Yesterday afternoon saw the announcement of Sundance’s short film lineup for 2014, 66 short films that will play Park City this upcoming January. The competition was fierce, with a revealed total of 8,141 submissions, but, of the myriad things you could do to catch the fleeting but powerful attention of a programmer—write a great script, discover an amazing subject, or cast a big star—keeping your short film offline, sight unseen, conferred no advantage. Sundance programs strictly by merit, engendering a reputation as one of the world’s most progressive film festivals regarding online content (see our list of online-friendly fests). Like last year, this lineup confers an ample place at the table for short work that has enjoyed internet exhibition.

Who are those lucky filmmakers who get to, proverbially, have their cake and eat it too? Let us introduce. Here’s a sneak-peek at what all those lucky cinema-lovers will enjoy next month, 7 great 2014 Sundance shorts you can watch right now.

Catherine: dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp

We (and just about everyone else on the internet) remember Dean Fleischer-Camp and his lovely co-writer (and wife!) Jenny Slate thru their adorkable viral short Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. Catherine is a recent project of the duo’s, a “sincere” 12-part comedy web series they prepped for the Buh YouTube Channel, part of the JASH network. We’ve briefly touched on JASH and Buh in our reviews of this Michael Cera short, and the excellent Matt Spicer short It’s Not You, It’s Me. This project continues the brand’s attempts to do some of the most interesting stuff in YouTube land.

Allergy to Originality: dir. Drew Christie

A Northwest local, Drew Christie has carved out a surprisingly rich niche for himself with his line drawings and subtle blend of documentary and animation. The essayist perspective he’s brings to his work lead to a pitch-perfect match—a reoccurring gig creating content for The New York Times Op/Docs. A frequent guest of Sundance’s who attended in 2012 for Song of the Spindle, this year’s selection is one of the New York Times pieces from last year, and is particularly great.

Astigmatismo: dir. Nicolai Troshinsky

A stunner that was honored with a Vimeo Staff Pick earlier this year, Troshinsky’s novel animation uses extended blur effects to mimic the perception of its main character. It is a radical technique, which obscures, but enriches the tediously constructed, but lovely, cut-out and paint-on-glass animation he crafts.

Crime: The Animated Series: dir. Alix Lambert, Sam Chou

A novel collaboration with MOCA, the LA Museum that recently stepped up its online presence in a flashy way when it hosted Andrew Huang’s Bjork music video exclusively, this is another web series—a trend that is totally in keeping with Sundance’s editorial direction, having honored both Drunk History and Brick Novax’s Diary with the fest’s top prize in recent years past.

This series is a stylish examination of how crime effects us all, variously focusing on law enforcement, criminals and victims, and is based off of Lambert’s book. The above embed is a playlist containing all the current episodes available on YouTube.

Passer Passer: dir. Louis Morton

Debuting online a few month’s ago courtesy of the Cartoon Brew Student Film Festival, this USC animation is a fun, experimental romp through observational sound, whimsically animating in strange cartoony loops found sound recorded in both LA and Tokyo. See Amid’s introduction of the film for some more great background info.

Phantom Limb: dir.Alex Grigg

Part of the phenomenal anthology film, Ghost Stories, by Late Night Work Club, Grigg’s work is a fine choice by Sundance to single out and showcase. Spooky, symbolically rich, and effectively emotional, the film is the complete package. It is available online as part of the 38min anthology embedded above, but if you want to watch Phantom Limb specifically, click through to the clip page where there are timecode links in the description.

Piece, Peace: dir. Jae-in Park

A piece from the Korean National University of the Arts, this is film that was a surprise to discover, though it had been languishing in our Vimeo watch later queue. Kudos to the programming staff.

Frankly, I don’t know what to make of this strange work. Featuring anthropomorphized animals in a communal living arrangement that hearkens to famous European animation traditions of the “apartment” film, the film has a giant baby in it and mouse seemingly intent on spreading dominion over the complex.  

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Did we miss anything? Give us a tip in the comments. Also, several great Sundance films from past festivals show up online all the time. Check out our Sundance tag to browse through a feast of amazing work.