COMEDY SHORT FILMS - 7
Offside by Eraz Tadmor & Guy Nattiv (2006) (Israel) (7m) *
A great short film from Israeli filmmakers Eraz Tadmor and Guy Nattiv. Set on the border between Israel and the Palestinian territory, two Israeli soldiers are patrolling the fence while listening to the World Cup Final on a portable radio. They then come across two Palestians armed with machine guns and a tense stand-off is turned into black comedy as the both sides pause listen to the football...
Fred by Leftchannel (2016) (USA) (1m) *
The short comedy Fred, a fantastic computer animation, was a winner in the FILMSshort competition. Fred tells the story of two ingenious mice, a wedge of cheese and a feline called Fred. The highly-skilled mice come up with a cunning plan to get past the sleeping Fred but they unfortunately wake him. Fred mistakes their attempts to bypass him as an invitation to dance. And Fred has some moves!
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker by R M Thurber (2002) (USA) (4m)
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker is a mockumentary with a crazy edge. Written and directed by Californian filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber, it combines both visual and spoken comedy, a trick Thurber would repeat with his debut feature film, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. High production values and the combination of slapstick and modern humour make this a great comedy short film.
If The Cuckoo Don't Crow by Steve Kirby (2015) (UK) (2m)
Created by Steve Kirby, If The Cuckoo Don't Crow uses the audio from a real radio phone-in. Great Britain is not known for its hurricanes, but one of the worst struck overnight in 1987. What made it especially memorable is that the BBC's weatherman took the unusual step of assuring the nation that there would be no hurricane just hours beforehand. Michael Fish did this because a woman had apparently called in. The identity of the unknown woman remained a mystery until a man phoned his local radio station...
