Category Archives: Short Films

The Magnificent and Mysterious Animations of Myrrha Jamil

by Cimaxion

Jamil1

The beautiful animations of Myrrha Jamil evoke dreamscapes of ever-shifting fairytale realities in which people and animals come from the earth, briefly drift, and return to nature like wisps. The drawings are done with chalk, watercolor and oil paints. She sometimes photographs her films with a vertical frame, making her little magical world seem barely glimpsed through a keyhole. There’s a mystical quality to these films. They are like messages from the fairy world.

This is work in the creative realm of filmmakers like Yuri Norstein, where the vague impressions and delicate renderings of nature and the subconscious are paramount. Myrrha Jamil is a profoundly talented and obviously brilliant filmmaker.

The Little Ones Who Grow in the Rain from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

A Lullaby from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

Egretta from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

Chalk Boat from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

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Singer Not the Song: A Film by Joewi Verhoeven

by Cimaxion

SingerNotTheSong

Singer Not the Song is Joewi Verhoeven’s beautifully made graduation film from Beijing, China. It tells the story of a young songwriter who finds an unexpected connection to a famous dead pop star. Liang Ming plays the lead role with quiet, building emotion. I enjoy the way this filmmaker mixes everyday observations of life in Beijing with an outlandishly melodramatic storyline.

Please Beware the Deadly Hipsters

by Cimaxion

Hipsters

Take heed parents! Protect your children from the evil of hipsters! This film directed by Tim Goggin, edited by Tim Goggin, and written by Tim Goggin shows us the warning signs of a hipster invasion.

Camera Eye: 1967 Film on Vietnam by Jean Luc Godard

by Cimaxion

Godard was asked to make a short piece on Vietnam as part of an omnibus film called ‘Far From Vietnam’ that was being edited by the great experimental filmmaker Chris Marker. He was unable to actually go there so he used film clips and shot himself looking through a 35mm camera. His voiceover connects the war in Vietnam to his own life and to social struggles going on in Paris. He makes a fascinating attempt to express the futility of making a film about the war without any real understanding of it.