Programmer Spotlight: Andrew Horton (Narrative Shorts)
September 28, 2026
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Charlotte Film Festival 2026
A Note from the Narrative Shorts Programmer
A record year for submissions, a leap in quality, and a program built around discovering something different.
It has been my privilege to volunteer as a submission reviewer with the Charlotte Film Festival for the last five years. This year I took on an expanded role as Narrative Shorts Programmer. I’m honored to have served in this capacity and excited for you to experience all that this year’s Narrative Shorts Program has to offer.
And boy, what a program we have. This year we had a record number of submissions — at least in my time reviewing — and the quality took a huge leap. That made the challenge of putting together a great program even harder. So what makes a great short film?
Short films must have a clear and distinct thesis statement. There is not enough runtime to muddle the waters. The films we selected this year were able to take a concept or idea and capture it fully — all in under 30 minutes. Often this comes with a hook: something unexpected, or a new way to view something mundane. Either way, we leave with a deeper understanding or a fresh perspective on the world.
When building the program this year, I kept returning to our festival’s motto: Discover Different. I wanted to select shorts that deal with topics and themes you might not normally see in a theater. Glitterbomb takes a deeply personal experience — about a tough topic that’s often overlooked — and explores it in an unexpected way. Verse delves into the dangers and obstacles that the future of technology can hold.
It’s not all dark and somber, though. This year we explore lighter themes as well: a man in a dancing cat suit grappling with the meaning of life in A Big Star; two sommeliers realizing maybe it’s okay to just like what you like in A Different Palate; the awkwardness of the morning after a hookup in Joan; and zombie-fighting mayhem in UN-DEAD. We hope everyone will find something that makes them think — or just makes them smile.
