There were a bevy of short films in the year 2016; so many that the majority of them would have tied in various spots on my Top 50 Films of the Year, so I have assembled those shorts here, culled from a diverse selection of online offerings (Filmmaker Magazine, NoBudge, Booooooom, Kinet.Media, Vimeo, and Mubi). Plenty more to be found in my Top 50.
SPIDER VEINS directed by Frank Mosley
A continually shifting short featuring two strong performances from Danielle Pickard and Katey Parker, along with a well-executed 360° pan.
ALBATROSS directed by Theodore Collatos
Collatos continues to document the familial in Neorealist terms; a bittersweet mini-chronicle of a young girl being raised by her uncle interjected with the fleeting arrival of her biological father.
DAYS OF BEING MILD directed by Robert Hillyer Barnett
A thoroughly interesting endeavor, a virtual reality film about a woman searching for real world connections that allow the viewer to explore the spaces of each scene. NOTE: if viewing on phone use Facebook or YouTube app; on a computer: use Chrome.
G-AAAH directed by Lizzy Hobbs
A delightful piece of animation ingenuity as Hobbs uses text from a typewriter to animate a commemoration of Amy Johnson, the first female to fly solo from Britain to Australia.
INTRODUCING: BOBBY directed by Roger Hayn
An intriguing profile of an ex-con auditioning for a reality television show, exposing himself for the world to see.
SILK TATTERS,”NEC SPE NEC METU”: BRIGADOON directed by Gina Telaroli
Maybe not a 2016 release but, even so, it warrants a spotlight; as does the Kinet.Media website that enabled its viewing. Old movie magic reconfigured into experimental, modern movie magic.
THE TOURIST directed by Jake Remington
Joe Sonnenblick anchors this New Yorkian jaunt of resentment and disgust.
THE CLOCK IN MY ROOM STOPS directed by Caibei Cai
The biding of insomnia in animated interpretation, repetitious and poetic.
HEADLONG directed by Nadia Bedzhanova
A coming-of-age tale that circumvents much of the genre’s trappings, empathetic and enlightening.
CILAOS directed by Camilo Restrepo
A rhythmic excursion from the living to the dead, lulling the viewer into submission.
PSYCHOPOMP directed by Loni Paone and Cooper Vacheron
The frustrations and annoyances of shared living spaces coinciding with shared professional spaces collide in absurdity with psychopompitry.
THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE directed by Christopher Jason Bell
Arthouse Silly; Star Wars everywhere with slow pans unveiling parting fuck you’s and kitty cats losing their goddamned minds.
ARE YOU WITH ME? directed by Erica Genereux Smith
Too-good-to-be-true employment to assuage the stress of unrelenting debt-collecting phone calls.
REGAL directed by Karissa Hahn
A distorted rendition of Regal Cinema’s before-feature introduction that alludes to the deteriorating nature of piracy.
WORLD WIDE WOVEN BODIES directed by Truls Krane Meby
A young adolescent learns some harsh truths, mostly those of being thrown under the bus, but also the confusing consequences of ambling through puberty.
RODNEY and VAPE directed by Doron Max Hagay
Either one’s obsession with one’s dog or a newfound obsession with the act of vaping, both are mined for subtle comedy as only Doron Max Hagay can.
HAUNTED HOUSE MOVIE directed by Ahmed Khawaja
A testament to Ahmed Khawaja’s skill; the ability showcased in transforming the simplest of setups – a group of kids investigating an abandoned house – into a wholly transfixing event through his directorial and editorial choices.
