The central conceit for this well crafted sci-fi short film is that the human mind is the sum total of our memories. The film follows the murder of Karl Brant, who is working on a way to preserve the human mind after the death of the body. It is up to the police to workout who the identity of the murderer but they need the help of Karl Brant himself, whose mind has been preserved in his own device.
Delivery, made by Till Nowak when he was still a student, is a short animation that did very well on the international festival circuit, gaining a dozen awards along the way. An old man is living alone close to a metropolis around which all life is dying - including the last flower the old man has. But today he receives a mysterious package which gives him the ability to change his world... Nowak is now working as a VFX supervisor in the German television industry.
Room 8 by James W Griffiths won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Short Film. It's central idea seems to have been inspired by the Oscar-nominated animation Delivery by Till Nowak. However, it is still a beautifully made and mind-bending short film in its own right. Room 8 is the Russian prison cell into which an Englishman is dragged. His cellmate warns him not to open the box on the bed. However, curiosity gets the better of him and he must face the consequences.
Neill Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but emigrated to Canada when he was 18 and ended up working as a 3D animator in America. His life changed after making Alive In Joburg, which so impressed Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings, King Kong) that Blomkamp was invited to turn his short film into a feature film: District 9.