Short Films eh? What’s that?

By The Short Circuit • Sep 2nd, 2007 • Filed under: Movies, Opinion, Thought

Short film is the most creative expression in filmmaking. Devoid of any commercial pressures, it offers limitless freedom for an outspoken view and creative outburst not seen in any form of filmmaking, writes Kunal Jhaveri, founder of The Short Circuit, India’s first short film screening and distribution company

A still from Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali’s 1929 short film “Un chien andalou”

Though short filmmaking is still in its infancy in India, shorts are often misunderstood as a medium and as a format. Shorts as a format have had a protracted history in India. In fact the first film to be made in India was a short (in 1897 by Harischandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar) But since then, their production has been mostly restricted to short newsreels produced by Films Division (remember those? They were quite a comic relief!) and film schools.

If we disregard these developments, shorts have a very recent and nascent history in India.

I think a short film is the most creative expression in filmmaking. Devoid of any commercial pressures, it offers limitless freedom for an outspoken view and creative outburst not seen in any form of filmmaking. When executed well they can be the truest forms of filmmaking.

Sadly this form of filmmaking is really marginalised in India. Forget expecting an average movie goer to understand the intricacies of short filmmaking, our producers and directors in our prolific film industry are themselves befuddled about this format. When short filmmakers eager to make their debut film offer their short film as part of their past work to producers, they are confronted with questions like Is it a telefilm? Or with blunt comments like ‘Oh! Don’t show me documentary’. Faced with such pitiable ignorance, one can only wait for the buzz for short films to spread, which can hopefully remove our producers from this spell of ignorance.

One incredible facet of shorts is its facility to subsume other genres and formats such as animation, documentary, experimental and mixed media.

No wonder this format is so compelling to filmmakers and viewers alike.

Another exciting aspect is its innate nature to encompass disparate topics. From dealing with your mother’s quirky habits to child sexual abuse, shorts offer everything in their fold.

Internationally Shorts are defined as any film which is from a minute to thirty minutes in duration, (sometimes up to 40 min. as defined by the ‘Academy’)

Short filmmakers worldwide are taking this up as a challenge rather than limitation. Creativity has no bounds in filmmaking and short films will be the first to harness it and push the envelope further.

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2 comments »

Bikas Mishra September 2nd, 2007 9:18 pm:
A much awaited post Kunal. Thankfully the perception is rapidly changing because initiatives like The Short Circuit. One of my filmmaker friend couldn’t believe that people actually buy tickets to watch short films. I remember the days when cinemas refused to play films division films and they had gone to the supreme court.
kay September 2nd, 2007 9:48 pm:
hi, i quite liked your post on short films. but yes short films are marginalized in our country. hope that in future more and more people would appreciate short films.