My 25 Favourite Live Action Short Films
by Jamespjc | created - 03 Jan 2011 | updated - 18 Aug 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. La Jetée (1962)
Not Rated | 28 min | Short, Drama, Romance
The story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III's devastation, told through still images.
Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich
Votes: 37,019
2. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Passed | 45 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly
Votes: 56,848 | Gross: $0.98M
3. My Childhood (1972)
Not Rated | 46 min | Biography, Drama
The First part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from... See full summary »
Director: Bill Douglas | Stars: Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Karl Fieseler
Votes: 1,393
4. Zero for Conduct (1933)
Not Rated | 47 min | Drama
In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
Director: Jean Vigo | Stars: Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Louis Lefebvre, Du Verron
Votes: 9,351
5. The Heart of the World (2000)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action, Fantasy
A scientist chooses a wealthy man over her two lovers but must heal the earth's core to save humanity.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Leslie Bais, Caelum Vatnsdal, Shaun Balbar, Greg Klymkiw
Votes: 3,587
6. A Day in the Country (1946)
Not Rated | 40 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love with a man at the inn, where they spend the day.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Sylvia Bataille, Jane Marken, Georges D'Arnoux, André Gabriello
Votes: 7,089
7. My Ain Folk (1973)
Not Rated | 55 min | Biography, Drama
Jamie and Tommy are separated by the death of their grandmother; Jamie with another relative and Tommy to a welfare home. Now Jamie is all alone and his life is not at all happy taken over by silence, rejection and violence.
Director: Bill Douglas | Stars: Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Bernard McKenna
Votes: 1,008
8. Un chien andalou (1929)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Fantasy, Horror
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Pancho Cossío
Votes: 53,757
9. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,661
10. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
Not Rated | 14 min | Short, Fantasy, Mystery
A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
Directors: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid | Stars: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
Votes: 15,185
11. Simon of the Desert (1965)
Not Rated | 45 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Simon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him to come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Claudio Brook, Silvia Pinal, Enrique Álvarez Félix, Hortensia Santoveña
Votes: 10,821
12. Alice in Wonderland (1903)
9 min | Short, Family, Fantasy
This is the first movie version of the famous story. Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors.
Directors: Cecil M. Hepworth, Percy Stow | Stars: May Clark, Cecil M. Hepworth, Blair, Geoffrey Faithfull
Votes: 2,876
13. A Dog's Life (1918)
Not Rated | 33 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
The Little Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Dave Anderson, Bert Appling
Votes: 9,626
14. Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958)
15 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
Two men emerge from the sea onto the beach carrying a large wooden wardrobe with a mirror on its front. After the two men clean up and rejoice being in this new environment, they proceed to... See full summary »
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jakub Goldberg, Henryk Kluba, Andrzej Kondratiuk, Barbara Lass
Votes: 2,750
15. The Little Chaos (1967)
9 min | Short, Comedy, Crime
Theo, Marite, and Franz cannot make any money selling magazines door to door, so they try a little robbery.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Christoph Roser, Marite Greiselis, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Greta Rehfeld
Votes: 1,106
16. Antoine and Colette (1962)
32 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
Antoine Doinel is 17, lives in a hotel and works in a factory making records; he loves music. He falls in love with a woman he meets at a concert. She sees him as a friend, but her parents love him.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marie-France Pisier, Patrick Auffay, Jean-François Adam
Votes: 6,337
17. World of Glory (1991)
17 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
After witnessing an act of unprecedented violence without even flinching, an emotionally numb real-estate agent visits his ailing mother at the hospital, and then, the graveyard. Is there a speck of happiness in this cruel and short life?
Director: Roy Andersson | Stars: Klas-Gösta Olsson, Lennart Björklund, Christer Christensen, Bernard Eiger
Votes: 2,802
18. La cabina (1972 TV Movie)
35 min | Drama, Horror
A man gets trapped inside a telephone box and nobody is able to free him.
Director: Antonio Mercero | Stars: José Luis López Vázquez, Agustín González, Goyo Lebrero, Tito García
Votes: 4,564
19. Chess Fever (1925)
Not Rated | 20 min | Comedy, Short
With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancée has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his ... See full summary »
Directors: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Mykola Shpykovskyi | Stars: José Raúl Capablanca, Vladimir Fogel, Anna Zemtsova, Natalya Glan
Votes: 1,475
20. Copy Shop (2001)
12 min | Drama, Short, Comedy
Unknowingly, a copy shop employee sets off a bizarre series of events with utterly unforeseen consequences.
Director: Virgil Widrich | Stars: Johannes Silberschneider, Elisabeth Ebner-Haid
Votes: 1,801
21. Little Minx Exquisite Corpse: Come Wander with Me (2008)
4 min | Short, Music
Director: Phillip Van | Stars: Cuba Scott, Kate Tomlinson, Ryan Gesell
Votes: 54
22. Song of Love (1950)
Not Rated | 26 min | Short, Drama, Fantasy
Two prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.
Director: Jean Genet | Stars: Bravo, Jean Genet, Java, Coco Le Martiniquais
Votes: 3,702
23. Ménilmontant (1926)
38 min | Short, Drama
A couple is brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters, both in love with a Parisian thug and leading them to separate ways.
Director: Dimitri Kirsanoff | Stars: Nadia Sibirskaïa, Yolande Beaulieu, Guy Belmont, Jean Pasquier
Votes: 2,727
24. 7:35 de la mañana (2003)
8 min | Musical, Short
A woman enters a restaurant one morning - only to be met with silence instead of people talking.
Director: Nacho Vigalondo | Stars: Marta Belenguer, Nacho Vigalondo, Antonio Tato, Borja Cobeaga
Votes: 2,599
25. Soft (2006)
14 min | Short, Drama
A father rediscovers his fear of confrontation at the worst possible time.
Director: Simon Ellis | Stars: Jonny Phillips, Matthew O'Shea, Michael Socha, Ashley Marshall
Votes: 793
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