Every year I share as many great short films with my audience as I can, but every year, I miss some. This is good news, in a way: There’s too much bizarre, touching, and hilarious stuff out there, and not enough space to cover them. To make up, I’ve rounded up some great films that I didn’t get around to covering in I’m Short, Not Stupid in 2015. The resulting compilation is chock full of festival winners, Oscar-nominated shorts, and viral videos, the perfect way to spend the last couple days of the holidays.
‘A Reasonable Request,’ by Andrew Laurich
This near-perfect short made the badass decision to premiere online before making its premiere next month at the Sundance Film Festival. It will tickle you in all the right—or wrong?—places.
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‘Subconscious Password,’ by Chris Landreth
Writers are always told to write what they know, but when Canadian animator Chris Landreth set out to create his latest film he chose to write about what he forgets. The result was the Oscar-nominated Subconscious Password. The film takes you deep inside the mind through a warped game-show extravaganza. It utilizes a wide variety of animation styles, and the result is as vibrant and odd as the inside of a dream, but as realistic and reminiscent as everyday life. Landreth has made a number of short films, but is probably best known for his 2004 Oscar-winning Ryan.
‘Yearbook,’ by Bernardo Britto
If the world was coming to an end, what would you try and save? Brazilian filmmaker Bernardo Britto tries to answer that question with his five-minute animated Sundance award-winning short. He’s definitely a filmmaker to watch as he returns to Sundance in 2016 with his first feature, Jacqueline (Argentine), for which he’ll be ditching the sketchbook and going live-action with Wyatt Cenac, as well as premiering his latest animated short, Glove, which is described as “the true story of a glove that’s been floating in space since 1968.”
‘Coda,’ by Alan Holly
I know the world ending is a big deal, but what about your life? That’s a bigger deal for many people. Coda, the SXSW award-winning animated short, beautifully captures the confusion that I assume accompanies death. Despite being drawn, the film feels devastatingly real.
‘Weird Simpsons VHS’ by Yoann Hervo
Everything the title implies, but more, and better.
‘One-Year Lease,’ by Brian Bolster
There’s something thrilling about seeing how other people live, but something equally disconcerting about seeing them grow lonely. This Tribeca Film Festival winner combines both in a peculiar little slice-of-life documentary about a couple living one year in a NYC apartment slowly falling into disrepair at the hands of their overattentive landlady.
‘Stop,’ by Reinaldo Marcus Green
Probably one of the most important and timely shorts for America this year. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s film addresses the upsetting aspects of New York City’s stop-and-frisk policies with sensitivity and insight.
‘Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven,’ by Johan Palmgren and Åsa Blanck
A touching film for everyone out there with grandpas (which is everyone). This short perfectly encapsulates why family is so important and always interesting.
‘Funnel,’ by Andre Hyland
Andre Hyland’s short film about a guy finding a funnel and the ensuing walk back to his broken-down car is essentially a slacker’s version of Mission Impossible. I sure hope there are four sequels to it too, but until then Hyland’s debut feature film, The 4th, premiering at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, will have to suffice.
‘Pacer,’ by Guy Roland
An oldie, but a goodie. Released online for the first time this year, Guy Roland’s Pacer, made in 1995, lays claim to being the first hyperlapse film, or at the very least, a precursor to the technique’s development. Once you realize that each frame was shot individually and meticulously crafted in-camera, your mouth is going to drop to the floor. Pacer still blows minds 20 years later.
Jeffrey Bowers is a tall mustached guy from Ohio who’s seen too many weird movies. He currently lives in Brooklyn, working as a film curator. He’s the senior curator for Vimeo’s On Demand platform. He has also programmed at Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.
