By Oli Lewington
The Cinema 16 series, which gets a third disc this month, is fast becoming the most acclaimed collection of short films on DVD.
Preceded by Cinema 16: British Short Films and Cinema 16: European Short Films, the latest release continues the trend of A-list directors’ short subject work collected on a single disc of 16 movies, accompanied by director’s commentary on most of them, creating a film school in a single disc.
Previous editions have included work by Ridley Scott, Mike Leigh, Christopher Nolan and Jean-Luc Godard, and the calibre is matched on this disc, with contributions from Tim Burton, Alexander Payne, George Lucas and Gus Van Sant.
What makes the collection unique and inviting is the inclusion of some less well-known directors, like this year’s Sundance winner, The Wraith of Cobble Hill, a strangely mesmerising animated tale directed by Adam Parish King.
One of the real gems of this disc is undoubtedly internet cult favourite, George Lucas in Love, which is not only a wonderful short and inspired parody, but with Joe Nussbaum’s director’s commentary, it becomes a lesson in the art of the short-as-calling-card.
Similarly, Terry Tate: Office Linebacker, the creation of Rawson Marshall Thurber, is a comic masterpiece which was originally shot on video before being picked up by Reebok and remade in the form you get on this disc. For reference spotters, keep your ears peeled for the Office Space nod and watch for the early ideas and concepts that would filter into the Thurber written/directed Dodgeball.
For those who prefer their shorts of the cerebral variety, there’s the political commentary that is George Lucas’ debut short from USC, Freiheit, or the more non-sensical Necrology, which even the director Standish Lawder admits in his talk-track is pretentious.
There’s also a fair splash of the usual short-subject mainstay of surrealism, too, as well as documentary, animation and narrative drama to round off the playlist.
What makes the Cinema 16 series fascinating is the juxtaposition of the regular with the bold, the inspired with the pretentious nonsense – everything you’d expect from a film festival contained on a single disc.
Not all of the shorts on the American Short Films disc are going to be to everyone’s taste, but in combining such a wide selection of pieces, Cinema 16 have ensured that the collection is a must-have for all serious film fans - to see where big-name directors of today have come from; to see the best the short form can offer; to better understand the ideas and conventions of the short film “genre”.
Most of all, these discs are of inestimable value to all of the young, budding filmmakers out there. The American collection shows just how versatile short form can be and how the different approaches can work for and against a film, depending on personal taste and the stories the filmmakers want to tell.
No self-respecting film fan’s collection is complete without the Cinema 16 series on the shelf.
Cinema 16: American Short Films was released on June 5 th and is available to buy now.
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