Films / Programs

Shorts-in-a-Feature-Length-World

What features elucidate, they encapsulate. What features spell out, they abbreviate. What features diffuse, they concentrate. Frame for frame, shorts present a whole new way of looking at the world—and at film itself. Catch them in any of our themed packages or before a feature.

0300 - 0430
USA , 2012 , 10 min. Filmed over the course of several nights, 0300 – 0430 explores what it means to be awake during the true heart of the night.... more
A Doll's Life
United Kingdom , 2012 , 6 min. Amanda and her mother are at terrible odds in this haunting portrayal of family secrets. ... more
A to A
Austria , 2011 , 5 min. The terror of the mundane, revealed via traffic islands. More than 100 rotunda islands in Lower Austria are shown in increasingly grotesque segments of only a few seconds.... more
Advantage: Weinberg
USA , 2012 , 16 min. Reminiscent of John Hughes at his best, this delightful 15-minute film tells the adventures of the very resourceful Philip Weinberg, an unlikely choreographer of the delicate dance of seduction.... more
After-School Special
USA , 2010 , 10 min. While watching children play at an indoor playground, an attractive man (Wes Bentley) spies an equally attractive woman (Sarah Paulson) and is eager to strike up a conversation despite her obvious disinterest.... more
Another Bullet Dodged
USA , 2011 , 13 min. Although their romantic relationship is over, there is some painful, intensely personal business that needs to be addressed on this final, profoundly troubling day together.... more
Anything Helps
USA , 2012 , 18 min. A story about forgiveness and being given a second chance while living on the streets of Denver.... more
The Art of Repair
United Kingdom , 2012 , 13 min. Comedian Stewart Lee narrates this insightful look at those working in London's East End, the rare craftsmen who take the time to repair, rather than discard, autos, electronics, furniture, and musical instruments.... more
ASAD
South Africa , 2011 , 18 min. A young Somali boy wrestles with the attraction of his village’s ocean-bound pirates against the needs of his family and war-torn community.... more
Audition
Netherlands , 2012 , 6 min. Conveyed with elegant simplicity, this is the story of a young Auschwitz prisoner auditioning for the camp’s orchestra.... more
BFF
USA , 2011 , 8 min. Jill suspects something is up with her boyfriend so of course she needs to confide in her BFF, Jack.... more
Birthday
Estonia , 2012 , 8 min. Vello turns 75 today and the only real question is who will celebrate with him in his secluded home in the woods.... more
Blik
Netherlands , 2012 , 8 min. The charming tale of a boy who moves to a new neighborhood and falls for the older “girl next door.”... more
The Break-Up Tour
USA , 2012 , 7 min. A couple of tourists find themselves on the most unusual tour of Greenwich Village.... more
A Brief History of John Baldessari
USA , 2012 , 5 min. Narrated by Tom Waits, this doc offers a candid look at the legendary artist and activist.... more
Bring with You a Heart
USA , 2012 , 7 min. Bring with You a Heart traces the director’s psychic journey through a desert wasteland of light, water, and consumption.... more
The Bronzer
USA , 2012 , 11 min. Stu Larkin is among the last of a dying breed: a traveling salesman who sells, get ready for this, bronzed baby shoes.... more
Cadaver
USA , 2011 , 8 min. Drawn entirely using Sharpie markers, this macabre tale uses the voices of Kathy Bates, Christopher Lloyd, and online wunderkind Tavi Gevinson to perfect effect in an account of a cadaver who wakes up to say a final farewell.... more
Cherry Waves
USA , 2011 , 15 min. Angie is a hardened street fighter who finally decides to risk everything in order to create the life she really wants.... more
The Children Next Door
USA , 2012 , 36 min. On October 13, 2006, in the hills of Tennessee, Brad Waldroup brutally attacked his wife Penny with a gun and machete and murdered her best friend, all in front of their four children.... more
Cornelius Kolig. Short Notes to Eternity or Don't Fuck with Paradise
Austria , 2011 , 15 min. A portrait of the artist Cornelius Kolig, his art, and his life, in poetic images, intoxicating sounds, and, parallel to the haunting visuals, the artist’s own voice.... more
Crush
USA , 2011 , 7 min. The imaginative telling of one woman’s quest to find the ideal chair. ... more
Delivery
USA , 2012 , 24 min. Ethan Suplee and Lukas Haas are brothers whose ill-fated trip is sidetracked by the same behavior and issues they’ve faced since childhood.... more
Double or Nothing
USA , 2011 , 11 min. Clark and Becca are a happy couple whose encounter one night with a homeless man leads to unexpected action and reaction by all.... more
Edmond Was a Donkey
Canada , 2012 , 15 min. Edmond has always been a bit of an outsider but it is still a surprise to see the unorthodox route he takes to learn how to be true to himself.... more
Eileen Pratt
Australia , 2011 , 15 min. A look at the life of the painfully awkward Eileen Pratt, whose job as a bus driver is her only brush with normalcy.... more
Eternal Return
USA , 2012 , 13 min. Late in life a man finds himself fixed in a static existence. Though stuck in the present, his memories of the past both haunt and elude him.... more
FORÊT D'Experimentation
Austria , 2012 , 22 min. The experimental forest: a place, a title, a statement of intent. Borders between nature and landscape, abstract and figurative, the processing of visual and tonal alphabets, produce a mesmerizing cinematic experience.... more
The Future
Australia , 2011 , 8 min. Beth and Simon are young, in love, and celebrating their engagement at a restaurant when they are unexpectedly faced with the reality of what their shared future will look like.... more
Ghosts of Yesterday
USA , 2012 , 5 min. Ghosts of Yesterday—a collage of rotoscoped home movies—is inspired by childhood memories of religion and altered consciousness.... more
Harry Grows Up
USA , 2012 , 12 min. The fact that Harry is just 18 months old does not limit his search for love and companionship on the streets of NYC.... more
Hatch
Austria , 2012 , 19 min. A fateful decision made reluctantly by one couple impacts that of another in this award-winning film shot in Austria.... more
Heavy Eyes
Austria , 2011 , 10 min. A kind of white noise and digital rain weighs heavy. Wild proliferations of images appear scribbled or scratched; spots spread across them. The old way of seeing no longer applies.... more
Hourglass
Norway , 2012 , 16 min. Adolescents Anna and Anton are devoted friends looking for ways to avoid the boredom of their small seaside village.... more
How much love you've got?
South Korea , 2011 , 17 min. After ten years of dating, a couple has very different reactions to revisiting the historic park where they first met.... more
I Am Going to Italy
Bulgaria , 2012 , 25 min. Due to bureaucratic obstacles, the two youngest members of the beleaguered town’s brass band are told they can’t go on the band’s bus tour to Italy. It turns out these boys are as determined and resourceful as they are talented.... more
I Am John Wayne
USA , 2012 , 18 min. A contemplative look at a critical day in the life of “Taco,” a young man struggling to come to terms with the death of his closest friend.... more
In Hanford
USA , 2012 , 5 min. Using animation, first-person accounts and news reports, artist Chris Mars investigates the nuclear catastrophe in Hanford, Washington.... more
Into Spring
Netherlands , 2012 , 4 min. The U.S. premiere of Prinsen’s latest short, which perfectly captures everyone’s favorite season with clever animation, plus music by the legendary jazz percussionist Han Bennink.... more
Irish Folk Furniture
Ireland , 2012 , 9 min. Using a combination of live action and animation techniques, and a commitment to a “green” film shoot, Tony Donoghue (SDFF 34) presents a contemplative study of how abandoned hand-built furniture is brought back to life in rural Ireland.... more
It Was My City
Iran , 2012 , 8 min. The film begins in extreme close-up and in one impressive single shot widens to see a wide array of ordinary people living their lives against the backdrop of war.... more
Jackson / Marker 4am
Austria , 2012 , 3 min. On a street, an African-American dances to rap music. We see a veranda where a party seems to be going on. We move through a landscape that constantly abstracts reality into fiction.... more
Katya
USA , 2011 , 23 min. Viktor, a Soviet-born NYC cabdriver, picks up a young Russian tourist. The passenger’s mysterious tattoos lead the two to discover they share an unlikely bond created by a doomed mission decades ago.... more
Lemonade Stand
Australia , 2012 , 7 min. Benny adores his unconventional grandfather, with whom he runs the town’s most successful beverage stand.... more
Lunchbox Express
USA , 2012 , 7 min. Told exclusively from the viewpoint of children who benefited from the Lunchbox Express, this short documentary brings the issue of childhood hunger to the forefront.... more
MacPherson
Canada , 2012 , 11 min. Inspired by a real-life friendship and featuring a first-rate musical soundtrack, MacPherson is the story of the relationship between Québec poet Felix Leclerc and Jamaican-born chemical engineer Frank Randolph MacPherson.... more
The Maker
USA , 2011 , 5 min. Featuring amazingly creative stop-action animation, The Maker has won international acclaim for its touching tale of “the maker,” obsessed with making the most beautiful creation ever. Told with no dialogue and set to the gorgeous music of Paul Halley.... more
Meta-Romantic
USA , 2012 , 11 min. A struggling writer (and struggling romantic) searches for that first line that will launch both his labors.... more
The Missing Looks
Argentina , 2012 , 11 min. Using a touch of fantasy, a woman attempts to shelter her daughter from the impending horror of the state militia invading their home in 1976 Argentina.... more
Mounted & Stuffed
USA , 2012 , 5 min. After a visit to a museum, a young man finds a purpose in life … and one for his housemates.... more
My Little Underground
Canada , 2012 , 7 min. Simard combines her own memories and narration, experimental photography, and evocative drawings to take the viewer on a cinematic journey.... more
Night Hunter
USA , 2011 , 16 min. In this handmade film composed of more than 4,000 collages, actress Lillian Gish is appropriated from silent-era cinema and plunged into a new, haunting role. Night Hunter evokes a disquieting dreamscape drawn from allegory, myth, and archetype.... more
Night, Peace
United Kingdom , 2012 , 11 min. Award-winning director Eva Weber (SDFF 33) demonstrates her unique style of cinematic storytelling by taking the viewer on a shadowy, nocturnal tour of London.... more
Old Man
USA , 2012 , 6 min. Seven minutes of compelling animated images set to the actual recordings of phone conversations between Canadian author Marlin Marynick and the notorious Charles Manson.... more
Open
USA , 2011 , 1 min. A brief meditation on time and space.... more
Paula
Canada , 2012 , 11 min. Inspired by a news report, Simard takes animation to new levels of social consciousness with the story of Paula, whose life as a streetwalker intersects with that of a young neighbor.... more
Periapsis
USA , 2012 , 2 min. A collaborative film, painting, and poetry project between Haley Larson and Timothy David Orme.... more
Peter at the End
USA , 2012 , 23 min. Peter (Jon Heder) returns home after an extended absence determined to tell the truth, but finds that the past is very much his family’s only frame of reference.... more
Phantom Canyon
USA , 2006 , 10 min. Phantom Canyon explores a woman’s fantastical journey through memories. Meticulous collages incorporate figures from Eadweard Muybridge’s Human and Animal Locomotion, first published in 1887. Music and sound by Bruce Odland.... more
The Pub
United Kingdom , 2011 , 8 min. The booze is flowing and the pub’s patrons grow scary in this prize-winning short featuring Joseph Pierce’s idiosyncratic black-and-white illustrations.... more
Return to the World of Dance
USA , 2011 , 7 min. An instructional guide for those perplexed by the postmodern condition.... more
The Rooster Must Die
United Kingdom , 2012 , 6 min. Obviously inspired by a pivotal scene in Jaws, villagers are forced to call on the one man who knows how to handle a rogue, and very noisy, rooster. ... more
Secrecy
Argentina , 2012 , 10 min. Amid the chaos of a busy extended family, 5-year-old girl can’t get an answer to her fundamental question of “what is the color of human insides?” ... more
Self Defense
USA , 2012 , 7 min. Distinct locations express a dancer’s interior landscapes, revealing the secrets he tries so hard to protect.... more
sexting
USA , 2010 , 8 min. Julia Stiles offers up a beautifully nuanced monologue, captured in a single take, addressing her boyfriend’s … wife.... more
Solitude
Iran , 2012 , 4 min. A simple illustration of how a photographer creates a solitary tree. ... more
Strange Date
USA , 2012 , 6 min. Jarod is excited about his second date with Scarlett tonight, but what does it mean when she sends a surrogate? ... more
Summer in Helsinki
Finland , 2011 , 8 min. A captivating portrait of the beaches, parks, and everyday life in one of the world’s finest cities.... more
Totem
USA , 1999 , 11 min. Unfolding like a dream, Totem explores our evolving relationship to the animal world. Music and sound by Bruce Odland.... more
Turning a Corner
USA , 2012 , 5 min. A chance encounter leads a poor kid from Brooklyn with college dreams to fight the fates for a chance to change his life.... more
Twombley
USA , 2012 , 15 min. A veteran radio star struggles with the transition from radio to television in the mid-1950s.... more
Vers.Augt
Austria , 2011 , 5 min. Blinks of an eye give birth to episodes involving life and love. A smiling Buddha; a couple making love; a galloping udder, equipped with a drag parachute, vanishing into nothingness.... more
Watunna
USA , 1990 , 24 min. The creation of myths of the Yekuanna Indians of the Orinoco region of Venezuela provide a transparent look at the poetic process by which human beings construct meaning from their experience. Narrated by Stan Brakhage. Music and sound by Bruce Odland.... more
Wolf Dog Tales
USA , 2012 , 7 min. A Native American fable is told using extraordinarily challenging animation techniques.... more
Workers Leaving the Factory (Again)
Austria , 2012 , 11 min. We see the backs of workers leaving a factory. We wonder: Is it nighttime? What work do they do? What do they earn? When will their jobs be moved overseas?... more
Written in Ink
Poland , 2011 , 12 min. Written in Ink is the poignant story of a man trying to regain contact with his sister after 14 years of silence. But can one change what has always been written in ink?... more
Zounk!
Austria , 2012 , 6 min. Colorful, flashing screen signals sink back into black; horizontal and vertical lines become a series of flickering grids. A mix of brutality and tenderness—a bonfire of image and sound.... more

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