Films/Programs
Short Films
Some of the most extraordinary work in cinema today is produced in increments of less than 30 minutes. Working outside the constraints (or the rewards) of the commercial film industry, short-film makers have the freedom to flout the conventional and create works that vibrate with originality. The best shorts are fueled by artistic expression—the filmmaker has something to say and the craft and talent to carry it off—the results can be dazzling. Shorts can reinvigorate our love of movies and remind us of the transcendent possibilities of the medium. There is another reward—the thrill of discovery. Many brilliant filmmakers, including Jane Campion, Michel Gondry, Todd Haynes, Jason Reitman, and Martin Scorsese, to name a few, started as short-film makers. We’ve scoured the world to select this remarkable collection of films, and we’re thrilled to present the first SIFF ShortsFest Weekend—a festival within the festival—at our lovely new, state-of-the-art SIFF Cinema. Now it’s up to you, the audience, to predict tomorrow’s rising stars.
Every short film at the Seattle International Film Festival is eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and the Jury Award. The Golden Space Needle prize will be determined by audience balloting. The winner will receive the latest Apple Intel 15-inch laptop computer, completely loaded with the Final Cut Pro Suite of products from IrisInk and The Mac Store, as well as a $1,000 certificate for Color Negative Motion Picture Film from the Eastman Kodak Company’s Entertainment Imaging Division. Our Shorts Competition jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each first-prize winner will receive $2,500. and an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.
Watch SIFF Short film selections online!
Short Film of the Day at film.com
SIFF channel on Babelgum
Sponsored By:
Babelgum, IrisInk, MarQueen Hotel & Inn at Queen Anne, The Mac Store, Uptown Espresso
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United Kingdom, 2007, 8 min.
A lovely, fluidly animated story of one girl’s search for identity.
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USA, 2008, 3 min.
A delivery man is given chase by three ninjas.
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USA, 2007, 6 min.
An elevator trip proves to be the wrong decision.
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Russia, 1996, 8 min.
Surrealistic animated fantasy based on Dave Brubeck’s Take Five.
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Mexico, 2007, 9 min.
When his muse and model Ana disappears one morning, Alex, a young photographer, follows the clues to her whereabouts in a frenetic race across Europe.
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Netherlands, 2007, 10 min.
12-year-old adopted Hanneke has a big, beautiful afro, but lives in a world where straight blonde hair rules.
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Australia, 2007, 11 min.
A young drunken couple getting frisky on the tennis courts discover that they are not alone...
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USA, 2007, 25 min.
When her father comes to repair her bicycle, Alexandra learns the bike is not the only thing in her life that is in disrepair.
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France, 2007, 17 min.
Lonely Susan enrolls in a pharmaceutical test program to super-charge her pheromones, only to find her new allure works on all the wrong men.
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Canada, 2007, 18 min.
A pen pal letter from a girl in Uganda becomes a visual postcard of her daily life.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 10 min.
What happens when the desire for redemption meets an answering machine?
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Japan, 2007, 3 min.
A chain of dizzying images illustrate a day in an imaginary town as seen through the eyes of a boy.
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USA, 2008, 32 min.
A compelling look at the first 24-hour AIDS nursing home and hospice in the U.S. Bailey-Boushay House broke ground during the height of fear and discrimination around the AIDS epidemic in the late 80's. The film follows the story of a grassroots effort to build the first facility of it's kind in th
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Russia, 2001, 3 min.
A ball under the influence of Mozart. Tumelya is a Belorussian animator and collaborator with Pilot studio who worked with Alexandr Petrov, Oscar winner and four-time nominee for Academy Awards.
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USA, 2008, 23 min.
Director Rosenblatt chronicles a year of trying to teach his precocious preschooler the fundamentals of filmmaking, during which he learns a great deal.
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USA, 2007, 2 min.
A music video shout out to drinking water, exercise, and eating healthy.
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USA, 2007, 8 min.
Film found in the cellars of a long-since closed classic cinema in Beirut become a true time machine with an eloquent montage of old Lebanese dramas and western action films.
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USA, 2006, 7 min.
Singular tension emerges between the familiar Vertigo images shot in 1957 and images from the cemetery of Mission Dolores in San Francisco that remains almost unchanged today.
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Singapore, 2006, 7 min.
With a script based entirely on Freddie Mercury’s lyrics, this production is a deliriously faithful rendering of Queen’s rock opera.
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USA, 2007, 19 min.
A bookie makes a risky wager in order to help a down-trodden waitress break her professional and private ties to her employer.
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USA, 2007, 7 min.
Impressions of Saskatchewan after hearing that one a documentary film’s subjects barely managed to survive a devastating skidoo accident. Her friend who was driving was not as lucky.
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Scotland, 2007, 10 min.
As struggling artist named Jill fights her way home through a city in electronic meltdown, her sculpture takes on a life of its own.
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Belgium, 2007, 6 min.
An exquisite black and white pencil-drawn animation that portrays historical events in a powerfully expressionistic way.
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Ecuador, 2007, 14 min.
Thirteen-year-old Anita and her younger brother Pablo join a band of revolutionary guerillas but when their loyalties become divided, which bonds will survive?
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USA, 2007, 19 min.
An exquisite urban fable about a young man living on the margins—until one day he encounters a lovely woman in red...
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United Kingdom, 2007, 15 min.
A classroom of high school lads are about to have a lesson about the New World that they will never forget.
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USA, 2008, 5 min.
Two mimes vie for the attention of a young woman, setting the stage for real disaster.
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New Zealand, 2007, 14 min.
A Muslim immigrant to New Zealand finds her insular world challenged by badminton and trips to the local coffee shop.
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Canada, 2007, 15 min.
The day before a big celebration in her honor, Daisy has only one question, “What good is a gun without bullets?”
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USA, 2008, 10 min.
Welcome to Creativity in Context, part of a documentary series exploring the full range of creative endeavor as expressed by humanity from pole to pole. Our film crew gets a behind-the-scenes look at the Seattle International Film Festival’s Fly Filmmaking Challenge, an ongoing experiment in “making
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Australia, 2007, 14 min.
A kid. His mum and dad. The sex and drugs. And the boy next door who watched the whole thing unravel.
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Norway, 2007, 8 min.
The droll story of Nora and Hjalmar, a married couple who have a problem communicating.
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USA, 2007, 5 min.
A struggling student explains her challenging obstacles toward learning.
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Scotland, 2007, 17 min.
As Joseph flees from his own rage and inner demons, he takes a wrong turn that just might lead him to redemption. BAFTA Award, Best Short Film 2008.
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USA, 2008, 10 min.
When a garage sale turns violent, a mother reluctantly comes to terms with her teenage son's sexuality.
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USA, 2007, 7 min.
Surreal? How about floating carrots, mysteriously recurring tennis balls, and a man tangoing with an Oldsmobile?
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USA, 2007, 10 min.
A ’50s-style educational film parody about how pollution effects our lives.
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USA, 2008, 23 min.
Father and son are on a road trip in Canada when the question arises, "Is this a vacation?”
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USA, 2005, 6 min.
Five winsome damsels picnic on the roof of a warehouse in charming Long Island City, but when a swarm of flies interrupts their feast the young ladies run amok.
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USA, 2005, 10 min.
Kuchar travels through snow confetti, strobe flashes, and artificial wind in this dream-portrait that includes Janet Leigh in the shower, a red raincoat, and comic books.
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USA, 2007, 5 min.
A film about “sisters” who enjoy more than just sisterhood.
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USA, 2008, 10 min.
A robot plays chess against Death over coffee. Death does not compute.
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Germany, 2007, 5 min.
An uncontrolled discharge of 30,000 volts creates a spectacular display that dazzles the eye.
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Finland, 2008, 27 min.
This gorgeous puppet animation fantasy portrays a real-life Finnish Civil War general who takes a young Kirghiz man as his valet and lover.
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Austria, 2007, 6 min.
From contours and shadows, the indistinct impression of a girl emerges from faint, inchoate images that bode ill.
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Germany, 2007, 20 min.
Ten-year-old Felix befriends a deaf girl over the Internet but trying to win her heart may expose the one secret he has kept from her.
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Russia, 2008, 14 min.
This lyrical, visually stunning film depicts a quiet, icy landscape in which a young boy finds enchantment.
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Australia, 2007, 4 min.
A spider and butterfly engage in a symphonic survival of the species.
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USA, 2008, 3 min.
What happens when two brothers escalate a one-point tennis match beyond “a friendly game”?
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USA, 2007, 6 min.
Young Madeline thinks there's a man in the dark. Her mother doesn't believe her, so she sets out to prove it with her polaroid camera
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Russia, 1994, 4 min.
1995 Cannes Film Festival winner about a caterpillar that’s too dizzy to fly.
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USA, 2007, 3 min.
Four friends join hands and become the world.
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USA, 2008, 26 min.
A group of New Orleans mourners band together to rescue their lost loved ones, trapped beneath the sea.
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Russia, 1999, 11 min.
True story of a former chicken who tries to bring back his past.
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France, 2007, 6 min.
A stroboscopic collage of famous cinematographic kisses induces an intoxicating vertigo.
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Israel, 2007, 19 min.
The heartwrenching story of a Palestinian man caring for his paralyzed daughter after an Israeli missile attack.
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Scotland, 2006, 4 min.
In stunning collage animation, Herzog creates a strange, new world constructed from books and letters.
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Spain, 2007, 5 min.
Powerful and raw, this animated film illustrates the invented Basque word “hezurbeltzak”—a term describing the socially invisible.
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Canada, 2007, 14 min.
Kyle, a young scientist, is struggling to build a time machine when he is confronted by an arrogant future version of himself.
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USA, 2007, 4 min.
A young boy struggles to overcome the horrors of his past and adjust to a new life.
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USA, 2008, 6 min.
In the newest Plymptoon, an enthusiastic pup will do anything to become the fire station's resident pooch.
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Russia, 1992, 8 min.
Not for children–a mixture of interconnecting dreams and nightmares of a man, woman, and dog.
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Scotland, 2007, 10 min.
Ina works happily alone at an ice cube factory, but the arrival of a new colleague threatens to disrupt her perfect routine.
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USA, 2007, 20 min.
The real CSI—this short documentary explores the lives and jobs of three individuals working in the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
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Australia, 2007, 14 min.
Alas, what to do when the zombie apocalypse comes between you and your first crush?
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Canada, 2007, 1 min.
A new twist on “food for thought.”
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USA, 2008, 6 min.
A town swallowed by a river in 1968 reemerges barren. Rediscovery is begins with Frisbees and a native dancer.
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Russia, 1974, 12 min.
Rarely seen first film by founders of Pilot Studio, made in Kiev illegally, without state sponsorship, by using an old X-ray machine as animation device.
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USA, 2007, 4 min.
A man steps onto the subway only to be confronted by his subconscious as rendered by an Etch-a-Sketch.
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USA, 2007, 3 min.
A highly frenetic yet sensual exploration of the Seattle skyline as it passes from day into night.
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Russia, 1996, 5 min.
Music video of legendary Russian Moscow band, Time Machine.
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USA, 2008, 16 min.
The pandrogynous partners share their home, a visit to the MoMA, and their tour with Thee Majesty and Psychic TV. A work-in-progress in celebration of the life of Lady Jaye, who died suddenly October 9, 2007.
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Canada, 2006, 4 min.
An Escher-esque piece of nine cycles of paintings that destroy and reconstruct themselves.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 3 min.
John the polar bear apologizes to Karen the penguin after an argument, and then they have tea.
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USA, 2007, 12 min.
After two strangers meet online, they discover that their hook-up is anything but casual.
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USA, 2008, 7 min.
A bully and a victim talk candidly about the effects their actions have on themselves and others.
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Australia, 2007, 15 min.
During the Balkan conflict a soldier is forced to choose between his own life and the life of an old friend.
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USA, 2007, 13 min.
Two sisters tell the story of rebuilding a life together in the US after escaping from a Russian work camp.
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Romania, 2007, 16 min.
A man revisits his childhood home and recalls the fateful day in the snow that changed his life forever.
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USA, 2008, 4 min.
This delirious black and white animation is another chapter in the adventures of the Royal Legion of Birds in which their empire expands beyond Earth’s boundaries.
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Russia, 2007, 10 min.
A bathroom attendant searches frantically for her secret admirer in a love story that can’t be stalled.
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Russia, 1991, 9 min.
From a series of 6 and great vehicle for showing off Pilot’s animators: Ear for Junk, Astronauts, Little Dog, Chukchi Man.
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USA, 2008, 9 min.
After being attacked on the street, a young man discovers a basement that holds the on/off switch for his dreams.
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USA, 2008, 3 min.
In the wandering, she was home. In the finding, she was lost.
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USA, 2007, 3 min.
One brother teases the other at night as a tentacled monster comes out from under the bed. Good thing it is all in his head…or is it?
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USA, 2007, 16 min.
Alex has a crush on her brother's friend Jesse, but he likes Alex's brother Taylor.
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France, 2007, 9 min.
Past and present intertwine when Louis returns to Paris to reconcile with Anne on the eve of the world's end.
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USA, 2007, 10 min.
Two sisters, five brothers, a doctor, two nurses and the miraculous birth of a pair of hands ... but whose hands are they?
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Israel, 2007, 14 min.
Memorial Day, Israel. A siren reminds two surveyors working on the separation wall that the past is always present.
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Finland, 2007, 8 min.
Pera wants to try something different and his mate is happy to oblige. What are friends for?
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United Kingdom, 2007, 14 min.
On the run from thugs, Carl finds an unexpected hiding place where desire lays its own subtle snare.
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Thailand, 2007, 15 min.
Meteorites is made as a gift for the auspicious occasion on the Eightieth Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King of Thailand.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 11 min.
A young boy in his sister’s charge finds his own world as she meets a boy of her own.
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Canada, 2007, 8 min.
Banished from tea time with the adults, a young girl chats with a man on the stairs, learning information that warms her grandmother’s heart.
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USA, 2008, 10 min.
Leah prepares once again for an oft-postponed cross-country move with the help of her sister's family. But when her plans begin to fall apart, she must make a decision that will impact more than just her own future.
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USA, 7 min.
The day that Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock split a father and son apart.
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Scotland, 2007, 11 min.
When Scottish journalist Yvonne Ridley converted to Islam as an adult, she could not fathom how it would affect her relationship with her mother.
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USA, 2007, 12 min.
A filmmaker looks at home movies of his parents hoping to understand his own relationships.
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Russia, 2001, 7 min.
Diploma project that won Biryukov respect from his colleagues and multiple awards at international festivals.
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Ireland, 2007, 11 min.
Based on a Roddy Doyle short story, a young African immigrant struggles to make a place for himself during his first day at an Irish school.
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USA, 2007, 4 min.
A boy and a girl set on a collision course toward self-discovery.
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USA, 2007, 8 min.
Sitting in a dimly lit room, a man retells how he survived a chilling incident by overcoming his darkest childhood fears.
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Canada, 2007, 24 min.
Images of sublime surrealism conjure places beyond the surface of the natural world. Picture yourself on a boat on a river…
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USA, 2007, 13 min.
What do you do when Hollywood stops calling?
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USA, 2007, 19 min.
Seven years of celestial field recordings gathered from the chaos of the cosmos and inscribed onto 16mm film from various locations upon this turning tripod Earth. This work is neither a metaphor nor a symbol, but is feeling towards a fact in the midst of perception, which time flows through. Natura
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France, 2007, 20 min.
As brilliantly winsome as Miranda July, director Novel scripts and stars in this elegant comedy about a lonely woman on holiday.
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USA, 2008, 6 min.
A top-secret government file, to be viewed only in the event of the president’s assassination…
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Germany, 2007, 30 min.
A department store security guard is racked by guilt after not helping a man being attacked in the subway. Grand Prize winner, Clermont-Ferrand.
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Russia, 1994, 10 min.
Animation about Georgian hospitality that received many awards. Tatarskiy’s favorite from his own creations.
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Russia, 1993, 8 min.
Worms in love in the big mysterious scary world.
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Russia, 1993, 1 min.
Early work of Bronzit whom Tatarsky considered one of his best students.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 9 min.
When the sea offers up a handsome but half-drowned man, the ghoulish Pearce sisters do their best to resuscitate him.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 10 min.
Two friends leave the flock, so to speak, and form an unconventional yet touching friendship.
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USA, 2008, 2 min.
What happens when everyone's favorite candy-filled papier-mâchés seek vengeance upon their oppressors…oh, you'll find out.
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USA, 2007, 8 min.
This film experiments with the film’s emulsion and image bleaching before using the bleached film as a canvas for the short filmic poem about the abstract history of cinema.
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Ireland, 2007, 3 min.
An elegantly told tale of the beginning and end of a relationship, simply drawn and beautifully animated.
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India, 2007, 9 min.
A blind man rewinds through a situation that left his fellow robbers dead and the loot in his possession.
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New Zealand, 2007, 15 min.
A Samoan brother and sister living in a conservative beach town stand up to their dictatorial father. Special Mention winner, Cannes Film Festival.
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USA, 2007, 8 min.
A bug’s life as you’ve never seen it before.
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Canada, 2007, 8 min.
Beautiful puppet animation tells the moving story of the relationship of a grandson and grandfather, and the importance of hair.
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USA, 2007, 15 min.
This beautifully photographed, Oscar-nominated short follows an itinerant projectionist through the streets of North Kolkata, India.
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USA, 2008, 5 min.
Korean youth discuss their choices to discover religion.
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Ireland, 2007, 3 min.
A beautiful meditation upon the sensual art of kissing.
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USA, 2007, 20 min.
His savings stolen from his FEMA trailer, MacArthur and his cousin take a job gutting a house.
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USA, 2008, 11 min.
A rare film portrait of one of the world's greatest living photographers, Sylvia Plachy, who is, ironically, camera-shy. The result is a soulful and slightly eccentric look into her private world.
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Netherlands, 2007, 9 min.
This single, continuous shot follows a gifted dancer as he moves magically through different times and spaces, luring the viewer into a dynamic world teetering between the impossible and the real.
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USA, 2007, 6 min.
Seattle filmmaker Hughes uses found footage to give Neil Young's classic “Heart of Gold” a re-orchestration.
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USA, 2008, 10 min.
"To sleep, perchance to dream…" But not when Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) makes sleep and reality distant memories for a young man who tries to piece together what remains of his life.
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USA, 2007, 5 min.
An eye-opening documentary about media influence on young girls’ physical aspirations.
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USA, 2008, 15 min.
An Inuit takes his dog team out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean hunting for seals only to inadvertently stumble upon a murder.
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South Africa, 2006, 12 min.
Sindiswa must stand up to her controlling mother-in-law to get modern medical help for her sick son.
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USA, 2007, 7 min.
A portrait of Patti Smith and her son, William Blake’s death mask, Kurt Cobain, and cats as household saints as America moves from guitars to dirty dishes.
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USA, 2008, 6 min.
In-camera edited, a 3-minute dance with Kuchar as the snow falls and his beard turns into a snow tree.
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United Kingdom, 2007, 17 min.
Mother and son work together on an underground film shoot, but nothing is as it seems as the narrative twists and twists and….
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Australia, 2007, 9 min.
It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
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USA, 2008, 6 min.
Theodore becomes an unlikely hero when sounds of distant screaming in the cold North Sea urge him out into unknown dangers.
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USA, 2007, 7 min.
When Joel is accidentally struck by an arrow, he resolves to go about his search for love despite his odd affliction.
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Canada, 2007, 7 min.
When a man asks his girlfriend to move in, he has one condition—no new stuff.
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2008, 20 min.
Starting on June 5, youth from around the country will converge on Seattle to participate in SuperFly, SIFF’s 36-hour filmmaking workshop. In SIFF’s continued partnership with Longhouse Media, 50 young filmmakers will be placed in five teams and given a script co-written written by SuperFly alumni
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USA, 2008, 7 min.
Who’s going to save Franklin High?
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Belgium, 2007, 3 min.
Metamorphosing implosions of mesmerizing beauty.
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Sweden, 2007, 28 min.
An African malaria researcher and his family travel to Sweden for a conference, only to be caught up in a bizarre game of tag.
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Spain, 2007, 32 min.
Winner of the Silver Cub Prize at the prestigious International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, this bittersweet comedy profiles an ill-tempered Pakistani tailor in Barcelona and his Indian employee.
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New Zealand, 2007, 15 min.
With the enemy leader bound to the stern of their war canoe, a Maori war party carries the canoe through the forest to elude their pursuers.
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USA, 2007, 4 min.
Sometimes the nature of sexuality almost demands animation.
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USA, 2008, 9 min.
Local Film!
In the near future, not all of your children will be everyday children.
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USA, 2007, 5 min.
What more could you ask for in a horror film? Except, perhaps, a little twist…
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Ireland, 2007, 3 min.
A young boy learns to interact with his grumpy neighbors in a most surprising fashion.
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USA, 2008, 26 min.
Two years of Conrad’s life playing with costumes, practicing his violin, cooking pickled films, performing at Tonics in NYC, and his involvement with Flaming Creature.
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Canada, 2007, 3 min.
A wry and wonderful animated day at the beach.
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USA, 2007, 15 min.
The same goofy sensibility that made Raftsman’s Razor ring true informs this showdown between two cultural antagonists at their model train shop.
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Australia, 2007, 8 min.
Rebecca navigates the ups and downs of life as an aspiring orchestral triangle player.
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USA, 2007, 16 min.
A young woman's twenty-first birthday party attracts a variety of human monsters.
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Scotland, 2007, 13 min.
An eye-opening glimpse into the world of the Asian skin lightening cream industry that follows two sibling entrepreneurs as they pursue their big distribution deal.
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France, 2007, 7 min.
An afternoon in the park, and love at first sight beckons.
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Ireland, 2007, 13 min.
A young girl drives her horse at full gallop, but when, if ever, will she reach freedom?
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Spain, 2007, 13 min.
Marta returns to live with Luis in Madrid but over the course of a pivotal week, their missed connections relay more about their relationship than any conversation.
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Australia, 2007, 11 min.
The death of the family dog causes a teenage boy to reexamine the emotional ties within his own life.
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Germany, 2007, 10 min.
A security guard rediscovers the art around him when he follows a little girl with a red balloon around the museum.
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Germany, 2008, 5 min.
Graphically stunning in black and white, this animation dances between positive and negative, figure and shadow.
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USA, 2007, 17 min.
Director David Gatten placed unexposed rolls of film in crab traps in the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast. The resulting sounds and images were produced by the physical and chemical interactions between the film's emulsion and the surrounding salt water, sand, rocks, crabs, fish and unde
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USA, 2007, 12 min.
Singer Angela McCluskey and composer Paul Cantelon take a walk through Central Park to the strains of “Autumn in New York.”
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Iceland, 2007, 20 min.
Two gay wrestlers living in rural Iceland grapple with their love for one another.
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USA, 2007, 7 min.
A romantic evening turns fatal in this all-out homage to Mario Bava and the giallo genre.
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USA, 2007, 5 min.
A fussy zookeeper goes about his daily routine but must contend with a very uncooperative little penguin.
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