One Man Band (Annecy 2006)

Like many Pixar shorts, this film is completely free of dialogue, instead using music (played by the characters) and pantomime to tell the story.
Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews show us what Pixar can do with four minutes and the simplest of story lines. This short is fun because it's funny and imaginative.



With one coin to make a wish at the piazza fountain, One Man Band tells the humorously captivating tale of a peasant girl who encounters two competing street performers who'd prefer the coin find its way into their tip jars. As the two one-man bands' rivalry crescendos, the two overly eager musicians vie to win the little girl's attention.
You can buy Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1.

Key Lime Pie

By Trevor Jimenez

Visas and virtue (Academy Award 1998)

Inspired by the true story of a Holocaust rescuer, Visas and Virtue is a dramatic rencostruction that explores the moral and professional dilemmas that Japanese Consul General Chiune Sempo Sugihara faced in making a life or death decision: defy his own government's direct orders and risk his career by issuing lifesaving transit visas or obey orders and turn his back on humanity.



Although he is not as well known as Schindler, his heroic efforts resulted in one of the largest rescues of Jews during the Holocaust.
Chris Tashima shows us that it's possible narrate a true story without making a documentary.

Omlette Food (A Slice of Life 2)

You can read A Slice of Life by Noel Graham.

Ersatz (Academy Award 1961)

This short traces evidence of American cartoons, specifically from the UPA studios. Dusan Vukotic takes cues from modern art and graphic design. The animated figures consist of simple geometric shapes and most of their movements are either parallel to one of their edges or else curvilinear. Despite this minimalism, the characters are identifiable as characters, and within the boundaries of fable the story works just fine.



The Substitute was the first film produced outside the USA to win an Oscar for best animated short.
It's a simple story about the man who comes to the beach and uses inflatable objects for all of his needs.
You can buy The Best of Zagreb Film: Be Careful What You Wish For/The Classic Collection.

Transformationen

By Andrea Ren.

Dark Days (Sundance 2000)

This film follows a group of people living in an abandoned section of the New York City underground railway system, more precisely the area of the so called Freedom Tunnel. After living with them for a number of months, Marc Singer decided to create a documentary.
This is a noble film worthy of our attention.
He just started hanging out and making friends in his neighbourhood. He met one guy who mentioned the tunnels. He heard that you could build a house down there and live somewhat normally but still be homeless. And that just fascinated him so Singer went exploring.
There is some crime, but it’s not total anarchy. Boundaries are almost always respected, and there is a sense of uneasy camaraderie among these people.
Dark Days is an eye-opening experience that shatters the myths of homelessness by revealing a thriving community living in tunnels beneath New York City and honestly capturing their resilience and strength in their struggle to survive.




This documentary helps to change negative perceptions of the homeless. But Singer doesn't want the film to make us feel guilty that we are living comfortably while somebody else is on the street. Singer focuses on the positive things people try to do for themselves. And most importantly he gave every homeless person involved in its making a percentage. The only thing that stood in the way of Singer's idea and its execution was that he knew absolutely nothing about filmmaking, or even still photography
He assembled a group of the tunnel homeless to be his camera loaders, sound recorders, electricians and equipment manufacturers. Such a crew would add to the authentically personal feel of the film and solve the problem of finding a professional crew willing to endure tunnel conditions for that long.
Dark Days's urban wasteland aesthetic is sort of Lynchian in its ironic beauty.
This is unique among documentaries because of Singer's sensitive treatment. There are shots in Dark Days that rank with the best black-and-white photojournalism pieces of the '30s and '40s. Singer's attention to detail rightly deserved the Cinematography Award at Sundance
You can buy Dark Days.

Alien Weekend (A Slice of Life)

You can read A Slice of Life by Noel Graham.

Munro (Oscar 1961)

Tiny Munro, a four year old boy, is drafted into the army. Then his life profoundly changed.
Jules Feiffer's parable about the dangers of a mindless military mentality is accurately presented in this funny little film. Howard Morris narrates and voices the various grown-ups.



You can buy Rembrandt Films Greatest Hits.

You can visit Rembrandt Studio.

Don Carrascas

by Camilo Macheca.

Trevor (Oscar 1994)

This short is a tender and humorous tale of a gay teenager’s struggle with his sexual orientation and his attempted suicide.



Set as a sequence of diary entries, the film tells the story of bright, funny, and exuberant thirteen year old Trevor, who learns to deal with the fact that he is gay. He falls for another young boy, his friend, and his true feelings are revealed. He attempts suicide, but in the end his strong will and determination help him get through this tough time.



Peggy Rajski and Randy Stone created The Trevor Project, too.
You can buy Trevor.

Jane's World

In 2002 Paige Baddrock launched her own publishing company, Girl Twirl Comics, so that she could finally make her comic feature, Jane's World, available to comic shops and bookstores. Jane's World started as an online feature in the late 1990s, but was soon picked up for online distribution by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
In 2006 Jane's World received an Eisner Award nomination for best humor book. There are currently 8 Volumes of Jane's World in print.

You can buy Jane's World Volume 1, Jane's World Volume 2, Jane's World Volume 3, Jane's World Volume 4, Jane's World Volume 5, Jane's World Volume 6, Jane's World Volume 7 and Jane's World Volume 8.

Now Hear This (1962 Oscar nominee)

Now Hear This is without a doubt one of the weirder shorts that Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble ever made. This short is one of the Looney Tunes series produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc.
Looney Tunes is a variation on Silly Symphonies, the name of Walt Disney's concurrent series of music-based cartoon shorts. Looney Tunes originally showcased Warner-owned musical compositions through the adventures of cartoon characters.
This was the first Warner Bros cartoon to use the "modern" Looney Tunes opening and closing sequence featuring stylized animation.



An old man finds a red horn and uses it as a megaphone, unaware that it is really a lost horn from the Devil's forehead. The Britisher finds that the horn has the effect of amplifying every sound psychedelically and causing him serious bodily harm.
It's impressive how economically Chuck Jones packed in so much expression and character into so little. You'll enjoy his artistic style and abstract design!
You can buy Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection.

Arachne Elrafo

Raphael Lacoste did this painting for a project he has with Pascal Blanché: they are planning a remake of Time Masters, the 1979 French animation movie by René Laloux and Moebius. He has drawn the picture after the introduction shots of the movie where a rescue vehicle runs into the desert of Perdide, a lost planet colonized by the Time Masters...