Short of the Week
The lines of communication were top of our agenda in July, as we looked to revamp our weekly newsletter and start getting the community engaged on our Discord server. In the past, not a lot of love and thought went into the regular email we sent out at the end of week, with it taking the form of a simple RSS-type feed of the articles published on S/W. In our reimagined newsletter – Shorts Weekly – you can now get hand curated news from Short of the Week, Shortverse and the world of short film in one easy-to-read update. If you’re interested in subscribing to Shorts Weekly, you can do so here. While if you’re interested in joining our Discord chats, where you can discuss all things film/tv/technology with our team, jump in here.
Of course, when it comes to communication, nothing speaks to us louder than some killer storytelling and we had that in abundance on S/W over July. Obviously, I think all the films we feature on our platform are great, but the quality of shorts hitting our pages over the last month was exceptionally high. It’s a shame we didn’t feature more animation and documentaries, however, that’s just the way the curation and the scheduling falls sometimes – while it’s difficult to always get the balance right, we always try to ensure our consistency never falters. If it does, feel free to let us know – Rob Munday, Managing Editor.
Team Favorites
The 15 films we featured throughout the 31-days of July took us back in time, behind the scenes on a film set, into the world of video dating and put us in the company of an alien searching for meaning. For the trio of films selected as our Best of the Month picks for July 2023, the S/W team selected one our favorite films from SXSW 2022, the winner of BFI London 2022 and an exciting new film from an emerging talent.
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Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You by Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair
Grief stricken, and haunted by the memory of her deceased lover, composer Margaret desperately attempts to communicate with her through music. In Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You, writer/director Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair immerses us in her main character’s pain and chaos with a distinct and elegant visual flair and astounding sound design. There are films we like a lot, then there are films we love…this is one we fell in love with!
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Hangtime by Chester Vincent Toye
Chester Vincent Toye’s 11-minute short Hangtime is a film that is hard to define. An enigmatic tale of a pair of fine art handlers and their latest delivery, over its short duration the story walks a fine line between the surreal and the humorous, leaving viewers with plenty to digest.
I Have No Legs, and I Must Run by Yue Li
As a talented short-distance runner struggles with the fact that his body is failing him, he quickly has to come to terms with the possibility that his best days might already be behind him. In I Have No Legs, and I Must Run, writer/director Yue Li crafts a gripping psychological thriller that captures an intersection of universal themes with a remarkable attention to detail, making the film both utterly compelling and emotionally relatable.
Shortverse Best of the Month
Over on Shortverse, our team picked 10 shorts as our Best of the Month for July 2023, including a hypnotic animation, a follow-up to 2002 Brazilian feature City of God, a celebration of one of hip hop’s most influential MC’s and a film S/W co-founder Jason Sondhi labelled “the most visually interesting artist profile I’ve seen in ages”.
