Short films worth watching

September 10, 2013 9:02 AM

After watching Paraiso as promoted on the Blue and Tower of David, about the world's tallest slum, I'd love to watch more of these well done short film documentaries. What do you recommend? Social and international issues, health, history..etc (online or on Netflix) are appreciated.
posted by xicana63 to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Response by poster: I forgot to mention and by short I mean around the 10 min mark! Thanks again!
posted by xicana63 at 9:04 AM on September 10, 2013

I really enjoyed The Hole, a ~10 minute look at a unique Brooklyn neighborhood.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:19 AM on September 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

There is a fascinating documentary about the slums of Rio De Janerio on the "City of God" DVD. The documentary is very informative and served as inspiration for the film.
posted by dope_feeny at 9:36 AM on September 10, 2013

I should also mention a recent favorite, Kent Mackenzie's "Bunker Hill, 1956" - a quiet but moving look at the losers in Los Angeles' mid-century "urban renewal" and an elegy for what was lost. It's available as an extra on the Criterion DVD of his extraordinary film "The Exiles".
posted by ryanshepard at 9:48 AM on September 10, 2013

This is a short doc made by a film student about his father's past addiction to Beanie Babies. An interesting look into the lengths some people took during that craze.
posted by duffell at 10:27 AM on September 10, 2013

Isle of Flowers (1989) is a classic experimental Brazilian doc.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 12:05 PM on September 10, 2013

Here are a bunch of interesting short videos on the Afghan Box Camera, or "kamra-e-faoree."

The Last Ice Merchant (El Último Hielero) is a short documentary about Baltazar Ushca Tenesaca, the last ice merchant of Chimborazo, who still "mines" ice from Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Equador.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:15 PM on September 10, 2013

Also, if you liked Paraiso, New York Times has more Op-Docs, "short-form films that express distinctive opinions and perspectives."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:22 PM on September 10, 2013

I reallly like the short work of Sean Dunne who won the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival award for best new documentarian. Some of the videos on his website don't precisely fit your length parameters but the short ones are all free to watch.
posted by vapidave at 9:36 PM on September 10, 2013