According to Sarah Morrison of The Independent, Britain is entering a golden era of the short film. Apparently the medium has moved out of art houses and into the mainstream as its popularity soars.
Charlie Chaplin built a career on them, and brands are now using them to sell their
latest products. The short film, once a slightly marginal staple of art houses and film
buffs, is experiencing a golden era in Britain and is reportedly reaching wider
audiences than ever before.
Advances in film-making technology and the growth of the internet are behind the
rise, experts say, but their popularity is down to more than digital progress. The
short film, with its capacity to convey ideas concisely, is capturing the mood of an
increasingly time-pressed, information-hungry generation.
Briony Hanson, director of film at the British Council, said we are at a “watershed
moment” when it comes to the proliferation of “perfect little vessels that tell a story
in their own right”. “We are looking at a golden era in Britain,” she said. “Just over
20 per cent of shorts in the total Sundance [Film Festival] selection were UK-made in
2012, while last year, the figure was 6 per cent.”
Festivals including Brief Encounters and the London Short Film Festival received
more submissions last year than ever before. Shorts International, which has the
world’s largest short film catalogue, had a 60 per cent increase in its sales over the
past five years and in April plans to extend its cable channel across Europe.
Future Shorts, the organisation behind the world’s largest pop-up short film festival,
launched a YouTube channel which gets two million monthly views, a 100 per cent
increase in the past year. Its founder, Fabien Riggall, wants to build a “thinking
man’s MTV channel”. He said: “People are looking for random little moments to be
inspired. The short film is the natural medium for that world.”
Brief encounters…
A Morning Stroll, Grant Orchard (2011)
Oscar-nominated short won the Bafta for best short animated film this year.
Love You More, Sam Taylor-Wood (2008)
Directorial debut by the Turner Prize-nominated artist.
Tooty’s Wedding, Frederic Casella (2011)
This 19-minute British comedy headed to Sundance this year.
Wasp, Andrea Arnold (2003)
This 26-minute short won Arnold an Oscar and catapulted her into a film-making
career.
Dog Altogether, Paddy Considine (2007)
Won a Bafta for best short film.
Robots of Brixton, Kibwe Tavares (2011)
Nominated for a Sundance award.
SARAH MORRISON – THE INDEPENDENT – SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2012