Adventure

Kagemono: The Shadow Folk

Craving for another spellbinding animation? Then push that play button and devour on the magnificent short, Kagemono: The Shadow Folk. Created by Sabrina Cotugno as a fourth year project in the California Institute of the Arts , this 4-minuter film revolves around a little fox who goes hunting on the woods, without knowing what strange discoveries lay ahead. One thing that makes this film standout is its classic, Ghibi-like visuals. It creates a nostalgic experience for those who grew up with old-school animation. I love how it’s packed with strange beings that deliver a subtle, fantasy world that’s easy to understand.

Inner Steppe

Treat your eyes with another stellar short film by Alex Schulz. Inner Steppe is a stop-motion animation based on the work of Herman Hesse and Carl Gustav Jung. Just like the character of Harry Haller in Hesse's Steppenwolf, the film revolves around an isolated main character who traverses the inner landscapes of his ego consciousness and collective unconsciousness. Through this process, he meets different characters that impersonates his repressed needs and pleasures in life.

Extranjero

Whether it’s a coffee break or a quick nap, cancel whatever you’re doing and watch the adrenaline-filled, blood-pumping Extranjero. Shot in just over two days, Extranjero is the first ever winner of the Sundance London Film and Music Festival. It tells the story of refugee running from his past as well as the confusion in his own mind. It’s directed by former flat mates Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell better known as The Queen.

Shattered

Experience a young man’s dream and nightmare in Shattered, a short film by renowned Aspen-based photographer and cinematographer Tyler Stableford. After summiting the impossible, an elite climber finds himself empty. Shattered and alone, he searches a fulfillment higher than a mountain peak. This five-minuter film has already garnered international recognition including an official selection for 5 Point Film Festival and New Zealand Mountain Film Festival, and Mountain Film in Telluride, among others.

Birdboy

Based on the 2007 graphic novel PSICONAUTAS, Birdboy by Pedro Rivero and Alberto Vásquez offers a dark fairytale on love and suffering. With positive reviews after its release, the 13-minute animation has already garnered awards and recognition such as being pre-selected for the 84th Academy Awards. The short film tells the story of transformation of a beautiful island to a graveyard due to an industrial accident. Birdboy, an outcast of society, tries to escape the god-forsaken place with his fantasies of flying with the one he loves.

Waltz for One

Get ready for some mind games in Waltz For One. This a short film released last June 19 to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the longest solo space flight in history by Valey Bykovsky with a total flight time of four days and 23 hours. The short is directed by John Merizalde and cinematography by David Torcivia. It's produced by Takashi Doscher with a budget of only $700. Set during the space race of the 1960s, the film follows the journey of Arthur Whitman, an eccentric rich man who sets out to a self-financed voyage to break the longest single-manned space to orbit for one week.

The Streets of the Invisibles

The famous street drama of the 70’s is back in today’s most helpful tool, Google Street View. Directed by Remo Rauscher and produced by the University of Applied Sciences, Hagenberg Campus, Austria, The Streets of the Invisibles is a web-2.0 animated short exclusively using Google imagery. It has aready gained a lot of buzz in festivals and award giving bodies across the globe. The film revives the TV series The Streets of San Francisco as Mike Stone (Karl Maden) and Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) are back once again on today’s street to catch a homicidal maniac who should have been incarcerated thirty years ago.

The Chase (2012)

Hearts will stop in the action-packed 3D animation The Chase by Tomás Vergara, a self-taught artist from Chile. Because of his passion for film, he left his day job in advertising and made this visual masterpiece. For eight months and with only US $700, Vergara isolated himself in a cabin on the woods and followed his dream to produce an animated film. The result was The Chase, a short piece revolving on a newbie hitman who's job goes on the loose.

Calvaire Fruité

Treat yourself with Calvaire Fruit�, an animated short that blends pleasing visuals with spiky chuckles. Lined with a dark humor, the 6-minuter uses the unexpected meeting of two contrasting characters as a perfect material for its limited runtime. The story is a chase between Bold, an extremely tall character who meets Dirt, a small and sickly bum who struggles for survival. It�s directed by Ghayth Chegaar, Eddy Loukil and Victor Jardel.