THE BEST Short Films

Artist Arktk Berkut created the mindblowing visuals to accompany Moa Pillar’s track And the Moon Stopped, complementing the dizzying ambient track with a kaleidoscopic journey through a virtual world made up of digitally-manipulated photographs.

As philosopher Albert Camus said “Life is a sum of all your choices.” In Kingdom of Something’s lighthearted short, they provide some stats about how much of our lives we spend performing everyday tasks, and some of the figures might help you better allocate your time.

Ritzy Animation’s amusing short film follows the journey of a down-on-his-luck Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer after he’s retired from Santa’s crew. But Rudy gets inspired to clean up his act, and again become the powerful sled-puller he once was. Naturally, there’s a training montage.

(PG-13: Gore, Language) Anomaly and Unreasonable Studios present a dark holiday tale about a world in which christmas trees get their revenge on humans by chopping off their legs, standing them in their living rooms, and decorating them with tinsel and lights.

As we move further into a world where our art, literature, and information are stored not in physical forms, but as data, we face the prospect that we could lose our history in a blink – especially if licensors decide to revoke access. Chris Cousins‘ dystopian short film explores that prospect using a future museum to illustrate the dangers.

Through the use of high-contrast black-and-white imagery, and a stark, minimal soundtrack by Paul Vinsonhaler, filmmaker Jason Allen Lee’s incredible animated short will truly transport you into the isolation of outer space. If you can, watch it full screen in a darkened room with headphones on.

Colin Levy’s short sci-fi film follows two teens who prank people by swapping the contents of their drone deliveries. But when a hack goes wrong, they discover a dark secret about the unmanned aerial vehicles flying overhead. The production was funded via Kickstarter and through the efforts of volunteer CG artists.

A young woman comes face to face with an android in the desert outside of Dubai, and discovers the machine is looking for a fight. But is the robot her nemesis, or simply a reflection of herself? Daniel Askill’s impeccable short film packs a punch with crisp choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and a stellar soundtrack by Philip Glass.

(PG-13: Language) A man and a woman get together over what appears a delicious brunch, and have a particularly outlandish conversation over croissants and orange juice. John Purcell’s nonsensical short film is unabashedly silly and offbeat.

Photographer and filmmaker Bruce W. Berry Jr. collected and cleaned up video and time-lapse footage captured by astronauts on-board the International Space Station to give us this stunning short film that provides a glimpse of our planet from the vantage point of space.

An office worker finds himself the victim of a series of daily pranks by his co-workers. But in the end, the rage kicks in, and he gets his revenge in Damien Bastelica’s amusing and extremely well-drawn animated short.

Motion artist Thomas Blanchard’s colorful short film envisions an entire universe that lives inside of our eyes. What makes the vibrant visuals even more amazing is that they were entirely created with paint, ink, oil, and soap, without reliance on CGI or digital effects.

Anthony Falleroni’s animated short follows a video game character who struggles with the difficulty of completing of the very first level in his game. We love the pixel art style, chiptune soundtrack, and most of all, the storytelling. His making of video is well worth a watch too.

Grant Kolton’s humorous animated short film digs into the strange realities of human anatomy, and just how freakish we all really are. So the next time you look at someone and think they’re weird, have a good long look in the mirror.

Animator Junyi Xiao’s short film The Last Man on Earth Sat Alone in a Room has a Rick and Morty-esque warped sense of humor. It tells the story of a lonely man who spends his days sitting in front of his computer, and who makes quick work polishing off a visitor who comes to his door. But all is not what it seems in the end.

Husband and wife design team Gareth Smith & Jenny Lee’s typographic short film plays a clever visual trick, simulating the physics of what might happen if all of the letters on advertising signage started to break loose from their appropriate locations, and came to rest in totally haphazard ways.

We’re doubtful that the makers of The LEGO Movie franchise will ever make a zombie movie, but that’s okay, because Paramotion Films has already gone and done it for us, with their extremely well-executed short film that proves that dismemberment doesn’t have to be gory – at least when it comes to minifigs.

A talented group of students from Supinfocom Rubika co-directed this charming and uniquely-styled animated short about a plush kitty who needs to get his anger issues under control, and who might just do it after he makes an unexpected new friend in the woods.

Inspired by his own illustrated book of the same name, director Stefan Hunt presents a lighthearted and poetic look at the questions and thoughts that might flash through our minds as we head for the great unknown and inevitable end of our lives.

Léo Brunel’s (Voltige) award-winning animation is a silly slapstick short about a duo of buffoons attempting to save a skier trapped at the top of the mountain; but it would seem the man really needs to be rescued from his rescuers. The title refers to the kind of off-trail skiing which set up the scenario in the first place.

(PG-13: Language) Steven Feinartz and David Gborie’s short comedy takes us inside a grocery store where a rash of shopping cart thefts leaves its manager with no choice but to tighten their belts. The cast does a great job bringing their characters and their woes to life.

Filmmaker Jacco Kliesch’s short uses a combination of realistic footage he shot in Iceland with digital effects created by Wildboar 3D Studio. The result is an dramatic and disturbing version of a typically serene and peaceful location.

Fast forward in time to a strange and exotic place filled with all kinds of animals. But all is not what it seems on the surface of animator Louis Morton’s award winning short film, which offers a unique aesthetic and an inventive science fiction story about the future of life.

(Gore) Joe and Lloyd Stas’ horrific short film fully embraces the grindhouse genre, as a man visiting a countryside pub finds a mysterious letter in his coat pocket, and then all hell breaks loose when he reads its contents. This is definitely not one for the kiddies or the faint of heart.