Cannes Selects SXSW Winner For Shorts Competition

Grainger David's The Chair is the only American filmmaker to make the shorts lineup cut for this year's upcoming Cannes Film Festival, though U.S. territory Puerto Rico also made the list for the first time with Mi Santa Mirada by Alvaro Aponte-Centeno. The Chair debuted last month at South by Southwest where it won the Short Film Jury Prize. The 12-minute film revolves around a mysterious outbreak of poisonous mold in a small town and one boy's attempt to understand his mother's death, his grandmother's obsession with a discarded recliner and the roots of this mysterious plague.

In all, 10 films will compete for the Short Film Palme d'Or in Cannes this year, selected from 4,500 submissions. Drop back by Movieline on Thursday for the Cannes 2012 feature-film competition lineup.

2012 Cannes short films in competition:

Mi Santa Mirada by Alvaro Aponte-Centeno (Puerto Rico)

Gasp (Souffle) by Eicke Bettinga (Germany)

Ce Chemin Devant Moi by Mohamed Bourokba  (France)

Waiting For P.O. Box by Bassam Chekhes  (Syria)

The Chair by Grainger David  (United States)

Night Shift by Zia Mandivwalla (New Zealand)

Chef de Meute by Chloé Robichaud (Canada)

Yardbird by Michael Spiccia (Australia)

Cockaigne by Emile Verhamme (Belgium)

Silent by L. Rezan Yesilbas (Turkey)