Final Cut: Take Three

When it comes to predicting the future of film - short films are a great place to start. This is where much of our feature film talent emerges from, not just in terms of directors and scriptwriters, but with regard to upcoming actors as well. Just a few years ago, directors such as Ivan Reitman (Thank You For Smoking), David Mackenzie (Young Adam and the upcoming Hallam Foe) and Andrea Arnold (Red Road) were finding their feet - and their audience - by making short films. Equally, actors including David Tennant and Peter Mullan have done their fair share of shorts on the way up.

This latest edition of Final Cut - put together by the Brighton-based independent short film exhibitors of the same name - is very welcome and definitely worth the modest £10.45 cover price, including postage and packing.

It features 16 shorts ranging from the ultra-swift experimental piece Flicker - which clocks in at just one minute - to lengthier dramas including the 12-minute Illegal and the superbly realised Stung.

Covering everything from comedy to pop video and animation, the disc contains something for everyone, and while some are less polished than others, several of the films here are excellent both in terms of story and technique.

For a review of each of the films on the disc, click the links below. The DVD is available to buy from www.finalcut.gb.com

So You Want To Make It In The Film Business
A comical guide to making a movie.
Illegal
Love blossoms between two illegal immigrants.
Faster Bigger Better More!
Fast-paced, abstract pop video.
Speed Date
An evening in the life of a speed dater.
Friday Nite Rite
Short about a man planning his night out - shot guerrilla style in the New York subway.
Rendezvous
Surreal drama in the sea.
A Brazillian Immigrant
Documentary on the Brazilian experience of clearing Customs to enter the UK.
The Wedding Day
A man gets up.
Dolls Haus
A stop-motion doll plays a surreal visit to a house.
Pilot For A 22nd Century Sitcom
The marital problems of a self-centred scientist in 2112.
Deleted
S&M thriller.
Stung
The reminiscences of an elderly beekeeper.
Flicker
Experimental black and white film recalling early cinema.
Delusion
Dark animation exploring the human condition.
3 Degrees
Split-screen examination of a love affair.
Team Queen
Pink and punky pop video for Triple Creme.