Rob Munday
With our dedicated Sundance channel nearing 200 titles, it can be hard to know where to start when exploring the ever-increasing catalogue of shorts from the festival available online. With the 2022 edition of the event set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Institute, this year sees the team arrange a special programme of 40 short films titled From the Collection, which Kim Yutani (Director of Programming) describes as “some of the most beloved shorts that have screened at the Festival during its history”.
Speaking about curating the films for the collection, Senior Short Film Programmer Mike Plante reveals that the team are “excited for audiences to rediscover them as part of their Sundance experience”. With that sentiment in mind, here at S/W we thought the time was right for us to provide our own retrospective, highlighting award-winners, career-starters and team favourites from our own Sundance collection.
Team Favourites
The team here at Short of the Week has a strong connection with Sundance and like many with a fondness of the annual event, we all have our favourite shorts from the festival archive. Originally asking the team to select their top picks from the films featured on S/W resulted in a list almost 50-titles long, but after a lengthy discussion, we’ve finally narrowed it down to ten eleven essentials:
Counterfeit Kunkoo
DIR. Reema Sengupta
Debuting at Sundance 2018, Reema Sengupta’s 15-minute tale of housing discrimination in Mumbai was the first narrative short from India to play the festival in 16 years. A claustrophobic journey through an unjust world, Sengupta immerses her audience in the frustration of her desperate protagonist, making for a truly unforgettable viewing experience.
***
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
DIR. Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling
The start of what would become an all-consuming obsession for the internet, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize when it screened at Sundance in 2012 and at just three-minutes long, is the shortest film in this list. With that original short now clocking up almost 70m views and introducing us to Red Guy, Yellow Guy and Duck, it was announced back in the summer of 2020 that the web series was finally set for a TV adaptation.
***
Emergency
DIR. Carey Williams
With the feature adaptation screening at Sundance 2022, Williams’ 12-minute short impressed audiences back at the festival in 2018 with its use of dark humour to subtly explore topical issues. It wasn’t just audiences that were impressed though, as the film scooped a Special Jury Prize at that year’s event.
***
Fauve
DIR. Jeremy Comte
Another Special Jury Prize winner from Sundance 2018, Comte’s uncompromising short leaves an indelible mark on all who encounter it. Set in a surface mine, Fauve follows two boys as they sink into a seemingly innocent power game, the film quickly transforming into a tense and devastating watch.
***
I Know You from Somewhere
DIR. Andrew Fitzgerald
Claiming our Short of the Year prize back in 2018, we described Fitzgerald’s satirical comedy as “a near-perfect short” when we wrote our statement on why it was our favourite from that year’s coverage. 15 minutes of pure entertainment that is snappy and funny, but also thought-provoking, I Know You from Somewhere’s take on contemporary internet culture still feel as fresh and exciting today, over four years since we first featured it.
***
Oh Willy…
DIR. Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels
More than just a Sundance favourite, Oh Willy… would have to be labelled as one of the most successful shorts we’ve ever featured on S/W. Alongside its nomination for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2013, this woolly 17-minute film won the acclaimed Cartoon d’Or award, alongside a host of other prizes at festivals worldwide. De Swaef and Roels’ follow-up to Oh Willy…, This Magnificent Cake!, also received a raft of critical acclaim and with their latest project, The House, now screening on Netflix the pair are surely one of the hottest names in independent animation.
***
My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes
DIR. Charlie Tyrell
2018 was obviously a classic year for short film at Sundance, as Charlie Tyrell’s emotive documentary My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes is the fourth title from that programme in this list so far. Nominated for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, Tyrell’s 14-minute film will live long in the memory of everyone at S/W HQ for the heartfelt article it prompted from writer Georg Csarmann.
***
Reneepoptosis
DIR. Renee Zhan
Renee Zhan has rapidly become one of our favourite animators at S/W, her distinct voice leaving an equally distinct mark with every film of hers we’ve featured (Reneepoptosis was the third – after Pidge and Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw)). The tale of three Renees who go on a quest to find God (who is also Renee), Reneepoptosis was the recipient of a Short Film Jury Award in Animation at Sundance 2019.
***
Sometimes, I Think About Dying
DIR. Stefanie Abel Horowitz
Another title from the 2019 Sundance, although Stefanie Abel Horowitz’s refreshingly honest examination of depression and social isolation didn’t scoop any awards at that year’s event, it impressed us enough to win one of our annual awards in 2020. With a feature adaptation now in the works (which Hororwitz is unfortunately not directing), we’re eager to see if this story can resonate as strongly over a longer runtime.
***
Suicide by Sunlight
DIR. Nikyatu Jusu
With a lack of genre films on the list, we turned to Nikyatu Jusu’s fresh and exciting take on the extremely well-trod vampire mythos to provide something a little different on this playlist. The story of a day-walking Black vampire, Jusu’s impressive short was an important step on the journey to her debut feature Nanny – which screens at Sundance 2022.
***
Thunder Road
DIR. Jim Cummings
Somewhat of a cult figure in the world of independent filmmaking, Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road is one of the standout success stories from recent editions of Sundance. With the one-shot short winning the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the festival in 2016, Cummings went on to premiere the feature version two years later (at SXSW) and has gone on to direct two other features The Wolf of Snow Hollow and The Beta Test.
If the ten films above aren’t enough to whet your appetite for all Sundance has to offer, below are some more short film highlights from the festival:
Famous Filmmakers
The Sundance short films that have helped further the careers of their creators.
- I Love Sarah Jane by Spencer Susser (Sundance 2008)
- Mary Last Seen by Sean Durkin (Sundance 2010)
- Pioneer by David Lowery (Sundance 2011)
- SMILF by Frankie Shaw (Sundance 2015)
- Stop by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Sundance 2015)
- Successful Alcoholics by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Sundance 2010)
- Two Cars, One Night by Taika Waititi (Sundance 2004)
***
Award Winners
The short films that have won awards at the Sundance film festival.
- Bacon & God’s Wrath by Sol Friedman
(Short Film Jury Prize: Non-Fiction | Sundance 2016) - Deeper Than Yesterday by Ariel Kleiman
(Short Filmmaking Award: International | Sundance 2011) - Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma by Topaz Jones & Rubberband
(Short Film Jury Award: Non-Fiction | Sundance 2021) - Edmond by Nina Gantz
(Short Film Jury Prize: Animation | Sundance 2016) - Everything Will Be OK by Don Hertzfeldt
(Short Filmmaking Award | Sundance 2007) - Five Feet High and Rising by Peter Sollett
(Short Filmmaking Award | Sundance 2010) - For Nonna Anna by Luis De Filippis
(Short Filmmaking Award: Special Jury Prize | Sundance 2018) - Green by Suzanne Andrews Correa
(Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction | Sundance 2019) - Lucia, Before and After by Anu Valia
(Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction | Sundance 2017) - 夜車 (Night Bus) by Joe Hsieh
(Short Film Jury Award: Animation | Sundance 2022) - Sikumi (On the Ice) by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
(Short Filmmaking Award | Sundance 2008) - Soft by Simon Ellis
(Short Filmmaking Award: International | Sundance 2008) - Souvenir Souvenir by Bastien Dubois
(Short Film Jury Award: Animation | Sundance 2021) - Terminal Bar by Stefan Nadelman
(Short Filmmaking Award | Sundance 2003) - Yearbook by Bernardo Britto
(Short Film Jury Prize: Animation | Sundance 2014)
***
