What is a good short film/TV episode under 60 minutes?

December 31, 2022 11:38 PM

I am teaching an ESL class and want to show a movie or TV show for an upcoming class, but I only have about 95 minutes in total. What are some good short films or TV episodes that are in the 30-60 minute range?

The students are Japanese university students. As this is an ESL class, of course it should be in English. No sex, only superficial violence. A short film would be nice but after looking at several, it seems most of them are short, like 5 to 10 minutes. Pixar shorts are nice, but again, too short. I want something with a bit more substance than that, but feature films almost always run at least 90 minutes, which is too long. Know of any short films that are more like 45-ish minutes? That would be the ideal length. A TV show episode might be good if it is self-contained. Anything to provoke discussion.

posted by zardoz to Education (12 answers total)

This might be cheating because it's part one of a two part series but The Bob Emergency: Part I is 42 minutes. One nice thing about it is Jon Bois has a remarkable facility with turns of phrase. Additionally, it's a documentary with near constant narration, so there's a lot of words words words. It has an interesting topic and the visuals are well done. And maybe Part I might be rewarding because Part II exists and is out and is free to view so anybody who gets intrigued by the first part would be able to watch the second part on their own. Downside: if it's dialogue you're after this wouldn't fit the bill.
posted by foxfirefey at 12:08 AM on January 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is maybe an odd suggestion, but I was wondering about episodes of Mythbusters? No real offensive content, the myths tend to have something of a logical order to them, there's a narrator with a good clear voice and there tends to be a little repetition into and out of commercial breaks. 45 minutes or so, stand alone, it's an entertaining show. I'd look at episodes from the middle seasons (say 4 to 10) which have a secondary build team with a couple of more people, including Grant Imahara, who was of Japanese descent.
posted by Superilla at 1:11 AM on January 1, 2023 [8 favorites]

The Neighbours’ Window is excellent, and I think at 20 minutes it is probably close to what you are looking for in terms of length and completeness. It won best live-action short at the 2020 Oscars. I have used it as a teaching tool and the students had quite a bit to say about it. It’s based on a true story that was originally recounted on the podcast Love + Radio.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:31 AM on January 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Here is a list of suggested films for supporting ESL classes - chosen in this case because each also has an associated book. Some possibilities but many ruled out by duration. Other suggestions from me: original version of Little Shop of Horrors or original version of Cat People. Both a little over an hour but maybe doable.
posted by rongorongo at 4:31 AM on January 1, 2023

How advanced are the students? I used Modern Family episodes with my advanced adult conversational English students, starting w Season 1, Episode 1, and they loved being able to boost their colloquial AmE vocabulary. They also found it hilarious. :) No sex, though you may have to pre-screen for double entendres. Of course, two main characters are a gay couple, so I don’t know if that’s considered age-appropriate or not, in your context.
posted by leticia at 5:59 AM on January 1, 2023

Episodes from anthology shows could work. IMDB says there are episodes of Black Mirror around the 50-minute mark, for example (not sure which ones work wrt sex or violence).
posted by trig at 8:20 AM on January 1, 2023

House? Pretty tame and engaging self contained episodes.
posted by mani at 10:03 AM on January 1, 2023

Academy Award winning live action short films

My personal favorite: God of Love (18 minutes)
posted by nickggully at 11:30 AM on January 1, 2023

Revolting Rhymes would be great for this. It's a mixture of on screen dialogue and voice over narration, cleanly delivered in a way that kids can follow but is entertaining for adults as well. The two animated episodes are each a half hour long and are self-contained stories.
posted by brachiopod at 12:36 PM on January 1, 2023

Tweak this IMDb search to your taste: rating higher than 8 with more than 100 votes, between 50-60m, English language.
posted by rhizome at 1:24 PM on January 1, 2023

In the middle of the 20th century, US television had a lot of anthology series where they broadcast one-hour plays. Example: "Patterns" (Wikipedia article), a 1955 episode of the NBC television series, Kraft Television Theatre. Written by Rod Serling, who went on to make The Twilight Zone.
posted by brainwane at 8:57 AM on January 2, 2023

The Crush - Oscar nominated short film at 15 minutes.
posted by rongorongo at 6:20 AM on January 9, 2023