The beauty of the short film as an artform is that it doesn’t have time to be ponderous. A short film can warm our hearts or kick us in the guts; there’s simply no time for beating around the bush. These five films carry real weight and deserve a good deal of consideration, but in no way are they ponderous. Why? Because each delivers at least one aspect of the art of short filmmaking.
Artful storytelling: Most (The Bridge) is an epic story centred around an ethical dilemma. Superbly crafted in three acts and bookended for added completeness, this tear-jerker is layered with meaning.
Artful punchline: Post Its demonstrates the power of the sting-in-the-tail. In this case the ‘sting’ flips the warmth and humour of the entire film around to a sad reminder of the perils of alcoholism.
Artful challenge: I am Still the Same speaks its challenging message softly. The challenge of “how do you see people with a disability” is a beautiful interweaving of the dream-like imagery and the song’s poetic lyrics.
Artful introspection: Nothing More Nothing Less explores themes well beyond the years of its young 13-year-old filmmaker Lucas. His introspective “what if I could get rid of my problem?” gets artfully turned outwards, to something that every viewer can learn from.
Artful bite: Dear God is enough to offend anyone with even a hint of faith. Wrapped up as a light-hearted animated chat-show, it gets the core arguments of an angry atheist under the skin. Humorous and visceral, it’s an artful bite at the God-fearing.
We live in an age with a common excuse: “I’m too busy to ponder the big questions of life”. Thank God for the art of the short film, which doesn’t let us off the hook so easily.
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