Seven out of ten shorts that were screened at the La Fête du Court short film event that C and I attended at the Montpezat public library last week can be freely and legally watched online.
For your convenience and for future reference I listed them all below don't-thank-me:
1. Valimo (3', 2007), by Aki Kaurismäki
Kaurismäki films really have a unique vibe and this short is no exception. I wouldn't say he's a favorite director, but his films Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope are worth a watch for a refreshing look at immigration.
Valimo streams on YouTube and Vimeo, but I'm not sure that the production company/director agreed to this, so I'll let you find it yourself.
2. L'école des facteurs (15', 1946), by Jacques Tati
Loved this one, very funny and surprisingly modern filmmaking for a short from the 40s! Makes me want to rewatch Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.
The short is in the public domain and available to watch with English subtitles on the Internet Archive (donate!):
3. Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers (10', 2001), by Johannes Stjärne Nilsson and Ola Simonsson
This one was AMAZING and super original! The drummers in the short are an actual band/performers, they have more videos (and a masterclass about making music with household objects) on their website.
Uploaded to Vimeo by the directors:
4. Vicious Cycle (3', 2017), by Michael Marczewski
Among my favorites of the list, not for the animation (which is nice, don't get me wrong, kind of Blender-3D-style) but for the unspoken symbolism throughout.
Uploaded to Vimeo by the director/animator:
(Is it just me or this one doesn't have video controls? Here's the Vimeo link just in case.)
5. Imbued Life (12', 2019), by Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson
Complete opposite of the previous one: I LOVED the stop-motion animation here, but wasn't particularly amazed by the story. Maybe I didn't get it?
You can rent this on Vimeo On Demand for less than 1 €. Trailer:
6. Top départ (2', 2022), by Olivier Cavellat
A dark comedy about aging and death but-not-really. My cup of tea.
Uploaded to Vimeo by the director:
(Olala this one seems to be missing video controls again? Vimeo link.)
7. How to Paint Your Rainbow (2', 2018), by Erick Oh
Erick Oh worked for Pixar for 6 years, and his 2020 short Opera was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short. If you love How to Paint Your Rainbow, there's also How to Eat Your Apple from 2011, streaming on Vimeo.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find this online in its full length. Teaser:
8. Le dromadaire mécontent (3', 2015), by Morgane Le Péchon
Based on a Jacques Prévert poem, but not my favorite short (it has a this-is-for-children vibe).
The production company uploaded it to Vimeo, but it's in French and there are no subtitles:
(If this says "Because of its privacy settings, this video cannot be played here", watch it on Vimeo directly.)
9. Beach Flags (13', 2014), by Sarah Saidan
This is animated but feels only too real (and still very relevant, unfortunately). Won lots of awards for good reason.
(If this says "Because of its privacy settings, this video cannot be played here", watch it on Vimeo directly.)
10. Canyon (20', 2019), by Martin Scali
The longest of the batch, and probably the most feature-film-like (there is significantly more time to build an atmosphere in 20' than in 3'). Still, the director dives straight into the plot, so a lot is left for the viewer to wonder.
Couldn't find this one online either, here's a trailer from the production company's website:
That's all 10 of them! Vimeo particularly is a great place to find more shorts of all kinds—it's favored by filmmakers over YouTube because it streams in higher quality. It would be really cool if there were a website that curated and shared lists of shorts by genre, country, theme etc. Anyone could then organize their own short film nights at home! If this already exists I'd like to know.
Bye!