Although we got our Short Awards out in January, February is traditionally awards month – with both the BAFTA and Oscar ceremonies taking place. We covered the short film awards from both events in news posts on S/W and you can still watch both the Best Animated Short Film (Hair Love) and Best Live Action Short Film (The Neighbors’ Window) from the Oscars online.

With the awards season raising a lot of discussion surrounding diversity in film, February seemed like the perfect month to explore Stephen Follows’ latest article How Well Are Women Represented Among Short Filmmakers. With his study revealing that 21.3%.of short film directors are women, with a clearer picture in mind, the question for us filmmakers, managers, and producers in the industry is where we push it from here.

Outside of all the awards buzz, S/W also journeyed to the Sundance Film Festival, where we delved deep into the experimental storytelling program and sat down for a chat with friend of the site Lance Oppenheim.

As always though, alongside the features, interviews and news posts we put out on S/W, the bread and butter of what we do, and hopefully the reason you keep coming back, is our short film coverage. 16 films were featured on our platform throughout February and as usual the team here at S/W HQ has picked their three favourites from the month.

Featuring a fast-paced tonal hybrid, a colourful fashion documentary and a fresh & exciting take on the extremely well-trod vampire mythos, sink your teeth into our Best of the Month picks below:

Play
Dark Comedy Kieran Wheeler

Bloom

Andrew comes home from a trip, finds a rose petal in his bed and becomes immediately convinced that his girlfriend is cheating on him.

Play
Documentary Sarah Blok & Lisa Konno

NOBU

In 1976, Nobu called his mum from an airport in Japan, and told her he was flying to the Netherlands to enter the karate world championship. 40 years later, his daughter and fashion designer quizzes him about life and integration, whilst he models a collection he inspired.

Play
Horror Nikyatu Jusu
ma

Suicide by Sunlight

Valentina, a day-walking Black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, is forced to suppress her bloodlust to regain custody of her estranged daughters.

Watch past Best of the Month Selections

Article

Is a Short the Stepping Stone to a Feature?

As short film curators, we often get asked the broad question: why make a short film? After all, they tend to be money losers, and even if you do capture lightning in a bottle and manage to go viral, that doesn’t necessarily translate to fame and fortune. So, why do it? Well, there is a popular assertion that a short film can be a pivotal stepping stone to a feature.