TSPDT's Top 250 short films
2017 edition
A consensus list on the most acclaimed short films (comprised of countless critic ballots) from the They Shoot Pictures Don't They website.
The list can also be downloaded here: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/resources/Top%20250%20Short%20Films.xlsx
A consensus list on the most acclaimed short films (comprised of countless critic ballots) from the They Shoot Pictures Don't They website.
The list can also be downloaded here: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/resources/Top%20250%20Short%20Films.xlsx
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250 titles
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsÉtienne BeckerJean NégroniHélène ChatelainThe story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonKathryn McGuireJoe KeatonA film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsSylvia BatailleJane MarkenGeorges D'ArnouxThe family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love with a man at the inn, where they spend the day.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorMichael SnowStarsHollis FramptonLyne GrossmanNaoto NakazawaClaimed by some to be one of the most unconventional and experimental films ever made, Wavelength is a structural film of a 45-minute long zoom in on a window over a period of a week. Very unconventional and experimental, indeed.
- DirectorMaya DerenAlexander HammidStarsMaya DerenAlexander HammidA woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsJean DastéRobert le FlonLouis LefebvreIn a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStewart McAllisterStarsLeonard BrockingtonJoseph MacleodBud FlanaganA depiction of life in wartime England during the Second World War. Director Humphrey Jennings visits many aspects of civilian life and of the turmoil and privation caused by the war, all without narration.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorForugh FarrokhzadStarsForugh FarrokhzadEbrahim GolestanHossein MansouriSet in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAbel JacquinAlexandre O'NeillA surrealist film, a pseudo-documentary portrait of Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain where civilisation has barely developed, showing how the local peasants try to survive without even the most basic utilities and skills.
- DirectorYuri NorsteinStarsAleksandr KalyaginDistant, well-worn memories of childhood are inhabited by a little gray wolf. Through astonishing imagery, the memory of all of Russia is depicted.
- DirectorKenneth AngerStarsErnie AlloBruce ByronFrank CarifiA gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
- DirectorJean GenetStarsBravoJean GenetJavaTwo prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.
- DirectorJack SmithStarsFrancis FrancineSheila BickJoel MarkmanAn experimental film that features graphic sexual imagery, an earthquake, and a lipstick commercial.
- DirectorArtavazd PeleshianThe last collaboration of Artavazd Peleshian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov is a film-essay about Armenia's shepherds, about the contradiction and the harmony between man and nature, scored to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
- DirectorAlbert LamorisseStarsPascal LamorisseSabine LamorisseGeorges SellierA red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
- DirectorGeorges FranjuStarsGeorges HubertNicole LadmiralAlfred MacquartBucolic scenes from the outskirts of Paris are contrasted with stark footage from slaughterhouses.
- DirectorJean RouchStarsJean RouchA documentary short depicting a Hauka ceremony where young workers are possessed by British colonial officers.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsClaudio BrookSilvia PinalEnrique Álvarez FélixSimon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him to come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStarsMichael RedgraveMyra HessJohn GielgudThis brief documentary-style film presents the status of Great Britain near the end of the Second World War by means of a visual diary for a baby boy born in September, 1944. Narration explains to "Timothy" what his family, his neighbors, and his fellow citizens are going through as the war nears its end, and what problems may remain for new Englishmen like Timothy to solve.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsGary WalkerBill HamiltonMichael FoyleA depiction of a series of violent killings in Northern Ireland with no clue as to exactly who is responsible.
- DirectorPeter TscherkasskyStarsBarbara HersheyFootage from The Entity (1982) is edited into an abstract nightmare.
- DirectorStan BrakhageA "found foliage" film composed of insects, leaves, and other detritus sandwiched between two strips of perforated tape.