Category Archives: Short Films

Wall – Ethos: A Film by Alessandro Cima

by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

Brazilian artist Claudio Ethos works on his first Los Angeles art piece. I happened upon him down on Main Street and thought he was a worker about to paint over a painting of a face. I started shooting and after several minutes realized that he was the artist.

The Discipline of DE: Short Film by Gus Van Sant

by Cimaxion

Here’s a 1982 16mm film by Gus Van Sant that’s based on a William S. Burroughs short story from his collection, ‘Exterminator!’ The film perfectly captures the dry Burroughs humor that’s actually dead serious. There’s no advice in this film that one shouldn’t take. Thanks to Marc Campbell at Dangerous Minds for posting this. You can read more about the film there.

Justus 2: A Film by Ryan Spring Dooley

by Cimaxion

Ryan Spring Dooley (aka MarvinTiberious on YouTube) and Juppy Nash made a catchy little tune and played it on an Italian rooftop where they could enjoy the place they were in and become infected with art. Dooley’s films are a constant stream of creativity and artistic perception unlike anything else. He combines old and new and creates works so easily expressive that you wonder why anyone needs anything more than paper, paint and a camera to do anything. Watch this film and wonder at just how good it really is. Masterful.

The filmmaker is also using Kickstarter to fund a bigscreen project:

Woodpecker: A Film by Rouzbeh Rashidi

by Cimaxion

Rouzbeh Rashidi is an Iranian filmmaker living in Dublin, Ireland. This film is a portrait of a day in the life of a man who works at a convenience store. Rashidi doesn’t want to show you the things you might want to see in a person’s normal day. He is interested in minute and detailed impressions. He focuses closely on things and lets them speak for themselves. The film conveys an unsettling mystery through its calm observation and beautiful black and white photography.  One of the most interesting things about this film for me is simply how happy the film’s subject looks while he is working.

The filmmaker has a website.

The Willow Pattern Story – An Animated Film by Kids

by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

Quirky Pictures conducts another animation workshop for school children. This time it was a nine day workshop at Great Missenden C of E Combined School. The students made four films based on tales from around the world. I love the freely drawn lines and cutout characters combined with the very matter of fact narration by the kids. They are good storytellers. What fun art classes like these must be. I never had so much fun when I was a kid. I’m a bit jealous.

Dreams Ripple ~ Here Now – Japanese Animation by Akinori Okada

by Cimaxion

What the heck is this? I have no idea. But I like it. It looks like nothing I’ve seen so far. Seems to have something to do with a magic box of dreams maybe. Dream characters dance about and frolic with strange projections and shadows.  There’s an element of old Japanese folktales with tiny toys or figures coming to life at night.  Very strange.

The film was made by Akinori Okada in 2009.

Snow – 1963 Short Film by Geoffrey Jones

by Cimaxion

This 1963 film was nominated for an Oscar. Director Geoffrey Jones captured the shovel work being done to keep British rail lines open during the winter. It’s an elegant and beautifully edited short film.  You can read more about its origin and rhythmic beat editing at the BFI site.

Made available by the British Film Institute.

28 Seconds Later – A Horror Film Shot On the Set of 28 Weeks Later During Downtime

by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

MATURE CONTENT AND VIOLENCE:

Ok, so get this! A filmmaker, Damien Joseph Wasylki, worked on 28 Weeks Later and during the downtime snuck around with a camera, borrowed all the great costumes, props and makeup and just made his own horror film! How about that? That’s some real guerrilla filmmaking if I ever saw it. It’s got that nice jittery hardcore infected look with lots of blood and twitchy bodies.

A.45 at 50th – A Film About Actor James Cromwell and the Black Panthers in 1968

by Cimaxion

MATURE CONTENT AND LANGUAGE:

I got a nice surprise submission to my Vimeo Candlelight Stories Short Film group this week.  It’s a fascinating documentary about one famous actor’s experiences during the turmoil of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

John Cromwell, the son of actor James Cromwell, directed this short film with Joshua Bell. It’s about his father’s experience with members of the Black Panther Party civil rights organization in 1968. It’s a fascinating short documentary look at someone who finds himself in an unfamiliar world just trying to lend a decent helping hand. James Cromwell has been involved with the defense of the Black Panthers and other human rights causes for decades.  I like the film’s professional quality and easy capturing of the sixties look.  It presents its important and dramatic subject matter with a good dose of rather charming humor.

Here’s an article and interview with the director and his father.