ONLY THE BEST SHORT FILMS
Film of the Week: Bear Story by Gabriel Osorio
Bear Story by Gabriel Osorio (2014) (Chile) (10m) *
Bear Story (Historia de un Oso) won the Oscar for Best Short Animation in 2015 and is a fine example: dialogue-free, beautiful and sentimental. It also has a strong message - that animals should not be stolen from their habitat and made to perform in circuses. The continued enslavement and murder of animals is indeed the greatest crime in human history. Bear Story follows a bear who has created a mechanical diorama telling the story of a circus bear who was torn away from his wife and child.
God of Love by Luke Matheny (2010) (USA) (18m)
God of Love won the Academy Award for Best Short Film in 2011. Matheny plays Ray, a hopeless romantic whose cabaret act consists of singing and playing darts at the same time. When he receives magical darts that act like Cupid's arrows, he decides to use them on Kelly, the woman he adores. However, they will only work for six hours, meaning he has to ensure her infatuation turns into something more permanent before the time runs out. Will he learn the meaning of true love?
Cindy's New Boyfriend by Robert Brinkmann (2015) (USA) (23m)
Written by Sean Sellars and directed by Robert Brinkmann, the comic Cindy's New Boyfriend was a finalist in in the 9th competition. Cindy is the ex-girlfriend of Spencer, who persuades his friend Nick that he should use his acting talent to scare off Cindy's new boyfriend. However, things go wrong when Cindy's new boyfriend turns out to be a man not easily scared. Brinkmann is better known as a cinematographer, shooting such films as The Cable Guy.
Cooped by Mike A Smith (2014) (USA) (9m) *
Cooped, a fantastic hand-drawn animation, was selected as the Best Short Animation in the competition. Written and directed by American Mike A Smith, Cooped is a comic short film that tells the story of a poor dog that is stuck inside all day while his master is at work. The hound can see the amazing world of squirrels and tennis balls that exists outisde his place of imprisonment, but is unable to open the door. With his master only ever coming back to sleep, it seems that our canine hero will never get out...
Autumn Leaves by Saman Hosseinpuor (2015) (Iran) (4m) *
Written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Saman Hosseinpuor, Autumn Leaves was voted Best Short Short in the 10th FILMSshort competition. It tells the story of a little girl who wants to stay at home and play with a fallen leaf but must go to school instead. We follow her as she makes her way through the streets until she arrives at school, where leaves are no longer a source of amusement. It is a subtle, dialogue-free film full of beautiful shots and showing a side of Iran not normally seen by Westerners.
Intersection by Brendan Beachman (2014) (USA) (20m)
Having played at many international film festivals, Intersection won the Best Cinematogrpahy Award in the 11th FILMSshort competition. It is a black comedy telling the story of two road construction workers who are dropped off in the middle of nowhere to police the non-existent traffic at a desert intersection (crossroads). The monotony of the dusty day is broken by the violent arrival of a meteorite and the belief that this astral object may be worth a lot of money.
Goodbye by Tyler Russo (2015) (USA) (7m)
Goodbye, a finalist in the 11th FILMSshort competition, could be classed as a horror, but is more disturbing than horrific. Having been killed in a road accident, a man finds himself bodiless and faced with a group of gatekeepers, who were once human but are now something else. It is the job of the gatekeepers to interview the man and decide upon an eternal vocation. The current competition is open for submissions.
Ink, Cocks & Rock 'n' Roll by Matt Harlock (2017) (UK) (14m)
Ink, Cocks & Rock 'n' Roll is a short comic documentary - with splashes of fiction - about Krent Able, one of the UK's most unsettling illustrators. Krent is the alter-ego of Steve Martin, the award-winning comic artist who is known for drawing a lot of penises and a lot of really messed up stuff. Really messed up. But where does Steve Martin end and Krent Able begin? Matt and Krent are now crowdfunding a supernatural horror project on KICKSTARTER.
The Pitch by John Hardwick (2015) (UK) (8m)
Written and directed by John Hardwick, now a judge in the FILMSshort competition, you sense that this comedy came from bitter experience. It tells the story of screenwriter, Alan (Richard Glover), who is meeting with a self-satisfied film producer - with a track record in B movies - to pitch him his new script. However, when he finally gets to pitch his idea, he reveals a concept that is something a little bit different - and the producer appears to be in mortal danger.
Monsters by Steve Desmond (2015) (USA) (14m)
Monsters was the co-winner of the Grand Prize in the 10th FILMSshort competition. Directed by Steve Desmond, who co-wrote it with Michael Sherman, it is a sci-fi thriller that tells the story of Jenn, who lives in a bunker with her family because the world outside is full of monsters. Her parents and elder brother do not allow her to venture out with them but she dreams of fighting the monsters herself. So she forms a plan and today is the day she goes out...
