Jay and his ex are about to revisit the past… athletically. He seems pretty excited for the fun that this one-night stand promises, but is it really no strings attached for him? When he struggles to perform, a brutally honest conversation with Dick (his penis!) makes him realize that his head might not be in the game after all. With Talking Heads, writer/directors Dario Attanasio and Dominik Danielewicz (aka Dario & Dom) subvert the dick joke genre with a raw and original take, their unique approach delivers emotion, humor and a surprisingly compelling penis  ..read more

Climate change, war, greed – we live in an age where there are a myriad of threats to our planet, but what about disinformation? Can this be considered a genuine danger for humanity? With the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report listing misinformation and disinformation as the “biggest short-term risks”, it seems that fake news is a leading cause of social unrest in society. So how can we make the general masses more aware of the spread of false information? How about an eight-minute short film about a cute rabbit? “Any imagery can be coupled with any narrati ..read more

The standout short from the A Thousand Suns anthology, Bug delivers a chilling glimpse into a vision of the near future where a very believable threat could spell the end of humanity. Directed by S/W alums Tim Hyten and MacGregor, the four-minute film combines contemporary concerns with some impressive FX work to create a brief yet deeply resonant cinematic experience. Inspired by Korean cinema, the directorial duo set out to “shoot something small” with a “very specific tone”, a “simple set up” and a powerful payoff. Anchored in a single location,  ..read more

A period piece tackling modern themes, Timi Akindele-Ajani’s Guests transports it viewers to ‘70s London as we join a Nigerian couple welcoming an English colleague, and his partner, into their home for dinner. With its focus on dialogue and performance, Guests unfolds as a gripping domestic drama, confined to a single location yet echoing broader societal issues. “I wanted to make a film that challenged our contemporary way of telling stories about racism” Originally inspired by a drawing by Marie Harnett, titled Windows, Akindele-Ajani developed the narrative of Guests over several years ..read more

After a one night stand, Sonya wakes up hungover and in a desperate need of Plan B. Getting to the pharmacy will prove slightly more challenging than expected, even with Tom, her companion from the evening before, doing his best to help. In My Eyes Are Up Here, director Nathan Morris crafts a romcom with two characters that initially don’t expect a connection. The inclusion of a romantic lead with a disability is also really important in terms of representation, offering a fresh perspective beyond typical tropes, while still being effectively cute and making us root for them.  Written by ..read more

A format that allows emerging talent to showcase their work, the short film anthology has become a popular method for introducing exciting new worlds, and cutting-edge filmmaking techniques, to an eager audience. In the realm of science fiction, the likes of Love, Death & Robots and the Oats Studios series has proved popular programming for Netflix in recent years. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of both of these anthologies, A Thousand Suns is a collection of six short films (with more to come) serving up “visions of humanity’s future, shaped by the actions of our w ..read more

The reigning Best European Short, recently selected a Vimeo Staff Pick, and before that an online premiere in the New York Times. On the festival circuit, a winner of awards at Vienna and Locarno to name only a few. I have been fascinated by this piece for over a year, finding it provoking and captivating. Yet I still cannot fully answer why or, frankly, whether it is even that good at all. Before the psycho-drama of my critical compass being scrambled, some context—the film is Hardly Working by Total Refusal, an Austrian artist collective made up of media theorists, culture scholars, artists ..read more

The monoculture of the post-mass-media but pre-internet society feels positively alien sometimes when looking back. The instigating event of Sam Benenati’s new short film, a made-for-TV movie that dramatizes nuclear war, really did air on US television in 1983. And it really did cause hysteria—with counselors manning 1-800 hotlines throughout the program and 100M people tuning in live. Carl Sagan debated Henry Kissinger on TV afterward and President Reagan was quoted as saying the film “…left me greatly depressed.” While it has largely faded from cultural memory, its existence as a massive sh ..read more

If you’re one of the many people who has, or still is, falling victim to imposter syndrome, then today’s film pick – Invasive Species by Annie Ning – is one that is bound to resonate strongly. The story of a young artist (Maggie) attending her first residency, this immersive short employs the enclosed nature of its location and the specifics of its protagonist’s practice, as a sound artist, to trap us in her headspace. Introducing us to Maggie, and the space she finds herself in for her first ever residency, as she listens to a talk about “communal living values”, Ning’s short instantly provi ..read more

It’s already April, Spring is here and the Summer has never felt closer. To help with the two-month wait, let director Joanny Causse take you camping, immersing you in the hazy energy of a campground, with all its daily activities and families enjoying their vacation. Summertime camping is a staple of French culture, a ritual Causse grew up with and wanted to honor with his short documentary Cigales (Cicadas). Having spent his own family summers on the campsite, Causse is very familiar with that environment and was inspired by the way these “gated” sites create “temporary ..read more