Portable Short Films

Peter hasn't slept in 19 days

A woman with an unusual burden journeys into the night.

A man can survive for three days without water. Before he starts to break down. Before he doesn't know himself anymore.

A journey somewhere unexpected; somewhere better.

Beyond a Joke is a documentary that gets under the skin of young comics and tries to fathom what motivates them to stand on stage armed with nothing but a microphone and some well prepared jokes, staring down ridicule.

Don't mess with the rabbit! Big Buck Bunny tells the story of a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself. When one sunny day the local forest bullies rudely harass him, something snaps... and the rabbit ain't no bunny anymore! A cartoon-styled revenge is in order...

t's a sunny day at a nice place where all newlyweds come to take pictures. But something will happen that tests their trust and faith in each other.

Buyer Beware is a black comedy about Kevin, a lonely twenty something, who constantly buys crazy things off the Internet like voodoo soup, cans of baby Mexican bees and a landmine. However, it's when he decides to buy a dead body that things get out of control...

There's one in every class. The Kid that wants to play on the good team so bad it hurts. This poor little fella really thinks he's quite the buff babe magnet. Unfortunately for him, he's just not cut out for athletics. Plus, his head is so big it needs its own zip code.

Some wild doves lose their way and lead the flock in the wrong direction. Finally, the entire flock, disoriented, die because of unsensed fighting.

Two detectives visit the scene of a grisly murder. Step by step the two put together the clues to work out what happened.

A flock of roosting crows, black as night themselves, are threatened by the advancing shadows at dusk. They need light for protection, so with the help of the Raven Chief they take a piece of the sun and use it to save themselves from the darkness. A beautiful, evocative piece of British animation.

An attempt to register the urban space in constant transition.

When little Dede tells something, nobody ever listens. At school he is the smallest and at home the baby twins make a lot of noise. His parents hardly have time for him. One day, Dede finds a dog, who walks him home and becomes his friend. But Dede's father discovers the dog and sends him to the pound. Now Dede is alone again, but something has changed; whenever he opens his mouth he barks like a real dog...

Distracted by an array of pastries, 'Dollar' Bill Greenburg has his beat-up car heisted from right under his nose. If the clues fit together, he might just have his revenge.

Drift sees the body as a metaphorical landscape. Eerie and sometimes too close for comfort the film manages to transform the familiar and mundane into something poetic and mysterious…

Sometimes, mystifying bonds are set up between people. Bonds which overcome distance, oblivion and unawareness. And when those bonds are created, they can become what we need to survive.

A seemingly sweet woman makes an unsettling confession to her young friend.

The friendship between two teenage boys is fractured by their conflicting responses to one night and one reckless act.

Kim stumbles, battered and bruised, through a pine tree forest. Her memory is failing her and she cannot remember why or how she happened to be there. But as events begin to uncoil themselves, she remembers someone who has changed, and possibly taken, her life.

Ms Rouge recounts her true tale of romantic intrigue in an animated comedy of errors about poetry, stalking, secret-admirers and love. She is elated when she finds an anonymous poem slipped under her door, for at the same time she is wooing a friend with love letters via text message, post and email. Could the stalkee and stalker be the very same person?

An outcome of the Berlin Film Festival's talent campus for 2008; a team of filmmakers were mentored by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) over the course of a week to come up with this tricky satire on the power of current affairs and urban myth.

Who's There?

Lucky Ducette, a young Vancouver man, must find the resolve to play the biggest ball-hockey game of his life on the day after his long time girlfriend has left him. He struggles to overcome his sorrow by escaping into extravagant fantasies, only to realize that it is the simple love of his childhood pastime that can truly bring him peace. An exploration of Canadian Culture, Kodiak is a story of passion, love, and understanding set against the backdrop of urban Vancouver. The field of dreams of Canadian ball-hockey. Hockey is merged into the daily life of 'Kodiak' as it is seen to be played on wet residential rooftops, bleak basement car parks and warm suburban streets. As Lucky wakes, his stick, 'Kodiak', is adorned on his bedroom wall and when he plays and is offered a superior hockey weapon, he sticks with his stick. 'Kodiak' is also visually innovative as it cuts and chops scenes up to the most creative extent. For example when Lucky gives his friend a lecture on the importance of the upcoming big game in a diner, the shot location changes in and out of Lucky giving his friend the same speech passionately in a suit at a press conference as his friend takes the role of a journalist. This insight into Lucky's hockey conviction is exemplified by the technically sublime transition of one dialogue between two separate scenes. This is also later demonstrated to full effect as Lucky speaks with his mother on the phone, only for her to suddenly appear and disappear and appear again at his kitchen table warmly with a cup of tea. 'Kodiak' achieves this multidimensional use of concurrent scenes exceptionally. Shot on 35mm Kodiak has a slick look to it. As lucky battles competitors on a makeshift hockey field, every interception and collision of other players is captured in full intensity. These shots also help to demonstrate time changes in the story. As Lucky reaches a game end climax the picture is one of grit, yet this is then juxtaposed with the image of young Lucky playing street ball in a warm imagine, that seems to bring out the best of every ray of light. Everything about 'Kodiak' is not only well conceived but also beautifully executed. It has just recently been awarded the Portable Choice Award and it is with great pleasure that we bring it back as part of our Canada Showcase. It premiered at the Vancouver Internationally Film Festival 2007, where director Andrew Mcleod was nominated for Best Emerging Director.

A portrait of an independent film maker and the lengths to which he will go to fulfil his celluloid dream. http://www.edwinmcgill.com http://www.kasimirburgess.com

Discovered in 1988, Marree Man in Central Australia is the largest land drawing in the world. But no one knows who created it - or do they? From the Mobidocs series.

A different kind of friend.

Incorporating archival footage and animation, this documentary is about Australia's foremost UFO investigator and Adelaide icon, 86 year old Colin Norris.

A 13 year old girl deals with her mother's Alzheimer's disease. Winner of Best Short Film at the Youtube Awards; Carte Blanche Selection, Short Film Corner, Cannes 2008.

Don't you hate it when some guy steals your parking space?

He'll help you draw, he'll help you erase; waste not want not...he's Pencil Face.

Poor Mrs Dombilard has lost her cat, Pushkin. Will she ever see her darling again?

In March 2007, the Imperial Games were held in Melbourne. One runner had a different finish line. To the police, Garnaweh Lutalo was a refugee. But what is breaking the law, when you have just one chance at a life?

What appears to be a common everyday shadow takes on monstrous proportions in this combination of eyewitness observation and surreal FX…

A young butcher is chased by a giant wolf through the streets of Madrid.

An essay film about childhood memories and burnt buildings.

It's the flower's birthday. He gets presents...painful ones.

A late night conversation takes a dark turn…

After the murder of an old man, Kevin, a psychotic removalist, is forced to take Jim, a temp, to clear out the dead mans house…

"A hangover tastes the same in every city." Shot in Galway, Prague and Melbourne this Irish fiddle player reflects on his old and new found addictions.

Rust and decay slowly but surely attack and erode our support structures. Undertow is an exploration of texture, movement and light within a freeform animation style. Constructed entirely from individual digital stills captured handheld with a Nokia Digital SLR camera, Undertow was nominated for a WA Screen Award in 2008.

A handcrafted paper world that comes alive, and many, many model dogs.

Parting Gifts is a modern myth told in the simplest form - dance. Words are not necessary in this film; words would get in the way. Once upon a time they fell in love. Then he met her best friend and it all started to go horribly wrong. Now she wants to leave. But he wants her to stay. Recipient of the Best Dance Film Award at OxDox

Being an apprentice is a rite of passage, an opportunity for those more experienced to 'have a go' at the new kid on the block - no matter what the industry.

Once upon a time, there was a great magician, who was living in the guise of an anonymous clerk at the Mystical Bank. Though he is surrounded by inimical people, he refrains from using his supernatural powers. An absurd tale based on a short story by Rene Daumal. A fairytale for grown-ups, with magicians, angry aunts and elephants.

We only confess the truth when the past catches up with us. Truth, by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis, is about the disconnection between two people who once knew each other intimately. From the Mobidocs series.

Brian borrows money from the Triads thinking he'll be treated differently because the Dai Goh is a personal friend. He finds out how differently when he fails to pay on time.

SMS is quick, easy, sometimes sexy and always to the point. But it is also the modern, surgical way to dump a lover. Mobile savvy singles reveal their views on the text etiquette of modern love. From the Mobidocs series.

The small child's world is wonderful and extremely complex. A seemingly unimportant event can lead to tragic disaster in child's life. On the other hand kindness of the baby soul is capable to work a miracle. And it can even to animate the tiny fish.

A visual diary of a little corner in Singapore called Katong during the 90s. Remembering a place that was about to disappear, (s) 439965 challenges the conventional boundaries between narrative and documentary.