With October heralding Spooky Season for a lot of us around the world, it will come as no surprise that this month’s short film selections on S/W featured a raft of horror/midnight shorts. With one-third of our 18 picks falling into this category, plus a behind-the-scenes look at 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween and a playlist of scary shorts chosen by some of our favourite genre directors, hopefully, we fed that autumnal thirst for sinister viewing this month.

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TEAM FAVOURITES

Outside of those scary shorts, we also featured life-like miniatures of the Damascus cityscape, marionettes on marijuana and even had time to learn a new language. However, the trio of films our team picked as our favourites from October’s coverage include a spirited skate doc, a horrifying musical and a surreal exploration of modern dating.

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I Am in the World as Free and Slender as a Deer on a Plain by Sofia Banzhaf

We’ve seen a lot of shorts that seem to present a vision that modern dating “sucks”, but Banzhaf’s 12-minute film presents a slightly different perspective. As we witness its protagonsist stumble through a series of increasingly akwards encounters, her nonchalance towards the situations provides a humourous, surreal and thought-provoking reflection on contemporary romance. – Rob Munday

[READ THE FULL REVIEW]

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The Skatepark On Treasure Island by Jeremy McNamara

Skate films are always inherently fun to watch (who doesn’t like watching dudes land tricks), but this finds a compelling story to tell from within the “skate film” framework. Is it super deep or challenging? No. But, it’s effortless entertaining as we watch a band of merry misfits attempt to make San Francisco a more skate-friendly place. – Ivan Kander

[READ THE FULL REVIEW]

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Stuffed by Theo Rhys

A brilliantly composed and horrifying musical, Stuffed will have you singing about taxidermy in no time! – Chelsea Lupkin

[READ THE FULL REVIEW]

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MOST VIEWED

Joe Buffalo by Amar Chebib

As someone who spent a solid portion of his adolescence watching skateboarding films on worn-out VHS tapes, it warms my heart to see two skate docs on this list. It’s easy to see why Ivan picked The Skatepark On Treasure Island as his top pick from our October coverage, but it’s equally evident why so many of you watched Amar Chebib’s infectious portrait documentary Joe Buffalo. Our most-watched film of the month is an incredibly empowering story, which literally captures the spirit behind the importance of always getting up, whenever you fall.

[READ THE FULL REVIEW]

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