This week I have added a new page of the best short films from the UK to my short films website.
The first short film on the page is Sign Language by Stephen Fellows, which won the reed.co.uk short film competition and the Virgin Media Shorts competition in 2010. It is a subtle and very likeable romantic comedy narrated by a 'board guy' - those guys standing on London's Oxford Street holding up signs - who spends his life making announcements but is too shy to talk to the co-worker that he fancies.
The next film is This Way Up by Adam Foulkes & Alan Smith (co-written by Christopher O'Reilly). I assumed it was American the first time I watched This Way Up. It shows just how good a short animation film can be even if you're not Pixar. Nominated for an Oscar in 2009, This Way Up sees two undertakers encounter a series of comical obstacles as they try to get their client to the graveyard in time. Events take a supernatural turn near towards the end with moments reminiscent of Disney's Skeleton Dance (hidden here).
The third films is Soft by Simon Ellis, which won the International Short Filmmaking Award at Sundance and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2008 with his great short film. Soft is the gritty story of a son and father tormented by a gang of youths, but with neither apparently being brave enough to fight back. Simon Ellis went on to make the feature film, Dogging: A Love Story, in 2009 but scored less success with this film.
The final film is Creature Comforts by Nick Park... visit the website to find out more!
Showing posts with label European short films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European short films. Show all posts
Monday, 16 May 2011
Monday, 14 February 2011
Best European Short Films
This week I have added a second page of Best European Short Films to my short films website.
But I have rearranged the previous Best European Short Films page slightly to make way for it, adding the brilliant Gridlock by Dirk Belien to the first page - primarily to make sure people see it before anything else.
On the new second page, we start with The Last Gunfighter (L'ultimo Pistolero) by Alessandro Dominici, the one and only Italian film to make it on to the website. I have a theory that the cinematic culture of Italy - espoused by the likes of Fellini - simply does not translate well to short films.
In The Last Gunfighter, heavily indebted to the Spaghetti Western, a solitary gunslinger walks through a desolate industrial estate before firing his gun for the last time. It is dialogue free and much better for it.
The next film is Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer) by Pepe Danquart. This won an Oscar for Best Short Film in 1994 but, shot in black & white, it has a much older feel to it. It is a German film about a bigoted woman berating a black man who has sat next to her on the tram. The black rider sits passively as she throws insults out but then gets a comical revenge at the very end. You'll have to watch it to see what that is!
The third film is Sniffer by Norwegian filmmaker Billie Peers. Sniffer, which won the Palm d'Or for the best short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, is an unusual but beautifully shot tale, set in its own grey and apparently gravity-free world, about a man who works as a sniffer (watch it to find out!) and dreams off escaping the leaden boots that hold him down.
The last film is a Christmas film from Belgium, Tanghi Argentini (Argentine Tangos). It is utterly brilliant and was nominated for a Best Short Film Oscar in 2008 (losing out to this). A beautiful comedy drama full of Christmas spirit, it follows a middle-aged office-worker trying to fulfill his Christmas passion and conceal a snowy-white lie. I promise you will thank me for showing it to you. It is in Dutch with English subtitles.
Enjoy!
But I have rearranged the previous Best European Short Films page slightly to make way for it, adding the brilliant Gridlock by Dirk Belien to the first page - primarily to make sure people see it before anything else.
On the new second page, we start with The Last Gunfighter (L'ultimo Pistolero) by Alessandro Dominici, the one and only Italian film to make it on to the website. I have a theory that the cinematic culture of Italy - espoused by the likes of Fellini - simply does not translate well to short films.
In The Last Gunfighter, heavily indebted to the Spaghetti Western, a solitary gunslinger walks through a desolate industrial estate before firing his gun for the last time. It is dialogue free and much better for it.
The next film is Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer) by Pepe Danquart. This won an Oscar for Best Short Film in 1994 but, shot in black & white, it has a much older feel to it. It is a German film about a bigoted woman berating a black man who has sat next to her on the tram. The black rider sits passively as she throws insults out but then gets a comical revenge at the very end. You'll have to watch it to see what that is!
The third film is Sniffer by Norwegian filmmaker Billie Peers. Sniffer, which won the Palm d'Or for the best short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, is an unusual but beautifully shot tale, set in its own grey and apparently gravity-free world, about a man who works as a sniffer (watch it to find out!) and dreams off escaping the leaden boots that hold him down.
The last film is a Christmas film from Belgium, Tanghi Argentini (Argentine Tangos). It is utterly brilliant and was nominated for a Best Short Film Oscar in 2008 (losing out to this). A beautiful comedy drama full of Christmas spirit, it follows a middle-aged office-worker trying to fulfill his Christmas passion and conceal a snowy-white lie. I promise you will thank me for showing it to you. It is in Dutch with English subtitles.
Enjoy!
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