EXPLORE York, Experience Film is the mantra of the 2013 Aesthetica Short Film Festival, an event that has accrued an international profile in such a short time.

Set up by York’s glossy but heavyweight cultural magazine Aesthetica, this annual celebration of international short film returns on Thursday for its third and biggest instalment.

“There’s a lot more happening this year, and we’re taking the notion of pop-up cinema to its limits,” says Aesthetica editor and festival director Cherie Federico, right, a New Yorker who has made York her home.

As with all the best artistic minds, she has made us look at our city anew, or more precisely look at our remarkable stock of buildings, historic and contemporary alike.

Among the 15 locations within walking distance of each other will be the grand Mansion House, official residence of the Lord Mayor for nigh on 300 years; Micklegate Bar Museum, in the city walls, and the 1331 Bar’s boutique cinema in Back Swinegate.

New for this year are King’s Manor, New School House Gallery, Dean Court Hotel, Bedern Hall and the According To McGee gallery.

“It’s a fantastic time to be in York, as the city is transformed by the festival,” says Cherie. “Our screening venues cover all corners of the city, allowing festival-goers the opportunity to experience some of the best independent film while discovering the distinct and rich setting of York.”

New films, new ASFF website, new festival strands such as Screen Bandita’s reclaimed 16mm films, new BAFTA programme, new family screenings plus panel discussions, networking sessions and masterclasses, all come together at a festival that attracted just under 10,000 visitor admissions last year.

Selected by Cherie and assistant programmer Abbe Robinson from 1,500 submissions, no fewer than 300 short films from 36 different countries, including Britain, Brazil, Japan, Iran, Canada and Kenya, will be shown over the four days. “We have a strong commitment to expanding our audience choice, and one of the ways of developing this further is our new feature of special guest screenings of films from Kuwait, Mexico and India,” says Cherie. “This will give film-goers the chance to see films they would genuinely never see elsewhere.”

The programme will span drama, documentary, animation, comedy, thriller, music video, experimental and artist film, complemented by masterclasses by film industry speakers from Channel 4, Warp Films, Film London, Tandem, Chris Thomas from Raindance Film Festival in London and more besides. Already 500 people have booked for the Warp masterclass.

BAFTA, Channel 4 and Alice Lowe, screenwriter of Ben Wheatley’s cult hit Sightseers, will all be contributing to the insiders’ tips and talks, while Tom Leggett, development editor at Film 4, will lead a discussion focusing on what the channel looks for in its upcoming talent.

Nurturing and supporting the next generation of filmmakers, the selection of short films includes productions from the National Film and Television School, Royal College of Art, Rankin Film Productions and Channel 4.

Family-friendly screenings at Bedern Hall, St William’s College, Barley Hall and Mansion House promise to enrich this year’s festival with new ways to engage a young audience, while ASFF will celebrate Yorkshire heritage with screenings from the Yorkshire Film Archive, which will share the stories of Yorkshire people caught on film from the 1920s to the 1980s.

The festival’s access-all-areas ticketing system means that festival-goers can enter each location, all for the cost of a £30 weekend ticket, with other ticket packages available too.

“It’s thrilling to be able to put on an event like ASFF in this very special place,” says Cherie. “York is a wonderful city and to use these hidden locations in this way presents a new model for experiencing cinema. I look forward to welcoming visitors to our festival when once more we turn York itself into a cinema.”

Among this frenetic film fever, What’s On picks out one recommendation from Cherie: Screen Bandita, for which “found” 16mm films have been re-edited together to form an installation/performance piece with a live soundtrack that requires the winding of the gramophone as the film progresses.

Film in motion, indeed. How apt for such a short, sharp festival that will attract film enthusiasts from Britain, Brazil, the USA, Canada, France, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Poland, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan… and hopefully you too.

• Aesthetica Short Festival runs at 15 locations in York from November 7 to 10. Visit the festival website at asff.co.uk for more details.