Awesome Short Films

Two men enter, one man, um, leaves. At least that’s how a duel is supposed to work, right? Not exactly how this mano a mano gunfight goes down, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be bloodshed.

Two hamsters go for a wild chase across the globe in this entertaining CGI short-film from animators Jacob Frey and Harry Fast. Be sure to stick around through the credits for the punchline.

The music video for Portugal. The Man’s single Sleep Forever is a beautiful tour of the Alaskan wilderness and a haunting treatise on isolation rolled into one. Directed by Michael Ragen.

The sequel to the special effects-laden film by Clinton Jones is more than six times longer than the original. It takes itself a tad too seriously but it’s still an awesome production nonetheless.

Terry Border’s surreal love story convinced us that preparing a sandwich is a Freudian act. We’re put off by the deus ex machina that moves the story to its end, but we could be overthinking it.

From New York to Paris, Sarah Klein and Tom Mason continue to capture the transition from the subway’s depths to the world above. We love the shot of the faces of emerging passengers.

An animated short made by students of Southern Adventist University in Tennessee, led by Justin Burks. Danger Planet is as charming and perfect as the adventures we (day)dreamed of as kids.

A great example of the high-quality work coming from the designers and storytellers at Polynoid, Loom delves deep into the intense relationship between the hunter and the hunted.

Kelly Sears transforms a high school yearbook from a representation of youthful potential and innocence to a record of tragedy and a harbinger of doom in this masterfully constructed thriller.

An amazing blend of poetry, animation and live footage, Michael Langan’s Heliotropes is based on a poem of the same title by Brian Christian about “the fundamental unity of life.” More here.

Junaid Chundrigar’s tribute to old American cartoons. The lesson? Instead of getting married, get some sheep and take care of them. They’ll take you to places beyond your wildest acid trip. Or not.

This video is all about the time freeze effect popularized by The Matrix, except this time there were no special effects used. Made by Lawrence Chen to promote Pepsi’s short film contest.

A character made of scraps wanders though the woods until he comes across a sign that will help him discover where he belongs in Origins, Robert Showalter’s poignant and luminous graduation film.

Who is the real you? Are you the same person all the time? What does it mean to be “real” or “genuine”? Nir Philosof reflects on these and other questions about identity and denial in his short film.

(NSFW: Language) Imagos Films heard about the Windie City Shootout here on The Awesomer, and decided to enter – and won the Producer’s Choice Award. Gives new meaning to “going postal.”

Activision was so impressed with We Can Pretend’s fan film Find Makarov that the company sponsored its sequel. An action-packed flashback featuring Soap, Ghost and Price (and their goofy accents).