an annual international, competitive film screening of juried
works in a wide range of genres and formats, including short narratives, documentaries,
experimental and traditional animations, new media art and live audio-visual performances. Each
year, the festival showcases roughly 100 works curated around a series of thematic
and genre-oriented screenings. Cash prizes are awarded in each of the festival’s
competitive categories, including student awards, audience’s choice and Best in
Show.
Still image from "How Now, House?" by Tess Martin
Featured international films include “Flow of Being,” an animated short by Estonian filmmaker Helen Unt, about an enigmatic character on a magical journey through a Nordic landscape; “How Now, House?” by Rotterdam-based filmmaker Tess Martin, which explores the way various inhabitants of a single house each leave their own traces through time; and “10 52,” a narrative drama by Iranian actor and director Amir Mohammad Zand, which follows a solitary musician searching for solace and companionship in artificial intelligence.
The festival will also feature “On Camera,” a documentary from Pittsburgh filmmaker Jackie Mishol about a camera-woman’s daughter using her deceased mother’s camera to teach herself cinematography, and “Pandora’s Greenhouse,” a comedic narrative film by Adrian Pijoan of New Mexico about an experiment in a botany lab that goes terribly wrong.
In addition, attendees can participate in Q&A sessions with participating artists and filmmakers, attend workshops and view examples of contemporary new media art, including a virtual reality presentation. A selection of video installations and screen-based performance works will be available to view in the Paul Mesaros Gallery and the “Slab” practice space.
Still image from "Pandora's Greenhouse" by Adrian Pijoan
Screenings and exhibitions will take place in the WVU Canady Creative Arts Center. The festival kicks off with a screening of student works from 8-11 p.m. Thursday, March 5. Workshops and screenings continue from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and 1:30-4 p.m. Sunday. All events and screenings are free and open to the public.
Established in 2010, The WVMSFF celebrates exceptional, compelling and boundary-pushing
works in film, experimental video, animation and new media art. Its primary mission
is to help foster creative approaches to these genres and to expose West Virginia
University students and the surrounding Morgantown community to the world of independent
filmmaking and video art.
Please visit the festival website for exact screening times, film selections and
locations:
http://www.wvmsff.com/.