ONLY THE BEST SHORT FILMS
Film Of The Week: Simo
Simo by Aziz Zoromba (2022) (Canada) (24m)
Simo is the eponymous teenager of Egyptian heritage living in a wintry Canada with his elder brother and father. Struggling to prove himself to his more confident brother, who is embracing the West more fully, Simo takes over his brother's live gaming channel one evening. However, while achieving success within the game, an off-the-cuff jokes by leads to serious consequences. Simo is a very nicely made drama with superb acting and nice touches, like how the video game is mirrored in real life.
Last Call Lenny by Julien Lasseur (2016) (USA) (12m)
A look back at one of my favourite shorts and the Grand Prize winner in the 13th FILMSshort competition, Last Call Lenny. It tells the story of Gabe, who has decided to end his life, but needs a little help. Lenny offers his services for people in such a situation. However, the talkative Lenny does not like to make things too simple, and also has to avoid being the one to actually pull the trigger. It seems that Lenny is a disaster looking for somewhere to happen.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojsa Slijepcevic (2024) (Croatia) (14m)
Nominated for the Best Short Film Oscar in 2025 (losing out to I'm Not A Robot), the drama has a similar plot - though is more horrific - to the impressive Chinese film, Bus 44. However, instead of a bus being taken hostage by a couple of rapists, this drama sees a passenger train being taken over by paramilitaries. As they arrest innocent civilians based on ethnicity, only one man dares to stand up to them.
Instruments Of A Beating Heart by Ema Ryan Yamazaki (2024) (Japan) (23m)
Nominated for an Oscar, Instruments Of A Beating Heart presents a microcosm of Japanese society by taking an intimate look at a class of young children preparing to perform a musical welcome for new students. Ryan Yamazaki writes that she wanted to showcase the sense of community that is instilled, but I found it hard to watch a male music teacher berating a crying 6-year-old girl, and encouraging the rest of the class to denounce her...
I'm Not A Robot by Victoria Warmerdam (2023) (Holland) (23m)
The winner of the 2025 Best Short Film Oscar, this black comedy has a Black Mirror feel to it, and centres around Lara, a music creative who is unable to pass a Captcha to update her audio software, which suggests she could in fact a robot (she apparently lives in a Blade Runner-type world where robots are unaware they are robots). Surely her husband can reassure her?
Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen (2022) (Czech) (13m)
The exceptionally well-crafted animated documentary Love, Dad was a hit on the festival circuit. It explores the relationship between a daughter (Cam Van Nguyen) and her somewhat estranged father, who apparently left her mother because she failed to give him a son in an act of almost unimaginable selfishness. Mixing live-action imagery with a variety of animation techniques, there are some very impressive sequences that help propel the viewer through the story of a broken family.
7:35 In The Morning by Nacho Vigalondo (2003) (Spain) (8m)
Deliving into the archive because I'm struggling to find new films I don't find pretentious. Nominated for an Oscar in 2005, it's impossible not to like 7:35 In The Morning (7:35 De La Mañana), written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo. It starts off in a slightly eerie fashion, with a woman entering a cafe for her normal morning cup of coffee but with no-one speaking or, indeed, moving. It seems she has a secret admirer who has come up with an unusal way of approaching his intended...
A Lien by Sam & David Cutler-Kreutz (2023) (USA) (15m)
Now nominated for an Oscar, short drama/thriller A Lien is a stressful and brilliantly made film. Knowing nothing about it, I thought the "alien" was going to be literal but maybe I'm just an idiot and the word is used more in the States. It follows an immigrant going for his right-to-remain interview with his American wife and daughter. For some reason, they are running late for the most important interview of their lives...
The Duel At Blood Creek by Leo Burton (2010) (UK) (14m)
The fabulous comedy, The Duel At Blood Creek, was a winner in the 4th FILMSshort Competition. Blood Creek is the name of a popular site where men settle matters of honour with an old-fashioned duel. Unfortunately, it is proving rather too popular today as several would-be duellers arrive at the same time. The bickering and posturing builds up until the fighting begins. But who will survive in such a bloodthirsty age as this?
Positive Reinforcement by Gustavo Astudillo (2024) (USA) (16m)
This black comedy presents a world where negative thoughts - that nagging self-doubt that most of us suffer from - are manifest in the form of masked doppelgangers, whose sole purpose is to inflict physical injury on their original self. Ronald, a struggling musician, is in a bad place and particularly liable to negativity, which means he is getting repeatedly attacked by his doppelganger
