BEST AMERICAN SHORT FILMS 3
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.
Terry Tate: Office Linebacker by R M Thurber ('02) (US) (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.
Vincent by Tim Burton (1982) (US) (6m)
The king of the macabre revealed his hand in this stop-motion animation film - made when he was 23 - in which a young boy dreams of being horror legend Vincent Price. It was not his first short film but it introduced him to the wider film world as a darlky humorous director, which would lead on to his first successful feature film, Beetle Juice. Having Vincent Price narrate this short animation film was probably one of his most salient career moves.
Intersection by Brendan Beachman (2014) (USA) (20m)
Intersection showed at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. Inspired by his own summer jobs, Intersection 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.
