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!
Showing posts with label Tanghi Argentini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tanghi Argentini. Show all posts
Monday, 14 February 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Film London & More Drama
I have broken my word and added two new pages to my website filmsshort.com this week. As my collection of short films grew, and especially as I hunted down those that won major festivals and awards I realised that I had more drama short films than any other genre. This is because festivals tend to reward drama, just as the Oscars do. So I added another drama page. In all honesty I could add several more drama short film pages but that would rather defy the point of having a deliberately small collection of the very best of each genre.
If you haven't seen The Last 3 Minutes by Po Chan then I suggest you go there. Written and directed by American cinematographer Po Chan, The Last 3 Minutes is an unashamedly tear-jerking flashback through a dying man's life. Every shot is lovingly crafted and there are some beautiful American landscapes! I've tried to get in touch with Po to find an official version but have been unable to find a contact. There is high-definition version with lots of background videos on another YouTube page but am not sure if that's Po's upload or not!
Then I really treat you with three festival winning dramas:
Tanghi Argentini (Argentine Tangos) by Belgian filmmaker Gus Thys (2006), Before Dawn by Hungarian Bálint Kenyeres, and Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer) by German Pepe Danquart.
As if all that wasn't enough, I then went and added a Film London page. Film London is taking over responsibility for attracting investment and film productions to the whole of the UK in the government's shake up of the quangos (and subsequent disintegration of the somewhat nepotistic Film Council). Film London has backed many short films over the last decade through various schemes, most notably their Borough Film Fund and Pulse - the latter theoretically being a step up. However, there have been some very bad misses in amongst the hits (and perhaps more misses than hits), which is very worrying to a film-maker looking for backing. When I talk to new producers I often hear the same fears: bodies tend to invest in people they know rather than the strongest script - and let's be honest: at investment stage the script has to come first!
Having said that, Film London has invested in some talented film-makers over the years and I add what I believe are the best of the available short films out there. It's up to you to decide how worthy they are. Peter & Ben is a lovely documentary and Pop Art is a skilful piece of fiction filmmaking - though I'm still not totally sure what it's trying to say. Enjoy!
If you haven't seen The Last 3 Minutes by Po Chan then I suggest you go there. Written and directed by American cinematographer Po Chan, The Last 3 Minutes is an unashamedly tear-jerking flashback through a dying man's life. Every shot is lovingly crafted and there are some beautiful American landscapes! I've tried to get in touch with Po to find an official version but have been unable to find a contact. There is high-definition version with lots of background videos on another YouTube page but am not sure if that's Po's upload or not!
Then I really treat you with three festival winning dramas:
Tanghi Argentini (Argentine Tangos) by Belgian filmmaker Gus Thys (2006), Before Dawn by Hungarian Bálint Kenyeres, and Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer) by German Pepe Danquart.
As if all that wasn't enough, I then went and added a Film London page. Film London is taking over responsibility for attracting investment and film productions to the whole of the UK in the government's shake up of the quangos (and subsequent disintegration of the somewhat nepotistic Film Council). Film London has backed many short films over the last decade through various schemes, most notably their Borough Film Fund and Pulse - the latter theoretically being a step up. However, there have been some very bad misses in amongst the hits (and perhaps more misses than hits), which is very worrying to a film-maker looking for backing. When I talk to new producers I often hear the same fears: bodies tend to invest in people they know rather than the strongest script - and let's be honest: at investment stage the script has to come first!
Having said that, Film London has invested in some talented film-makers over the years and I add what I believe are the best of the available short films out there. It's up to you to decide how worthy they are. Peter & Ben is a lovely documentary and Pop Art is a skilful piece of fiction filmmaking - though I'm still not totally sure what it's trying to say. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)