25 Favorite Shorts
best films under 40 minutes
People ask me, “Where do you see short films?” The answer is that I discover most of them as supplements on discs put out by the Criterion Collection. Some I hear of by word of mouth and find online. (You can likely find most of these online somewhere.) Some I have watched at screenings of that year’s Oscar-nominated shorts. And others I seek out and buy in collections based on my love of the director’s work. I’m quite a completist, so I feverishly hunt down everything done by the directors I love.
Why twenty-five? Well, a short film is defined as forty minutes or less. So, some favorites (like Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr., 45 minutes) just can’t be added. Many are not good enough to make a “best of” list. And I wanted to get Song of Styrene in there, because it is so unique, creative, and delightful. And that originally brought me to fifteen. I decided that I could add television specials of the correct length, and then I had to keep going to 25 (because “Top 22” will never happen on my watch).
The 21 (2024) 13 minutes, Directed by Tod Polson
Joseph Kilian (1964) 38 minutes, Directed by Pavel Juráček, Jan Schmidt
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) 25 minutes, Directed by Chuck Jones
Black and White Sylva (1962) 27 minutes, Directed by Jan Schmidt
Tuba Atlantic (2010) 25 minutes, Directed by Hallvar Witzø
One A.M. (1916) 25 minutes, Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Behemoth: Or the Game of God (2016) 13 minutes, Directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Uncle (1959) 6 minutes, Directed by Jaromil Jireš
Prologue (2004) 5 minutes, Directed by Béla Tarr
Orderly or Disorderly? (1981) 17 minutes, Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) 25 minutes, Directed by Bill Melendez
Statues Also Die (1953) 30 minutes, Directed by Chris Marker, Alain Resnais
Nest (2022) 22 minutes, Directed by Hlynur Pálmason
World of Glory (1991) 17 minutes, Directed by Roy Andersson
Hotel Chevalier (2007) 13 minutes, Directed by Wes Anderson
Live from Shiva’s Dance Floor (2003) 21 minutes, Directed by Richard Linklater
The Immigrant (1917) 24 minutes, Directed by Charlie Chaplin
A Boring Afternoon (1965) 13 minutes, Directed by Ivan Passer
Paperman (2012) 7 minutes, Directed by John Kahrs
Presto (2008) 5 minutes, Directed by Doug Sweetland
The Junk Shop (1965) 31 minutes, Directed by Juraj Herz
Song of Styrene (1957) 13 minutes, Directed by Alain Resnais
Six Shooter (2004) 27 minutes, Directed by Martin McDonagh
The Black Imp (1905) 4 minutes, Directed by Georges Méliès
The Cook in Trouble (1904) 4 minutes, Directed by Georges Méliès