The Four-Minute Revolution: NYCFF Debuts Historic ‘Shorty Shorts’ Category for Indie Creators

Somewhere between the endless TikTok scroll and the last gasp of traditional cinema, the New York Comedy Film Festival (NYCFF) has staked its claim: if it provokes a laugh, it qualifies as art, regardless of runtime.

Running February 15–22, 2026, at Asylum NYC and the Baruch College Performing Arts Center, the festival’s debut lineup reads less like a greatest-hits compilation and more like a manifesto for comedy’s evolving shape. Yes, there are Oscar magnets like Sentimental Value, but the real tectonic shift is the festival’s almost obsessive attention to the “Short” and, more tellingly, the “Shorty Short.”

The “Shorty Short”: A New Frontier for Micro-Budget Filmmakers

High-concept micro-shorts have long existed in a kind of cinematic purgatory: too ambitious for a throwaway skit, too brief for the festival circuit’s rigid time slots. Social media became their default habitat, not by choice but by necessity. With the Shorty Shorts category, NYCFF is finally giving these orphans of the algorithm a seat at the grown-ups’ table.

“Timing is central to comedy and the NYCFF Shorty Shorts takes that idea to the extreme,” says Jess Domain, NYCFF Co-Founder and CCO.

This isn’t a festival gimmick so much as a calculated response to the economics of attention. For the indie director, four minutes is the “Goldilocks zone”: just enough time to make an impression, not enough to bankrupt your savings or your audience’s patience. Entries like Andrew Bourne’s These Moms Are Cooler Than Me and the viral-minded The Substance… For Men (a parody of the 2024 body-horror hit) are less about narrative sprawl and more about distilling comedy to its purest, most volatile form.

Curated Shorts: Diversity in Narrative

The standard Shorts category, capped at forty minutes, is carved into eight themed programs—a signal that curation, not just selection, is an art form in itself. Whether it’s the genre-bending “A Taste of Dread” or the border-hopping “Go Global,” the festival is quietly doing the work that distributors have all but abandoned: giving a stage to voices that rarely make it past the velvet rope.

Notable highlights for the indie circuit include:

• Aimee Comes First: Actress Aimee Garcia proves that established talent is returning to the short form to sharpen their creative voice.
• Darling, I Hope You Will Never Forget My Face: Iranian filmmaker Amir Ali Moftakhari brings a U.S. premiere to the stage, proving humor remains a universal bridge.
• Un-Dead: A world premiere by Bo Webb that highlights NYCFF’s pledge to launching new works.

Why This Matters for the Independent Professional

By slotting TV, episodics, docs, and mockumentaries alongside the usual suspects, NYCFF is quietly redrawing the limits of what counts as a “filmmaker.” For the independent professional, this isn’t just another schmooze-fest; it’s one of the few remaining spaces where a three-minute short can breathe the same air as an Oscar contender.

As Bob Melley, NYCFF Co-Founder and COO, rightly puts it: “We’re embracing great humor in every format without judging anyone’s attention span.”

Final Verdict: The “Short” Path to Success

For the indie filmmaker, NYCFF is less a calendar entry and more a referendum on the quick-hit medium. It’s a gauntlet thrown: can you cut through the noise, land the joke, and leave a mark—all before the credits roll? For those keeping score, the real lesson is unfolding in the Shorty Shorts blocks. If you want to understand where comedy—and perhaps cinema itself—is headed, you could do worse than start here.

See the Full Slate: You can view the complete schedule and secure festival passes at www.comedyfilmfestivals.com/tickets.