The much-needed and much-deserved love for short films has been growing over the years. That blossoming passion has been harvested and nurtured so delicately by the team at Show Me Shorts, the Academy Award-accredited New Zealand short film festival that has spent the last decade curating and displaying quality shorts from local filmmakers and international talent.
Now in its tenth year, the festival itself has grown into a beloved and vital event, spreading itself even further across the country with a superb 2015 programme made up of seven screenings – each containing a number of short films that keep in tune to a given theme. (Check here to see where and when Show Me Shorts is playing near you.)
We’ve selected a number of short films from the programme that we can’t stop talking about.
The Story of Percival Pilts
Playing as part of: Highlights, My Generation
This Australian-NZ co-produced stop-motion animated short recently played at the New Zealand International Film Festival. It was easily a (mind the pun) stand-out among the collection, with its gorgeous Laika-quality art direction and its story – both figurative and literal – about reaching for the sky.
Return
Playing as part of: Aroha Aotearoa
This Kiwi slice-of-life comedy sees a young man (played by Guy Montgomery, who also co-wrote the script) returning to his hometown for the weekend to catch up with his parents, his pals, and some chickens. There’s also some magic mushrooms somewhere. Return primarily aims to make you laugh – and it will. Several times. But it’ll also embed a feeling of somberness with its examination of an environment that feels desolate, rundown, and very New Zealand – for better and/or for worse.
Madam Black
Playing as part of: Chivalry Isn’t Dead
A down-on-his-luck fellow plunges even further into crap when he accidentally runs over a little girl’s cat. He tries to cover it up when confronted about it, only to have his ruse grow more convoluted as the days go by. It’s a great premise that is executed superbly, turning in a crowd-pleasing short film that’s comedic without being goofy and sweet without being sickly.
동心 (One-Minded)
Playing as part of: Double Take, Highlights
This Korean-French production took the moving fan camera from Paranormal Activity 3 and made an entire short film with it. But instead of going for horror, One-Minded picks a rather obscure genre: coming-of-age rom-com heist drama. Yeah, this one’s certainly an original, and the amount of co-ordination needed to have pulled it off is very impressive.
Accidents, Blunders and Calamities
Playing as part of: Highlights, My Generation
There have been a number of quality shorts fired out of Media Design School, but this might be the best thing we’ve seen from the institute. Mixing live-action with animated creatures, this is a tasteful ABCs of Death the whole family can enjoy. (We know how weird that sounds, but you’re just going to have to trust us on that.)
The Tide Keeper
Playing as part of: Plunge Into Other Worlds
After taking the New Zealand Film Award for Best Self-Funded Film for her feature debut The Red House, we’ve been aching to see what writer-director Alyx Duncan would do next. She delivers something gorgeously haunting with The Tide Keeper, a wholly unique piece of artistry that meshes a live-action actor (her dad once again!) with a flurry of puppetry.
Tits on a Bull
Playing as part of: Trailblazers
Rugby, romance and rugged-as language tie together seamlessly in this staunch-yet-sensitive short film that could only exist in New Zealand. While grassroots traditions hold true to this tale of a hugely talented rugby star and her hard-ass coach, the film’s resolve remains mellow, moving, and modern.
