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 March 19, 2008 SHORTS COLUMN | "C. Beck," "Bullet Proof," and "L.A. Noir" Take Top Prizes at Independent Lens Online Shorts Fest
Independent Lens has finished tabulating the viewer votes for its second annual "festival at your fingertips." While the curators of Independent Lens and the Online Shorts Festival jury both decided to honor short documentaries with their grand prizes, the audience award went to a narrative film, "L.A. Noir," Conrad Jackson's mystery starring Jennifer Lopez's ex-husband, Cris Judd. The shortsfest distributed a total of thirteen thousand dollars in cash prizes to an eclectic collection of eleven independent documentary, live action, and animated shorts, with a $2,500 grand prize going to Deb Wallwork & Mike Hazard's portrait of a Minnesota regional artist, "C. Beck," and a $1,500 grand jury prize going to May Lin Au Yong's look at a California neighborhood under siege, "Bullet Proof Vest." [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] February 20, 2008 SHORTS COLUMN | Oscar-Nominated Short Film Directors Bask in the Spotlight
On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Curtis Hanson hosted the Academy's pre-ceremony screening of the nominated live action and animated short films. With directors and producers of eight of the ten films in attendance, the sold-out event was a rare opportunity for the filmmakers to see each other's work and for the audience to hear what inspired these Oscar-caliber stories. The one-time-only gathering also drove home the point that none of this year's honorees are from the United States, and only one producer and one director have ever been nominated before. "We are seeing the future," announced Hanson in his opening remarks to the program, which lasted over four hours, including two panel discussions and an intermission. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] January 24, 2008 PARK CITY '08 SHORTS COLUMN | International Shorts and Five-Minute-or-Less Flicks Dominate Sundance
Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Park City ] January 17, 2008 PARK CITY '08 SHORTS COLUMN | A Preview of Sundance 2008's "10 Shorts 10 Days" Plus a Sneak Peek at 10 Must-See Sundance Shorts
Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Park City ] November 20, 2007 SHORTS COLUMN | Rare and Unseen Short Films Find a Home on the McSweeney's Wholphin DVD Label
Spike Jonze's portrait of 1999-era Al Gore, Alexander Payne's student film, and a four-minute piece directed by Steven Soderbergh simply titled "Building No. 7," these are just a few of the shorts to be found on Wholphin, a DVD series created by Brent Hoff and Dave Eggers of McSweeney's. With the fifth issue scheduled to be released in January 2008, Wholphin programmers are holding the first ever Los Angeles live screening on November 27, 2007. In addition to reviving Chris Waitt's "Heavy Metal Jr." from Issue No. 4 and previewing shorts off the upcoming Issue No. 5, the event promises to be a grand celebration of the McSweeney's imprint named after the offspring of a whale and a dolphin. [ read more in Movies ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] August 15, 2007 SHORTS COLUMN | Summer Shorts: Beat the Heat with Two Online Short Film Festivals
During these dog days of summer, air-conditioned movie theaters function as an oasis for those eager to escape the sweltering heat. Viewers of short films, however, aren't restricted to the multiplex when they want to enjoy a cool cinematic treat. They can chill out anywhere, thanks to SXSWclick and IFC.com/Rooftop Films. These two online summer shortfests offer up a combined total of 115 shorts accessible via cell phone or laptop. So if you're looking to avoid the summertime blues, skip the overcrowded cinema and watch shorts on your iPhone at the venue of your choosing. Pinkberry, anyone? [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] February 22, 2007 SHORTS | Everyone's a Winner at the Academy's Pre-Oscars Shorts Screening
Five nights before the February 25th award ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicked off Oscar Week by screening this year's nominated live action and animated short films in front of a sold-out crowd at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. All but two of the directors were on hand to join the post-screening discussion hosted by Taylor Hackford, who hyped the audience by claiming, "You'll never have a better time watching movies than you'll have tonight." [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column ] November 20, 2006 SHORTS COLUMN | Reasons to be Thankful: Ten Dazzling Short Film DVDs
As the holiday season fast approaches, short film aficionados should be saying grace and giving thanks for the bounty laid out for mass consumption. While everyone can enjoy the never-ending feast of mini-movies available online, true connoisseurs will want to devour the latest offerings on DVD. And what an amazing buffet there is: from timely holiday fare from photographer/filmmaker William Wegman to tasty treats from animator Don Hertzfeldt. If you're wondering what to put on your holiday wish list, look no further than these ten recent DVD releases. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] October 18, 2006 SHORTS MONTHLY: Graduating with Honors: 17 Shorts Go Primetime on "Fine Cut: KCET's Festival of Student Film"
Each year the many top notch films schools that populate the Los Angeles area book the Directors Guild of America Theatre on Sunset to showcase their students' thesis films to the industry at large. Now, thanks to "Fine Cut: KCET's Festival of Student Film," there's no need to drive to the DGA in order to check out the work of the latest diploma-clutching filmmakers. Every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. during the month of October, Southern California's esteemed PBS station is broadcasting an hour-long block of handpicked student films and then streaming them for the worldwide audience on its website. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] May 16, 2006 SHORTS MONTHLY: The Long Shadow of the Quay Brothers: The Maverick Animators and their Devotees
Everyone discovers the short films of the Brothers Quay in their own unique way. I was first clued in by Terry Gilliam back in 2000. "You must know the Brothers Quay," the ex-Python proselytized. "The Quay Brothers are identical twins from Philadelphia who have lived in England for something like 20 years. They do stop-motion animation, and it's like Polish filmmaking. It's wonderful, brilliant stuff." [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] April 18, 2006 SHORTS MONTHLY: Ten Hilarious New Shorts From the Fest Circuit
[EDITORS NOTE: Kim Adelman will be writing a monthly short film column for indieWIRE.] Every year Aspen, Colorado plays host to two stellar showcases of top-notch short films. At the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, held March 8th - 12th, 2006, funny flicks were to be expected. But it was the 15th annual Aspen Shortsfest, which took place April 5-9, that most recently had festival-goers rolling in the aisles. While the Aspen Shortsfest's jury lauded the laugh-out-loud funny "The Danish Poet," "Heavy Metal Drummer", "Eramos Pocos," and "Badgered," there were many other films that tickled the audience's funny bone. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] Older Entries from Monthly Short Film Column | |
