Short Film Breaks

Short Film Breaks is a Romanian short film festival that holds its screenings inside private companies, public institutions and non-profit organisations, offering short films as breaks during the working day. It sets out to bring hard-to-distribute independent films to hard-to-reach audiences: employees and beneficiaries of partner companies and NGOs, and people in remote villages.

Filmmakers and human resources professionals founded the festival, which began in 2013 with screenings at Ipsos for employees in Bucharest and Brașov. Its screenings have since reached 19 communities in seven countries, among them Nepal, Kenya and Guatemala, and a national programme turns libraries in villages and small towns into recurring cinema venues. The Golden Elephant awards cover international and Romanian films and categories such as animation, documentary, human rights and mental health; the 2027 edition carries total prizes of $2,000.