Favourite Non-Comedy Short Films
by tartanllama | created - 07 May 2012 | updated - 08 May 2012 | PublicMy favourite short films in vague order. Doesn't include comedy shorts like cartoons or Keaton/Chaplin films; that's for another list (otherwise this list would be huge and impossible to vaguely order).
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1. The House Is Black (1963)
20 min | Documentary, Short
Set in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
Director: Forugh Farrokhzad | Stars: Forugh Farrokhzad, Ebrahim Golestan, Hossein Mansouri
Votes: 5,567
2. Dimensions of Dialogue (1983)
12 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Three surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Votes: 4,889
3. Eaux d'artifice (1953)
Not Rated | 12 min | Short
A woman dressed in an elegant period dress wanders through the water gardens at the Villa d'Este.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Star: Carmilla Salvatorelli
Votes: 1,787
4. La Jetée (1962)
Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Drama, Romance
The story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich
Votes: 37,068
5. The Tale of Tales (1979)
29 min | Animation, Short
Distant, well-worn memories of childhood are inhabited by a little gray wolf. Through astonishing imagery, the memory of all of Russia is depicted.
Director: Yuri Norstein | Star: Aleksandr Kalyagin
Votes: 4,134
6. La femme qui se poudre (1972)
18 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
A study of human anxieties about beauty, youth and objectification.
Director: Patrick Bokanowski | Stars: Jean-Jacques Choul, Jacques Delbosc d'Auzon, Claus-Dieter Reents, Nadine Roussial
Votes: 383
7. Isle of Flowers (1989)
13 min | Documentary, Short
The ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce ... See full summary »
Director: Jorge Furtado | Stars: Paulo José, Ciça Reckziegel, Douglas Trainini, Júlia Barth
Votes: 6,523
8. Ballet mécanique (1924)
19 min | Short
A pulsing, kaleidoscope of images set to an energetic soundtrack. A young women swings in a garden; a woman's face smiles. The rest is spinning cylinders, pistons, gears and turbines, ... See full summary »
Directors: Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy | Stars: Kiki of Montparnasse, Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy, Katherine Murphy
Votes: 3,293
9. Zaniklý svet rukavic (1982)
Not Rated | 16 min | Animation, Short
Using an array of gloves in different styles and from different historical periods, the film is a short history of the cinema - from silent movies via pastiches of Buñuel and Fellini and ... See full summary »
Director: Jirí Barta
Votes: 351
10. The House of Small Cubes (2008)
Not Rated | 12 min | Animation, Short, Drama
To save his house from rising flood waters, an old man uses bricks to build it higher, then he relives events from his past while searching for his dropped pipe.
Director: Kunio Kato | Star: Masami Nagasawa
Votes: 11,655
11. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Unrated | 13 min | Short, Horror
An avant-garde take on Poe's classic story of a traveller taking shelter at a household under a mysterious curse.
Directors: James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber | Stars: Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, Melville Webber, Friedrich Haak
Votes: 1,433
12. Hedgehog in the Fog (1975)
11 min | Animation, Short, Drama
A little hedgehog, on the way to visit his friend the bear, gets lost in thick fog, where horses, dogs and even falling leaves take on a terrifying new aspect.
Director: Yuri Norstein | Stars: Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Mariya Vinogradova, Aleksey Batalov
Votes: 8,079
13. Food (1992)
16+ | 17 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Examines the human relationship with food by showing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Stars: Ludvík Sváb, Bedrich Glaser, Jan Kraus, Pavel Marek
Votes: 3,588
14. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery
A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
Votes: 15,210
15. Darkness/Light/Darkness (1989)
Not Rated | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A human body gradually reconstructs itself as its various component parts crowd themselves into a small room and eventually, after much experimentation, sort out which part goes where.
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Votes: 4,875
16. Street of Crocodiles (1986)
Not Rated | 20 min | Animation, Short
Inside a box full of curio, a puppet who is recently freed from his strings explores a dusty and forlorn commercial area. The explorer becomes ensnared into miniature tailor shop by baby-faced dolls.
Directors: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay | Star: Feliks Stawinski
Votes: 3,083
17. Poslední lup (1987)
Not Rated | 21 min | Animation, Short, Crime
A sarcastic story about a thief who becomes the victim of his own victims. His victims come from the other world and take his most precious possession - his blood. The phantasmal atmosphere... See full summary »
Director: Jirí Barta | Stars: Frantisek Husák, Zdenek Martínek, Ivan Vojtek, Martin Safr
Votes: 476
18. The Heart of the World (2000)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action, Fantasy
A scientist chooses a wealthy man over her two lovers but must heal the earth's core to save humanity.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Leslie Bais, Caelum Vatnsdal, Shaun Balbar, Greg Klymkiw
Votes: 3,604
19. Outer Space (1999)
Not Rated | 10 min | Short, Horror
Footage from The Entity (1982) is edited into an abstract nightmare.
Director: Peter Tscherkassky | Star: Barbara Hershey
Votes: 2,808
20. L'étoile de mer (1928)
21 min | Short, Romance
Two people stand on a road, out of focus. Seen distorted through a glass, they retire upstairs to a bedroom where she undresses. He says, "Adieu." Images: the beautiful girl, a starfish in ... See full summary »
Director: Man Ray | Stars: Kiki of Montparnasse, André de la Rivière, Robert Desnos
Votes: 1,564
21. The Comb (1991)
Not Rated | 18 min | Short, Animation
A porcelain doll and a sleeping woman. How will they interact through her dreams?
Directors: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay | Stars: Joy Constaninides, Witold Schejbal
Votes: 1,033
22. Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969)
12 min | Short, Horror
Experimental short, featuring strobe-like erotic imagery with several shots of the Rolling Stones in performance and an original synthesizer score by Mick Jagger.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Kenneth Anger, Bobby Beausoleil, Bill Beutel, Harvey Bialy
Votes: 2,041
23. The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928)
40 min | Short, Drama, Fantasy
Obsessed with a general's woman, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.
Director: Germaine Dulac | Stars: Alex Allin, Lucien Bataille, Genica Athanasiou
Votes: 2,285
24. The Hand (1965)
18 min | Animation, Short, Horror
A delicate and secluded ceramist sees his orderly life turn upside down, when a gigantic hand in a white glove invades his space, demanding that a sculpture of itself is made. When will the hand's obstinate demands stop?
Director: Jirí Trnka
Votes: 2,049
25. Tango (1981)
8 min | Animation, Short
Subsequent characters appear in a poorly-decorated room, intertwining but never colliding, all possessed by never-ending rituals.
Director: Zbigniew Rybczynski
Votes: 3,038
26. Klub odlozenych (1989)
Not Rated | 25 min | Animation, Short, Horror
Laid-off old mannequins spend their cracked and broken lives in an old, abandoned warehouse. New mannequins are brought to the warehouse. They are old as well, but from a younger generation... See full summary »
Director: Jirí Barta
Votes: 341
27. Destino (2003)
PG | 7 min | Animation, Short
Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney's Destino features the tragic love story of Chronos, the personification of time, and a mortal woman as they seek each other out across surreal landscapes.
Director: Dominique Monfery | Stars: Dora Luz, Jennifer Esposito
Votes: 5,992
28. The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
30 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
Director: Frédéric Back | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 6,112
29. Dog Star Man: Part I (1962)
30 min | Short
The first part of Dog Star Man (1964), an experimental film wherein a man climbs a mountain along with his dog.
Director: Stan Brakhage | Stars: Stan Brakhage, Jane Wodening
Votes: 1,563
Includes all the Dog Star Man films
30. The Cameraman's Revenge (1912)
Not Rated | 12 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Mr Beetle seeks companionship from a statuesque dragonfly dancer, unaware that her ex-boyfriend, a slender grasshopper and an industrious cameraman, watches their every move. Will Mrs Beetle forgive him? Will he get away with adultery?
Director: Wladyslaw Starewicz
Votes: 3,217
31. Visual Training (1969)
8 min | Short
An experimental short film in which a man and a woman smear various foods on a third person.
Director: Frans Zwartjes | Stars: Trix Zwartjes, Mike, Christian Manders
Votes: 315
32. Scorpio Rising (1963)
28 min | Short, Music
A gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.
Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Ernie Allo, Bruce Byron, Frank Carifi, Steve Crandell
Votes: 5,709
33. The Conflict (1983)
7 min | Animation, Short, War
Film characters are ordinary matches. Quarrel that flared up over a trifle turns into a real battle, in which both hostile parties perished.
Director: Garri Bardin
Votes: 435
34. T, O, U, C, H, I, N, G (1969)
Not Rated | 12 min | Short
A subversive experimental short film in which the word "Destroy" is uttered constantly while images on an individual are show with changes colors and the letters T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G displayed.
Director: Paul Sharits | Star: David Franks
Votes: 424
35. Meat Love (1989)
1 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Two pieces of meat fall in love.
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Votes: 2,380
36. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,799
37. The Fly (1980)
3 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A fine day in the life of a fly presented completely from the fly's point of view. A fine day until something dreary happens, that is.
Director: Ferenc Rofusz
Votes: 1,988
38. The Sand Castle (1977)
13 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
On a sandy desert, a man made of sand constructs other sand creatures to help make a beautiful sand castle for themselves.
Director: Co Hoedeman
Votes: 1,170
39. Moods of the Sea (1942)
Unrated | 10 min | Short, Musical
A recently unearthed experimental documentary of the crashing sea set to Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave." An example of the filmmakers' "new cinema" theory which held that film should be more... See full summary »
Directors: John Hoffman, Slavko Vorkapich
Votes: 270
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