Great Short Films
Some short films i consider great. It's hard to find a list of great short films, because for some reason, nobody cares about them. Why is that? Short stories have a solid place in literature, why not in film?
There are also some short films I found uninspired for reference. Slight bias towards anime (japanese animation) toward the end.
There are also some short films I found uninspired for reference. Slight bias towards anime (japanese animation) toward the end.
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- DirectorJoshua IzenbergStarsJohn KitchinDepressed and frustrated with his life, Dr. John Kitchin abandons his career as a neurologist and moves to Pacific Beach. There, he undergoes a radical transformation into SLOMO, trading his lab coat for a pair of rollerblades and his IRA for a taste of divinity.Brilliant, poetic short documentary about following your passion and going your own way. To me this has a poetic cinematic quality beyond the purely informational one of documentaries. The slow motion shots of rollerblading along the coast are beautiful.
- DirectorOded BinnunMihal BrezisStarsSarah AdlerUlrich ThomsenTwo strangers unexpectedly meet at an airport. He mistakenly assumes her to be his assigned driver. She, enchanted by the random encounter, does not hurry to prove him wrong.A spirited, realistic, non-cliché meeting of a piano music judge and a somewhat searching, wandering 20-something Israelic woman.
- DirectorPatrick CederbergWalter WoodmanStarsSam KantorCaitlin McConkey-PirieNina IordanovaNoah's relationship takes a rapid turn for the worse.An amazingly well-made stream-of-consciousness story about connectivity and relationships over internet, Skype and Facebook.
- DirectorJoost ReijmersStarsLeny BreederveldJoop WittermansYenthe BosGrandmother Koba has to take care of her grandchild Emma's digital horse farm.The most hilarious short film I've seen, about grandparents trying to take care of their grandkid's ridiculous pony farm tablet game.
- DirectorErica RotbergWorkplace social media distractions, and the media society
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsMiyu IrinoKana HanazawaFumi HiranoOn a rainy morning in Tokyo, 15-year-old Takao, an aspiring shoemaker, decides to skip class to sketch designs in a beautiful garden. This is where he meets Yukari, a beautiful yet mysterious woman. They strike an unlikely friendship.Visually stunning short anime (40 minutes), its emotional expression very japanese (i guess you have to be familiar with and like that).
- DirectorBen AstonStarsBec HillStewart LockwoodOli FentonLondon seems a little less lonely when Lucy meets a cosmonaut on chat roulette...A fitting, tongue-in-cheek, near the end somewhat fantastic depiction of the world of Chatroulette.
- DirectorMat KirkbyStarsSally HawkinsJim BroadbentEdward HoggHeather is a shy lady who works in a helpline call center. When she receives a phone call from a mystery man, she has no idea that the encounter will change her life forever.A realistic, touching, intense help line phone call
- DirectorTalkhon HamzaviStarsAlireza BayramBrigitte BeyelerCheryl GrafParvaneh is a young Afghan immigrant who recently arrived at a transit centre for asylum seekers in the Swiss Alps. The only things she has got to know yet are the rural area surrounding the centre and the centre itself.2/10. An example of meaningless short films that just go for a trendy topic like Immigration without any idea of what they want to express and a superficial, shallow feel-good story, focused on fancy camera shots and emotional manipulation.
Incomprehensibly Oscar-nominated in 2015 like the excellent Aya. - DirectorThomas HajnikStarsClaudia MartiniRosa SchmidlTheresa MartiniSuzanna is in her mid-fifties and single. To escape her daily grind, she records amateur pop songs and shares her longings on YouTube.a somewhat depressing, but useful negative example of (lacking) self-fulfillment of a late middle-aged single mother.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsMika ShinoharaMakoto ShinkaiSumi MutohThe love of Japanese high school students Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Tera is tested when Mikako is sent to fight aliens in a distant universe and voice mails to and from Earth become months to years in transmission.A Nostalgic, romantic, sweetly-naive manifestation of melancholy in anime (japanese animation).
- DirectorKunio KatoStarsMasami NagasawaTo save his house from rising flood waters, an old man uses bricks to build it higher, then he relives events from his past while searching for his dropped pipe.Artistic Anime, unusual painterly animation style, one of the recently more frequent deviations from the one adolescent exaggerated cliché standard anime style (think Studio 4C vs Gibli or Pokemon).
- DirectorYoshihiro AkaseMakoto ShinkaiStarsYuka TerasakiRei NakagawaTakeshi MaedaThe family cat (Chobi) has had his tail stepped on one too many times and dreams of revenge.Anime, 1 minute. Part of a collection of 15 1-minute animes called Ani-Kuri 15.
- DirectorDavid O'ReillyStarsJulian BarrattPearl BrilmyerAdam BuxtonIn a funny looking yet very bleak world, a boy learns to play piano while a cat and various other animal characters encounter all sorts of drugs, sex, violence and profanity, with numerous references to pop culture phenomena.Brutally direct and pessimistic uncovering of the ugly, universal face of desire and violence.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.4/10. Another short film whose fascination i cannot comprehend. Almost completely devoid of any meaningful content. Flash of images of a very simple, banal, unrealistic sci-fi scenario.
- DirectorYasuhiro YoshiuraStarsChihiro KusanoRina MatsufujiYuusuke SakaguchiIn a lively café numerous greatly varying conversations take place, including one between a man who appears depressed and the waitress.poetic anime about language
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsMakoto ShinkaiMika ShinoharaA lonely young woman adopts a cat on a rainy day.also named She and her Cat. Sweet characterization of a person from the point of view of her cat.
- DirectorWilliam JoyceBrandon OldenburgMorris Lessmore, a young writer, wanders into a mysterious library after a storm devastates his city. The library is home to magical flying books that literally come to life.4/10. Example of meaningless feel-good animations that just show funny situations or this Sorcerer's apprentice, Disney-like or Pixar-like making-alive of inanimate objects without story. In this short film, books become alive and fly around. That's pretty much it. There's no content to this. Disney's Sorcerer's apprentice had a story and expression, this doesn't.
I guess it might be fun for children, but letting them watch meaningless digital puppet-trickery without any language is not my idea of good entertainment for children. Someone once said to never give a child a book you wouldn't read yourself, and I agree. There is spirited magic, and there is stupid magic.