HollyShorts Pt. 3 Final Films and the Oscar-Qualifying Winners

By Ben Miller

The virtual HollyShorts Film Festival is at an end.  Showcasing the newest and best films under 40 minutes, I was able to watch dozens of great short films across a myriad of categories.  Here are my thoughs on ten more films as well the festival winners...

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HollyShorts Pt. 2: Amanda Seyfried, Sofas, and Cigarettes

By Ben Miller

The virtual HollyShorts Film Festival is in full swing and begins to focus on specific genre categories as the days roll on.  It's an Oscar Qualifying Festival so nominees or even a future Oscar winner could well emerge. In part one we looked at nine shorts with a couple of familiar actors appearing. While there is just too much to cover, here are nine more highlights and a few more celebrity actors, too...

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HollyShorts Pt 1. Riz Ahmed and more...

By Ben Miller

The 17th annual HollyShorts Film Festival is underway virtually and live in Los Angeles and will be running through Friday, October 1.  This festival features a wide array of talented filmmakers presenting films which are under 40 minutes in length. I covered the festival last year where Oscar-winning animated short If Anything Happens I Love You (and other Oscar prospects) premiered. 

The opening days cover a number interesting short films, so here are notes on 9 that I screened including films starring Riz Ahmed and Jovan Adepo...

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HollyShorts 2 "Wonder Years"

by Tony Ruggio

Short films are the runt of the film community: small, sometimes slight, often ignored. They’re everything in film school and seemingly nothing on Oscar night, relegated so much to the fringes of discourse that some have suggested nixing them from the broadcast completely. But short films hold a special place in Hollywood’s machine, be it a training ground for future blockbuster directors or fresh voices in the constantly evolving indie scene.

The HollyShorts festival has several compilations. Ben covered the "Action" efforts so I hit "The Wonder Years," covering films set in high school or otherwise coming-of-age stories. Here are three that I think are worth a watch, whether due to their surprisingly famous cast or sheer quality...

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