My Neighbourhood Has Been Overrun By Tropfest

Last night I went and watched the Tropfest festival at Melbourne’s Federation Square.

I’m a big fan of short films and Australia is blessed to have such a cool festival.  (World’s biggest short film festival).

Hundreds of people enter short (less than 7 minutes) films every year and the 16 finalists are screened at public venues around Australia.

There were quite a few animated films and almost all of the finalists were comedies of one manner.  My favorite was Fish Lips, a quirky film that aimed towards a similar sense of humor that you can find in Amelie.

The winning film, Shock had a great ending.  The second place  getter, My Neighborhood Has Been Overrun By Baboons, was another favorite of mine.

A complete list of the winners is available at the Tropfest site.

You can watch the winners online at Tropfest Online Videos

It’s interesting to compare the success of funny short films to comedic short fiction.   I think making the written word funny is a lot harder than making a short film funny.  Apart from the obvious lack of visual gags, it’s easier to establish a quick identification with a character when you can see the actor.