Tehran Short Film Festival is one of the most purposeful festivals held in Iran. it is a venue for screening a selection of short films produced in the course of the year. Since short films cannot be screened at movie theaters, the festival is the best opportunity for watching films made by young directors. During the current year, Nasser Gholamrezaei (director), Ensiyeh Shah-Hosseini (director), Mohammad Dormanesh (director), Saeed Mostaghasi (film critic), and Kaveh Bahrami-Moqaddam (short film director) selected films and a jury consisting of Mehrdad Oskui (documentarian), Mohammad Reza Aslani (director), Mohammad Reza Arab (director), Abdollah Alimorad (animator), Mohammad Gabrlou (film critic), Ahmad Reza Garshasebi (director) and Mahnaz Mazaheri (arts expert) judged the films. The main problem with major Iranian film festivals (like Fajr Festival, Cinema Verite…) is high number of sections and prizes that are given out in the closing ceremony. This is also true about Tehran Short Film Festival. Best films, best director, best screenplay, best actor… were judged and introduced in ten sections. As a result of numerous sections, the closing ceremony usually talks hours to end and the audience is apt to lose sight of who has won the main prizes. Festival officials say high number of sections is meant to support and encourage young filmmakers. Like other important film festivals, Short Film Festival is an international event and this year’s edition included films from other countries. The best drama of international competition section was from Norway while a Scottish film won the festival statue. The best documentary and animation prizes went to Italian and Hungarian productions. From Iran, Mahaya Petrosian (famous actress of Iranian comedies) won the best film prize of the Asian competition section for her first experience in film direction. Other selected filmmakers of this year’s festival included Houman Seyedi, Naqi Ne’mati, Mahin Javaheriyan, Kaveh Bahrami-Moqaddam, and Houshmand Vara’i.
Monday, April 18, 2011
SIO Short Film Competition 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
How Not To Make A Short Film by Roberta Munroe
The Sundance shorts program began as a box of VHS tapes in 1989. In 2010 there were more than 6,000 short films submitted. For her five years as a shorts programmer Roberta Munroe was responsible for wading through them, deciding which ones would make it to Sundance.
I recently attended her excellent Short Film Workshop, where she posited an interesting theory; even though the number of shorts being made has exploded, the number of really good short films hitting the festivals each year hovers around 300. Whether there are 600 or 6,000 shorts sitting in the Sundance Institute’s mailbox this year, that’s generally the number that will be good.
Roberta’s book lays out the path to making one of those 300 with wit and candor. The book covers every stage of the filmmaking process, from story development and structure through exhibition and distribution. It’s wonderfully practical; addressing subjects as diverse as money, cameras, and festivals with an honesty that could only come from someone at the small end of the filmmaking funnel. Vide chapter titles like “Why 43 Minute Shorts Never Really Work,” and “How to avoid kicking your producer in the throat.”
Munroe emphasizes filmmaking as a collaborative process, highlighing the importance of underestimated contributors such as assistant directors, casting directors, editors and producers, all of whom play a vital role in most films’ success. Yes, you can do everything when you make a short. The result will be entirely yours, but will often be weaker than what you might have achieved with the aid and expertise of a few skilled professionals.
For interested parties there is also a heading on whether or not to go to film school. Hearing arguments on film school from a programmer’s perspective is refreshing (Columbia seems to be a favorite). The moral of the story; if you decide you can afford to go to film school, pick one that focuses on STORY.
With the proper help, commitment and faith, making a short film can be an amazing process. The digital age has brought us the greatest opportunities for short filmmakers since D.W. Griffith. This book attempts to make the process cleaner and more fun. Possibly even a reminder of why some of us didn’t end up going to law school
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Contemporary Short Films: Toyland by Jochen Alexander Freydank
“A film about ignorance, truth and the history of my country.”
-Jochen Alexander Freydank
Update: Jochen Alexander Freydank was rejected by german film schools five times. Finally, he decided to finance his short film “Toyland” on his own – and spent four years working on fourteen minutes of film. When he completed his film, it was rejected by every major German film festival. (Sources: Deutsche Welle and Die Welt) I’m glad that Freydank overcame these incredible hurdles to bring this hard and wonderful story into the world. That’s dedication.
The first thing I thought when I started to watch this year’s Oscar winning short film was; “not another World War II movie.” Having lived in Germany for three years now it can be downright boring to be constantly confronted with the second world war in cinema. The topic seems inexhausible, unlike most audiences.
I was cynical going into this film; I was weeping when it ended. All of my reservations were ovewhelmed by this simple, beautiful, human story. The film is available to watch in inferior quality without english subtitles here or as always in a high quality English-subtitled version on itunes for $1.99.
Toyland (Spielzeugland) tells the story of a young german boy in 1942. The jews are being rounded up for murder, including his best friend and fellow piano player’s family. His mother, in an attempt to shield him from the brutal truth, tells him that his friend is going to Toyland. The german boy of course wants to go too. Out of this simple premise grows a brilliant and heartwrenching short film.
In an interview with moving pictures magazine Freydank commented on the difficulty of making short films (and that’s in a country that subsidizes film production):
“Making short films is the most “unrewarding” thing one can possibly do – no commercial value, no budget; and financing is its own drama in itself.”
The film functions so well as a whole that it is difficult to break it into parts. The story is a masterpiece of Aristotelian storytelling, leading up to a remarkable peripeteia. One leaves shocked that it was only eleven minutes long, because in those eleven minutes more happens than in most two hour long films.
This film brought me through cynicism into a cleansing catharsis. Of all the Oscar winning short films I have seen, this one is my favorite. I am grateful to have seen it.
