everything will be ok Tagged Articles at Cinematical

For an emerging filmmaker, the Sundance Film Festival provides a starting point for the life span of a feature-length work. There's a far greater sense of immediacy, however, for the filmmakers involved in the shorts program, where a wide variety of material tends to begin circulating the festival world before fading into complete obscurity. That's why the short films that screened yesterday as part of the third annual Sundance Institute at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) signified the most important aspect of the two-week event: With few exceptions, the films on display received the kind of exposure that helped validate this frequently neglected format. While some of the titles are available on iTunes, many that were shown to a packed house finally got the long-delayed reception they deserved.

Animated efforts almost always offer the best ingredients in any shorts program, since it's here that you'll find a combination of inspired side projects from gainfully employed studio animators and the works of struggling independent artists. The latest program couldn't beat the sheer brilliance of cult animator Don Hertzfeldt's short Everything Will Be Ok in last year's showcase, but two particularly memorable films left distinct impressions this time around.

I had the opportunity to watch a number of the shorts that will be screening at Fantastic Fest over the next week. Fantastic Fest doesn't hold shorts-only screenings; instead, short films are shown before most features. I tend to prefer it that way. Pairing shorts with features gives the impression of a bonus for your money, a little extra treat. Plus, I don't like watching too many shorts back-to-back -- I want to give individual short films the space and time they deserve.

I couldn't watch and review every single short (or feature, for that matter) playing at the festival this year -- there are too many and I haven't yet figured out how to clone myself for film festivals. For competition purposes, the short films at Fantastic Fest are grouped into three categories: animation, horror, and "fantastic shorts," which includes sf/fantasy/thrillers or anything else not covered in the other two categories. I tried to sample a few shorts from each category.