*** Update: I have decided to make a whole new blog dedicated to Spanish Short Films. Check it out! http://freespanishshortfilms.blogspot.com/ ***
One of the ways I’ve been trying to learn Spanish is by using the “Telenovela method” of this guy. While I have to admit that I’m enjoying the shows rather than actually learning the language, I can safely say that I am picking up a number of words, not to mention getting used to the different accents of Spanish-speaking peoples.
I’ll be listing down the resources (and my short reviews) that I’ll be using for this purpose for my own log, and in hopes this may eventually help others as well. All links work as of latest noted date.
(Note: I’ll only be including short films with dialogue, though there sure are great short films sans talking out there! Think I’ll list them down someday.)
Spanish short films with English subtitles (that I’ve watched so far):
Tiempo, on Youtube [Time] (A multi-awarded short film narrated by a humble watch. Such genius in 10 minutes with wonderful shots, a subtle plot, and black-and-white significance. Wonderful, wonderful film.) – added 26nov13; ok10jan14
El Pasajero, on YouTube [The Passenger] (Academy Awards eligible in 2010! Great short film of 30+ minutes with desperate men and a budding friendship.) – added 21nov13; ok10jan14
La Culpa, on Youtube [Guilt] (A mindfuck of a movie, even though it’s less than 13 minutes. Features death, blood and spiraling stages of guilt. Totally understandable why it won a number of awards at film festivals. Brilliant!) – added 22nov13; ok10jan14
La Huida, on Vimeo [The Runaway] (Award-winning 10-minute film of too many details, and yet with not enough of them. Cute mystery flick. Lovely cinematography, great music, fun narrator.) – added 25nov13; ok10jan14
7:35 De La Mañana, on Youtube [7:35 In The Morning] (The cutest and weirdest thing in 8 minutes that I’ve seen so far. Every tried a flash mob to capture a girl’s heart? Yeah, that and it’s in black-and-white. The link vid’s got poor quality, but it suffices for me.) – added 22nov13; ok10jan14
Niebla, on Youtube [Fog] (7-ish minute beautiful animated short film. Rather poetic, what with talk of sheep from the sky and floating babies. Very nice, though – so nice to have won awards, too. Link’s got poor quality, but it suffices.) – added 22nov13; ok10jan14
Marisa, on Vimeo (A 3-minute film about a guy looking for a certain woman. Short but meaningful.) – added 25nov13; ok10jan14
Prescindibles [Dispensable] (A 3-minute serious film about a guy just trying to do his job, yet is made to take consequences for it. Simple genius.) – added 27nov13 (old link); ok10jan14
Pipas (A cute and comedic 3-minute film featuring two women talking about Pi. Funny! Note: “pipas” may be translated to the word “seed”.) – added 27nov13
Iniciación a la Fotografía (A fun 3-minute film with a couple interrupting an Introduction to Photography class. What a twist!) – added 27nov13
Bukkake (A funny little 3-minute film of a guy who wants to try bukkake with his girl. Funny, funny, funny! Spoiler-ish note: does not actually have a bukkake scene, hah.) – added 27nov13
Ventanitas, on Vimeo (A less-than-1-minute film of a guy, a girl, and little windows. Learn the phrase: Que te follen.) – added 27nov13
Kiss Me (A funny little 2-minute film about a girl who only wants a guy to kiss her to prove his love – not some night out in Paris, just a little kiss. Warning: starts out with a sex scene.) – added 27nov13
J. Kramer (Best 3-minute action-adventure film I’ve watched so far! Funny little ditty about a guy named J. Kramer.) – added 27nov13 (new link: http://jamesonnotodofilmfest.com/edicion/xi/ganadores.html?id=cw5121410564e87)
Sirenito, on Youtube [Little Siren] (A 6-ish minute indie film about a little boy who wants a special costume for the party. Features an overly supportive mother, and ends with a light, if not humorous, touch. Apparently got a number of awards and all that.) – added 22nov13
Push Up, on Youtube (A 3-minute film about a man getting mad about a woman curtailing beauty, and by beauty, I mean breasts. Silly.) – added 27nov13
Fist of Jesus (YT) (A 14-ish minute comedy slasher flick with lots of gruesome gore, a killing Christ, and lots of fish. High tolerance is recommended – the gore is amazingly gross.) – added 25nov13
Diez Minutos, on Youtube [Ten Minutes] (A 10+ minute film about a call center agent and her desperate customer. Pulls some heartstrings.) – added 22nov13
Sígueme, on Youtube or on Vimeo (A 12-minute film about two men, a woman, and a special relationship. Features a sex scene, and homosexuality comes to play here. I got a little surprised by the turn of events. This was said to have won an award at the Madrid International Gay and Lesbian Film Fest, btw. I believe the title may be translated into something like “Follow Me”.) – added 26nov13
Fracasados Por El Mundo (A 3-minute mockumentary about José, who moved to Hungary from Spain. He describes magnificent landmarks as “grey buildings”. Fun. Spanishdict.com loosely translates the title to “Losers in the World” or “Failed by the World”.) – added 27nov13
Pensar Eterno, on YouTube [Eternal Thought] (Less-than-20-minute indie film about a mom and her child diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Peppered with information about the condition, but decent movie nevertheless.) – added 21nov13
Horoscopo, on Youtube [Horoscope] (A 10-minute film about a man and a woman, and their supposed differences due to their horoscopes. Cute.) – added 25nov13
Waterland, on Youtube (A 3-minute documentary that seems to aim for a kind of preserve-the-environment message.) – added 27nov13
Mal, on Youtube [Wrong] (A 22-minute indie film that tackles people seemingly stuck making the wrong choices. I’d think this was a kind of PG-13 movie, since it has some violence and alcohol use. Interesting in its own gritty way. Warning: subtitles seem off every so often.) – added 21nov13
El Fin del Mundo (A 3-minute film featuring a man, his backpack, and a radio.) – added 27nov13
Enjoy Your Life (A 2-minute film about a service designed to help you enjoy your life. Call now!) – added 27nov13
Styncat (A geeky 2-minute action-adventure film with fun little references of modern times – #trending, Instagram, and getting famous on Youtube. Sound and video quality are poor, but the concept’s fun and quite the tribute for teh interwebz. Keep calm and YOLO.) – added 27nov13
Amigos (A 3-minute film about three friends who meet up to have a couple of beers. Hit quite a nerve with me, because this how my friends are sometimes. How different communication is now as opposed to then.) – added 27nov13
La Corona de Sofía (A 3-minute mixed media film about a girl born to wear a crown. Interesting, to say the least – especially the post-prod work!) – added 28nov13
Al Escondite (Aww, a less-than-a-minute film about a boy playing hide-and-seek with his friends. Cute and funny!) – added 28nov13
Número De Placa [Badge Number] (A 3-minute simple film about protests, police and soccer fandom. Them Spanish do love their soccer.) – added 28nov13
En Bruto (A 2-minute documentary within a documentary. So simple, and yet so meta. Great shots, interesting concept. Spanishdict.com translates the title to the word “raw”.) – added 28nov13
En Fase Térmica (Fun 3-minute mockumentary about a brave man named Jesús, who wants to be an entrepreneur. Funny!) – added 28nov13
Deflectores (A less-than-2-minute film that features reports about an asteroid about to hit Spain. Funny ending!) – added 28nov13
Jesusito De Mi Vida, on Vimeo [Dear Child Jesus] (A 10-minute award-winning drama-packed film about a little boy fervently praying for Jesus to take away his fear. Interesting end note.) – added 6dec13
Marionetas, on MetaCafe.com [Puppets] (A 2-minute film about puppets waiting for Godot to arrive. Nice, and beautiful in its simplicity. The description has this to say: “An adaptation of the surrealist play “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett.”) – added 9dec13
Juan Con Miedo, on Vimeo [Fearful John] (A 10-minute film about a girl, a boy and a haunted house story. Tinged with creepiness. I hope that ending sets things right in the world.) – added 23dec13
La Ruta Natural, on Vimeo [The Natural Route] (A 10-minute film about a man seeing his life flash before his eyes. Very moving, and what a great ending-or is it beginning? Won a couple of awards.) – added 7jan14
La Leyenda Del Espantapájaros, on Youtube [The Legend of the Scarecrow] (A 10-minute award-winning sad, sad, sad animated film of a scarecrow amidst a world of unfriendly birds and fearful masters. A dark and tear-jerking story.) – added 7jan14
Desire on a Fall Afternoon, on Youtube (A 6-minute subdued though titillating film about a girl watching a boy on a rainy afternoon. Whose desire is it? Hmm.) – added 10jan14
TDK (Twice Disabled Knight / El Guerrero Sordociego), on Vimeo (Described as “Three boys on the way back home witness an odd hero in action”. It’s a fun, genius little film! There was a moment of seemingly supposed silence, but it’s important, so don’t think the vid’s broke. This is great stuff.) – added 10jan14
Special Mention
I’ve noticed that films with Spanish subtitles (but with English audio) may be of help too, so I’ll be listing down here what films of that nature that I encounter.
INSiDE, on YouTube (A brilliant 5-minute film about man with multiple personality disorder.) – added 9dec13
Thanks for listening!
