Don’t Sell The Shorts Short: 3 Directors Tell Us About Their Sundance Debuts

In the film world, there’s a joke that shorts are “really expensive business cards for directors.” But filmmaker Bridget Moloney doesn’t see it that way. Moloney’s short film Blocks is one of more than 70 shorts showing at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival currently underway in Park City, Utah. For Moloney, shorts are “beautiful and interesting in and of themselves.” Filmmaker Chloé Aktas, whose short film Lance (in a Neck Brace) is also playing at the festival, says making these films is an exercise in being creative within strict boundaries. (Sundance defines shorts as films that come in at 49 minutes and under.) Unlike Moloney, Aktas sees short films as “calling cards” — often made with limited resources, “little to no money” and within time constraints. The shorts at Sundance range across genres, including documentary, animation and experimental. Mike Plante, senior programmer of short film at Sundance, says that when his team is selecting shorts for the festival they are looking for