The Oscar Night is over. The lucky winners have been announced, all champagne glasses have been emptied and most robes have been taken to the cleaners. The most talked about films are the features, but those winners that really jumped with joy got awarded in the short film category – like William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg above (best animated short film).
Most of the times they are the starting point for a career in features, but there are also people dedicated to the short form. Because there is not really a market for short films, festivals are an extremely important platform for these smaller masterpieces.
The oldest short film festival in the world takes place in Oberhausen every spring. Today, the manifesto of Oberhausen celebrates it´s 50th anniversary. Back on February 28th 1962, 26 filmmakers declared: “†Daddy’s cinema is dead!”. The young filmmakers wanted to finally make their own films, present their own ideas, tell their own stories! 20 years later the Oberhausen Group received the German film prize, and until today some of the signatories are successful filmmakers in Germany.
So there are two good reasons to take a look at what the short film world has to offer…
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (D: William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg, USA 2011)
Let´s go back to two men on the picture above and see what the Academy announced as the Best Animated Short Film 2012.
How I met your father (D: Alex Montoya, 2009 ESP)
I found this film when I had just finished my thesis on the topic of sex scenes in films. To me, “How I met your father” is a really good example of how sex scenes can be integrated into a narrative plot instead of being just pornographic. Ready? It´s really just one long sex scene…
I ride to the edge of the atmosphere in a half hour on my bicycle (D: Michel Klöfkorn, 2011 D)
Michel Klöfkorn is a regular at the short film festival Oberhausen. His beautiful animations are certainly not easy to watch. They are deeply political and highlight current issues. But even if you don´t want to dig that deep, they are artistically animated and a true visual joy.
Unfortunately most great short films I wanted to show you weren´t available online, so instead of searching for replacements, I decided to suggest two links. You may hunt for your own personal favourites. And hopefully, you will be inspired to go to some short film programmes offered in festivals or cinemas around you!
So check out the video archive of the Short Film Festival Oberhausen.
And here is the channel of Future Short, a successful short film distributor from London, with mostly narrative shorts.
