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 sundance film festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sundance film festival. Show all posts
Monday, 16 May 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Sundance Film Festival Animations
This week I have added a page of Sundance Winning Animations to my short films website.
The first film, Doc Ellis and the LSD No-No, comes from last year's Sundance Film Festival. Doc Ellis, who died in 2008, was a major league baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and best known for throwing a 'no-hitter' or 'no-no' (like bowling a lot of maiden overs!) against San Diego in 1970 and then admitting that he had thrown this 'no-no' while under the influence of LSD. It is this infamous incident that he narrates himself to a drug-fuelled backdrop in this engrossing Sundance animation.
Ryan by Chris Landreth is on one of my oscar animation pages too so I won't got into too much detail here. It is, of course, brilliant.
The next film is Papillon d'Armour by Nicolas Provost. I will tell anyone who will listen to me that Kurosawa was the best director that ever lived. Most of Hollywood is indebted to him on some level. So imagine my delight that Belgian filmmaker Nicolas Provost created this mesmerizing, reflective montage of Kurosawa's work.
Papillon d'Armour (Butterfly of Love) won an honourable mention at the 2004 Sundance Flim Festival.
The last film on the page is More by Mark Osborne, which won at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Mark Osborne was a co-director on the Dreamworks film,Kung Fu Panda, so has now 'made it'. In this Sundance winning and Oscar nominated short, a factory worker is at odds with the dark world he inhabits as he plays his part in the mass production of devices that promise happiness. In his spare time he creates something he wants to share with the world. To embed More I have had to replace the original soundtrack with DJ Shadow's Building Steam with a Grain of Salt...
Enjoy!
The first film, Doc Ellis and the LSD No-No, comes from last year's Sundance Film Festival. Doc Ellis, who died in 2008, was a major league baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and best known for throwing a 'no-hitter' or 'no-no' (like bowling a lot of maiden overs!) against San Diego in 1970 and then admitting that he had thrown this 'no-no' while under the influence of LSD. It is this infamous incident that he narrates himself to a drug-fuelled backdrop in this engrossing Sundance animation.
Ryan by Chris Landreth is on one of my oscar animation pages too so I won't got into too much detail here. It is, of course, brilliant.
The next film is Papillon d'Armour by Nicolas Provost. I will tell anyone who will listen to me that Kurosawa was the best director that ever lived. Most of Hollywood is indebted to him on some level. So imagine my delight that Belgian filmmaker Nicolas Provost created this mesmerizing, reflective montage of Kurosawa's work.
Papillon d'Armour (Butterfly of Love) won an honourable mention at the 2004 Sundance Flim Festival.
The last film on the page is More by Mark Osborne, which won at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Mark Osborne was a co-director on the Dreamworks film,Kung Fu Panda, so has now 'made it'. In this Sundance winning and Oscar nominated short, a factory worker is at odds with the dark world he inhabits as he plays his part in the mass production of devices that promise happiness. In his spare time he creates something he wants to share with the world. To embed More I have had to replace the original soundtrack with DJ Shadow's Building Steam with a Grain of Salt...
Enjoy!
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Best Short Films From Germany
This week I have added a Best German Short Films page to www.filmsshort.com
It seems to me that German cinema is still struggling to get past the Holocaust and this is partly reflected in the most recent example of a short film from Germany - Toyland (Spielzeugland).
The idea of another Holocaust film, even an oscar winner from Germany, is not necessarily an enthralling idea. However, I challenge you to not have a lump in the back of your throat by the end of Toyland. Set in 1942, and co-written by the director Jochen Freydank and Johann A. Bunners, 'Toyland' is the euphemistic name a German mother invents when her son asks where his Jewish neighbours are going.
An ending reminiscent of Sophie's Choice makes it all worthwhile.
Then comes High Maintenance by Philip Van. A science-fiction short film and Sundance winner, High Maintenance was written by Scot Simon Biggs and directed by American Philip Van, but produced in Germany. Van says, 'I aimed to make a film about the future but emblematic of our era' and thus we find an attractive middle-class couple at dinner, but with the woman failing to get the romantic responses she wants from her 'man'... could I put this on my romance page?
Next comes Black Rider a drama/comedy from German director Pepe Danquart that proves some Germans do indeed have a sense of humor. Filmed in black & white, there is a sure European feel to it but this didn't stop it winning the Oscar in 1994. It is a simple story of bigotry and comical revenge.
I finish off with True by Tom Tykwer, most famous for Run Lola Run!.True stars Natalie Portman and was commissioned as one of the segments of Paris, Je T'aime - a collection of short films financed by the French capital. It is one of the few that stands on its own. Portman is an actress studying at the Conservatoire, who falls for a blind Frenchman. The film starts with what is apparently her break-up telephone call... but watch it!
Enjoy!
It seems to me that German cinema is still struggling to get past the Holocaust and this is partly reflected in the most recent example of a short film from Germany - Toyland (Spielzeugland).
The idea of another Holocaust film, even an oscar winner from Germany, is not necessarily an enthralling idea. However, I challenge you to not have a lump in the back of your throat by the end of Toyland. Set in 1942, and co-written by the director Jochen Freydank and Johann A. Bunners, 'Toyland' is the euphemistic name a German mother invents when her son asks where his Jewish neighbours are going.
An ending reminiscent of Sophie's Choice makes it all worthwhile.
Then comes High Maintenance by Philip Van. A science-fiction short film and Sundance winner, High Maintenance was written by Scot Simon Biggs and directed by American Philip Van, but produced in Germany. Van says, 'I aimed to make a film about the future but emblematic of our era' and thus we find an attractive middle-class couple at dinner, but with the woman failing to get the romantic responses she wants from her 'man'... could I put this on my romance page?
Next comes Black Rider a drama/comedy from German director Pepe Danquart that proves some Germans do indeed have a sense of humor. Filmed in black & white, there is a sure European feel to it but this didn't stop it winning the Oscar in 1994. It is a simple story of bigotry and comical revenge.
I finish off with True by Tom Tykwer, most famous for Run Lola Run!.True stars Natalie Portman and was commissioned as one of the segments of Paris, Je T'aime - a collection of short films financed by the French capital. It is one of the few that stands on its own. Portman is an actress studying at the Conservatoire, who falls for a blind Frenchman. The film starts with what is apparently her break-up telephone call... but watch it!
Enjoy!
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Sundance Film Festival
Having decided that Oscar and BAFTA winners weren't strictly festival winners (though to be nominated you have to have been shown in at least one several specified festivals) I felt it beholden upon me that I add another festival page, on top of the two Cannes Film Festival pages I already have.
So I have added a new page for the Sundance Film Festival at filmsshort.com This had an unexpected benefit of allowing me to upload High Maintenance to the website, as I had admired the subtlety of this science fiction film (when compared to other science fiction films) but had decided to add Alive In Joburg instead to the sci-fi page.
The Sundance Film Festival has a habit of rewarding unusual films, and historically far more documentaries than most short film festivals. Thus I have uploaded two of the best documentaries to have won at the festival in the last decade: Terminal Bar and Undressing My Mother. Documentaries are hard to pull off in a short time period, for it can be difficult to adequately address the subject (both literally and thematically). It's not up to me to decide how successful these two film are, but I feel that each attempts it in two very different but very effective ways. They are certainly worth watching for any aspiring documentary makers out there.
So I have added a new page for the Sundance Film Festival at filmsshort.com This had an unexpected benefit of allowing me to upload High Maintenance to the website, as I had admired the subtlety of this science fiction film (when compared to other science fiction films) but had decided to add Alive In Joburg instead to the sci-fi page.
The Sundance Film Festival has a habit of rewarding unusual films, and historically far more documentaries than most short film festivals. Thus I have uploaded two of the best documentaries to have won at the festival in the last decade: Terminal Bar and Undressing My Mother. Documentaries are hard to pull off in a short time period, for it can be difficult to adequately address the subject (both literally and thematically). It's not up to me to decide how successful these two film are, but I feel that each attempts it in two very different but very effective ways. They are certainly worth watching for any aspiring documentary makers out there.
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