With almost a quarter of 2021 already passed, the short film community finds itself submerged in awards season, with some of the worlds largest festivals done for the year. Sundance kicked things off in January and SXSW has just ended, in-between we’ve seen the Goya and César awards announced, alongside the Oscar nominations. In the three months since we last posted a filmmaker update, the S/W alums have been up to some exciting things, with features released, developments deals signed and awards won.

If you’re looking for films to add to your Watchlist, or need inspiration for your own filmmaking journey, check out the latest news from our previously featured filmmakers.

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Watch now

Since our last filmmaker update, a number of projects from previously featured filmmakers have been released on VoD and streaming platforms:

  • Some Kind of Heaven – by Lance Oppenheim – A multi-alum on our site, S/W’s Ivan Kander recently wrote about how we’ve been following Oppenheim’s filmmaking career since he was 17. Having observed his journey so closely, seeing his debut feature not only released, but critically acclaimed, has been a hugely rewarding experience for everyone at S/W HQ who loves his work so much. Set in America’s largest retirement community – The Villages, Florida – our US audience can watch Some Kind of Heaven on digital platforms now.
  • Shadow in the Cloud – by Roseanne Liang – It’s rare we see full-blown, kick-ass action movies in the short film arena, which is why Liang’s 2017 short Do No Harm is a project that stood out so much. It was evident from her 12-min tale of a surgeon under attack from violent gangsters that we’d be seeing more from the filmmaker and 2020 saw her debut feature Shadow in the Cloud hit the festival circuit. Fronted by Chloë Grace Moretz, the 83-min film blends War movie settings with Horror and Action tropes and is available for our US audience on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and other digital platforms now.
  • Cowboys – by Anna Kerrigan – A hit on the festival circuit (it was nominated for the ‘Short Film Grand Jury Prize’ at Sundance ’17) and on S/W (it was our ‘Audience Choice’ winner in our ’18 Short Awards) Kerrigan’s short Hot Seat caught our eye with its raunchy premise, but its lasting impact came from its skilful writing and surprising depth. Her debut feature – a modern-day Western starring Steve Zahn  – has already played Outfest, before its release over various digital platforms (US only) and is proving quite the hit with the critics.
  • I Blame Society – by Gillian Wallace Horvat – If you’ve seen either of Gillian Wallace Horvat’s shorts (Kiss Kiss Fingerbang, Whiskey Fist) on S/W, they’re bound to be films you won’t forget quickly and she’s carried over her attention-grabbing style to the world of features with her debut I Blame Society. A very mean-spirited and very funny tale where Horvat plays a filmmaker who decides to complete an abandoned project by commitng a real-life murder, the film is available on Amazon, YouTube and other digital platforms in the US.
  • Away – by Gints Zilbalodis – It was clear early in his career that Zilbalodis was taking a slightly different approach to his filmmaking and for anyone who saw his earlier short films (of which we featured Inaudible and Priorities) you wondered where they would lead him – the answer, I’m sure no-one was expecting, was a self-made feature. Funded as four short films, the 75-min feature transports its audience to a mysterious island, where we follow a young man on an epic journey, as he’s pursued by a huge dark spirit. Away is available worldwide, on most digital platforms including Amazon, AppleTV & YouTube
  • The Climb – by Michael Angelo Covino – A standout fan-favorite at Sundance ’18, this short-to-feature adaption has been getting rave reviews on the festival circuit, winning the ‘Un Certain Regard – Jury Coup de Coeur’ award at Cannes ’19. Much like the cyclists in the short, its release has been somewhat of an uphill battle with the original date postponed, but we’re excited to be able to finally announce the film is now available for all to enjoy on digital platforms worldwide on various digital platforms.
  • Beast Beast – by Danny Madden – Having been featured on our site three times – with (Notes on) Biology, Confusion through Sand and Frolic n’ Mae – we’re excited to see Madden make the leap to feature filmmaking with his debut Beast Beast. Currently available to watch on Tubi, the film features three interwoven stories of youths navigating identity, first love, petty crime, and gun violence in a southern American town.
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Trailers

Projects from previously featured filmmakers, which are not available to watch yet, but have trailers to whet the appetite.

  • Nobody – by Ilya Naishuller – Bursting onto the scene with his high-octane POV music video Biting Elbows: Bad Motherf*cker back in 2013, Naishuller soon took his signature style to the big screen with his debut feature Hardcore Henry two years later. Returning to the music video world for a couple of years, Naishuller is back with his latest feature – a slick-looking action movie fronted by Bob Odenkirk.
  • The Outside Story – by Casimir Nozkowski – Featured on our site back in 2008 with Checkmate, Casimir Nozkowski has gone on to direct a string of shorts since we first showcased his work and is now moving into the world of features, with his debut The Outside Story. Starring the brilliant Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), the film follows an introverted editor who’s forced to interact with his neighbours after becoming locked out of his appartment.
  • Violation – by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli – Not yet released at the time of publishing this article, Sims-Fewer and Mancinelli’s debut feature it set for release on Shudder on March 25. The tale of a troubled woman on a vicious crusade of revenge, the film proved a hit on the festival circuit playing TIFF, Sundance and SXSW, on its way to acquiring distribution.
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In Development

Our In Development section is all about upcoming projects, sharing the exciting news of what S/W filmmakers are working on next:

  • Joe Sill’s Autonomous set for series development – It was clear early in Sill’s career that we’d be seeing a lot more from the talented filmmaker. Impressing us with Dodge College film Expo back in 2013, Sill returned to the site with a Star Wars fan film in 2016 and then again in 2020 with animated cyberpunk thriller AUTONOMOUS. We asked in our coverage of the four-minute short whether you could picture it as a longer-form series and obviously, producers at Stampede Ventures saw the potential as they picked it up for development. Sill is also part of a five-director team working on Phobias – an anthology film focused on five dangerous patients at a government testing facility.
  • Minhal Baig signs deal with Amazon Studios – Having featured on this site multiple times, with shorts Hala, After Sophie & Pretext, Baig’s stock continues to rise after numerous writing jobs and her debut feature and it was recently announced the director has signed an ‘overall deal’ with Amazon Studios. The deal will see Baig ‘develop and produce content for the streamer’, with her first project, an adaptation of Samantha Schweblin’s short story collection Mouthful of Birds, already announced.
  • HBO Max set to develop animated short Fired on Mars – One of three new adult animated series in development at HBO Max, Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey will return to the world of their intergalactic graphic designer, as they translate that original short into an episodic narrative featuring Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson.
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Awards & Festivals

With ceremonies and festivals aplenty in the early months of 2021, we highlight some of our previously featured filmmakers that have scooped awards or were featured in festival line-ups.

  • 2020 British Independent Film Awards – S/W alums Eva Riley (Diagnosis), Aneil Karia (Beat, Work) and Riz Ahmed (Daytimer) all picked up awards at this annual celebration of independent filmmaking in Britain. With the awards held online in late Feb, Riley picked up the Raindance Discovery Award for her debut feature Perfect Ten, Riz Ahmed picked up the Debut Screenwriter and Best British Short awards – the latter of which he shared with director Karia for their film The Long Goodbye.

  • BAFTA Nominations – Although we had no alums in either of the short film categories (British Short Animation & British Short Film) this year, we were delighted to see S/W alum Nick Rowland nominated for the Outstanding British Film BAFTA. Twice featured on our site with SLAP and Group B, two outstanding shorts, it’s great to see the director getting deserved acclaim for his debut feature Calm with Horses.

  • Oscars Nominations – March saw the 10-film Oscar shortlists announced in all three (Animation, Documentary & Live Action) short film categories, before being whittled down to the five-film nomination lists. We were excited to see multi-alum Erick Oh (Heart, How to Eat Your Apple, Way Home) included in the cut for the Short Film (Animated) award with Opera and recent feature Ayn Levana (White Eye) from Tomer Shushan in with a chance of scooping the Short Film (Live Action) prize. Michael Matthews’ (Apocalypse Now Now) debut feature Love and Monsters is also up for an award, being shortlisted in the Achievement in Visual Effects category.

  • César Awards – Recent feature and already a real favourite of the S/W team, Agnes Patron’s haunting animated short L’Heure de L’Ours (And Then The Bear) picked up a César Award for Best Animated Short.

  • Goya Awards – Twice featured on S/W, with Classmate and Uno, Spanish director Javier Marco picked up a Best Live Action Short Film Goya award for his latest short A la cara.

  • Sundance 2021 – The 2021 festival season kicked-off, as it does every year, with the latest edition of Sundance. The line-up included a selection of names that will be familar to regular S/W visitors, with alums Parker Hill (Homing In), Dash Shaw (Seraph), and Bastien Dubois (Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage) picking up awards and Clint Bentley (9 Races) seeing his debut feature Jockey acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.

  • SXSW 2021 – This year’s SXSW saw a number of our alums present in the programme with a selection of short films and features. The line-up even saw two, already live on the site, selections in Flick and Squeegee included in the midnight program.

Best of the Month

Best of the Month: February 2023

Enjoy a trio of unsettling animated shorts in our Best of the Month picks for February 2023.