Short of the Week
Having featured both the Oscar-nominations and a rundown of the latest Sundance line-up in our coverage recently, it’s clear that 2023 is now officially underway. January has got off to a killer start here at S/W with a number of those Academy Award hopefuls featured on our site, along with a couple of world premieres and our first ever picks from Cameroon and Libya. With one eye already on February, we’ll be launching our annual Short Awards very soon, so keep an eye out for that. – Rob Munday, Managing Editor.
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With the nominations announced for all three short film Oscars in January, it comes as no surprise to see a few of the shortlisted titles appear online in early 2023 and a couple of those have made it on to the team’s Best of the Month picks. Along with these high-profile animations, the S/W programmers selected the two films that made their world premiere’s on our platform, as they’re both outstanding shorts from two exciting, emerging filmmakers.
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Click on the image to watch Crush on the Short of the Week YouTube channel
crush by Christian Matthew Schultz
A story of unhealthy obsession verging on self-destruction, this film about a lovelorn stalker explores how to wring maximum tension from minimal means, using a confined visual space to its advantage by relying on sound design to provide the cues that move the plot forward.
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Pussybaby by Derek Milton
It would be wrong though to imply that Pussybaby is motivated by any grand point to be made regarding manhood, the struggling creative class, or even culture at large. The script proceeds loosely, even playfully, like an exercise in where the premise will lead, and there is a lot of pleasure in following the twists and ramifications that Milton is able to spin out of Shaliek’s viral humiliation. This is paired with a masterful production, however, with great design, cinematography, and performances.
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Steakhouse by Spela Cadez
Returning to the site after her festival favourite short Nighthawk wowed audiences in 2017, Spela Cadez is back with her Annecy-winning, Oscar-shortlisted new film Steakhouse. Building on the impressive multiplane animation techniques displayed in her previous short, her latest film blends this distinct aesthetic with a simmering narrative focused on the often concealed abuse that is domestic violence.
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Most Viewed
My Year of Dicks by Sara Gunnarsdóttir & Pamela Ribon
Presented in five chapters, each under five minutes long and with names like ‘The Vampire’, ‘Un Gros Penis’ and ‘The Sex Talk’, My Year of Dicks takes its audience through a captivating year where its young protagonist was “determined” to lose her virginity. Like most stories based around this sexual milestone, for Pam things don’t exactly go to plan as she falls for a dagger-nailed wannabe blood sucker, a sleazy cinema employee and a host of other undesirables.