We are excited to announce the official Short of the Week Awards 2013 nominees! We’ve nominated the top 10 films in each of our three categoriesAnimation, Live-Action, and New Mediaas the most innovative stories from the past year. These are filmmakers who are breaking new ground in the stories they tell, the techniques they use, and the way they reach an audience. Winners will announced during SOTW Awards Week beginning February 11, 2013.
Oscar is coming of age, against his better judgment. In doing so he must experience the necessary evil of leaving something behind, but he can still feel it in the pit of his stomach.
Open-source synthetic biology allows a young man to grow his very own action hero. From award winning animator, Tom Judd.
Peter has discovered that the longer we live, the faster time passes. Before it's too late, he finds hope for a cure in a curious little beetle.
Symbolic remix of the world's modern travesties rendered with an incredible level of polish by a new Canadian animation studio.
The indignities of life add up, sometimes more than you can take. But our protagonist is fine thanks.
One student's daydream comes vividly to life during Biology class, in this Best Animation Winner from SXSW 2012
A strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life.
A young pyromaniac bear misses his mother in this Sundance and Ottawa favorite.
In the vein of Sci-Fi VFX shorts like “The Raven” and “Rosa”, Wes Ball creates a thrilling and gorgeous CG chase sequence, sure to draw the attention of Hollywood.
A graduation animation from CalArts, a spare, powerful 9/11 story that is heartbreakingly perfect.
A towering figure in the art world, standing at 6'7", John Baldessari's epic career is crammed into 5 and a half frenzied minutes. Narrated by Tom Waits.
Chris Dean’s heart stopped when he was two. When Chris was five, his father was murdered, riddled by more than 20 bullets in a gang shootout. Chris is a poetic observer with much to say about life in South Memphis.
Gorillas, Zebras, Lions, and Unicorns party and clash in the jungle that is teenage drama from British short veteran, Jonathan Entwistle.
As a 10-year-old growing up in the small African village of Mandima, Robert-Jan Lacombe, the son of European parents, never thought he would have to say goodbye.
On a cold winter's night, Lynn's quest for a one night stand is complicated when the guy she goes home with lives two hours away via public transit.
An ambitious mover is blindsided when he discovers that one of the pieces of furniture left behind for him is a suicidal daughter with 20 minutes left to live.
An air-traffic controller receives a transatlantic emergency signal from a lost plane.
Set in a dystopian future where the lower classes are left on Earth with only a space elevator that connects them with the possibilities of a better life.
Two naive lovebirds share a redemptive night in this quiet short from Iceland.
An American advertising producer in Shanghai tries to sell fast food to the Chinese. An endearing portrait of a modern day "Mad Man."
A contemporary re-imagining of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The film explores the idea of history as a contested narrative. Also, it is a comedy.
The life of a grizzly in a Canadian national park from the perspective of data points and surveillance cameras presents a fascinating look at what it means to be wild in this interactive film from the NFB.
Tragic tale of human ambition told through an interactive diorama. *Requires a browser with WebGL*
The story of a boy born on the day Pentagram opened and how his life has been tracked (and kerned) by forty years of Pentagram design.
In the near future, instant DNA identification has created an information grid that makes crime extremely difficult, and anonymity impossible. But, suddenly, the same ID's start to appear in different locations. A pro-level and intelligent Sci- Fi piece about the genesis of a Big Brother State.
Robbie, NASA's sentient robot astronaut, relates his life and times in the space program. A powerful narrative constructed entirely of archival footage.
We've seen futuristic sci-fi before, but remove spaceships from the equation, how will technology affect our daily lives?
An experimental film dealing with themes of separation and connection, Andrew Huang's latest is a jaw droppingly gorgeous visual symphony in 3 movements.
In a futuristic Bangkok where human cyber modification is the norm, Kaye finds himself on the run for stealing a particular augmentation in this visually stunning science fiction thriller.
From acclaimed indie short filmmakers, the Varava Brothers, comes the whimsical and historically accurate tale of one tumbleweed that did not tumble.
Short of the Week