Support the Shorts: You Can Watch a Selection of SXSW 2021 Short Films For Free Right Now

The virtual SXSW is over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on some of the movie action. The folks at Oscilloscope Laboratories and Mailchimp have once again put together a program to #SupportTheShorts, allowing viewers to watch a bunch of SXSW 2021 short films online for free. The shorts include titles like Chuj Boys of Summer (directed by Max Walker-Silverman) and Malignant (directed by Morgan Bond), just to name a few. There are local films from Texas, creepy Midnight titles, documentary shorts, and more.

I know we’re all busy these days, even while stuck at home, but you owe it to yourself to carve out some time for short films. After all, they’re short, which means you don’t have to devote two hours of your life to them. Last year, when SXSW was canceled, short filmmakers missed out on the chance to show off their work. To help alleviate that, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Mailchimp teamed-up to give the shorts a digital home.

This year, SXSW went ahead virtually, but O-Scop and Mailchimp have decided to continue making several short film titles from the fest available, and you can watch them for free right here. “We’re so proud to bring back Support the Shorts, a collection of short films from SXSW, for a second year!” said Sarita Alami, Head of Programming, Mailchimp Studios. “Although the festival is back in an online format, we wanted to continue to find ways to support the SXSW filmmaker community and shine a light on their work. We’re particularly delighted to introduce a new set of awards to celebrate the filmmakers who are bringing works of art to our screens during the most unprecedented of times.”

Dan Berger, President, Oscilloscope Laboratories, added: “Although the festival is back in an online format, we wanted to continue to find ways to support the SXSW filmmaker community and shine a light on their work. We’re particularly delighted to introduce a new set of awards to celebrate the filmmakers who are bringing works of art to our screens during the most unprecedented of times.”

And Janet Pierson, Director of Film, SXSW Film Festival, said: “We are thrilled that Mailchimp Presents has returned for a second year to celebrate and support SXSW Short film programming by presenting a collection of short films from SXSW Online this year. It’s fantastic that the creators are getting to share their work further, and rewarding for all of us that we get more time to enjoy this terrific new work.”

I haven’t watched any of the shorts from this year yet, but I watched a bunch offered on this same platform last year and came away enjoying several of them. Like a good short story, good short movie can be somewhat magical, managing to unfold a complete, complicated narrative in a limited amount of time. It takes skill to pull it off.

A full list of the films available can be seen below.

Narrative Shorts

• Are You Still There? (directors/screenwriters: Rayka Zehtabchi & Sam Davis)
• Chuj Boys of Summer (director: Max Walker-Silverman; screenwriters: Marcos Ordoñez Ixwalanhkej Mendoza & Max Walker-Silverman)
• The Journey (director/screenwriter: Ève Saint-Louis)
• Marvin’s Never Had Coffee Before (director: Andrew Carter; screenwriters: Andrew Carter & Kahlil Maskati)
• The Nipple Whisperer (director/screenwriter: Jan Van Dyck)
• The Other Morgan (director/screenwriter: Alison Rich)
• Plaisir (director/screenwriter: Molly Gillis)
• Sales Per Hour (directors: Michelle Uranowitz & Daniel Jaffe; screenwriter: Michelle Uranowitz)
• Sisters (director/screenwriter: Jess Brunetto)
• Squeegee (director/screenwriter: Morgan Krantz)

Documentary Shorts

• Plant Heist (directors: Chelsi de Cuba & Gabriel de Cuba)
• Ten Leaves Dilated (directors: Kate E. Hinshaw & Ebony Blanding)
• Trade Center (director: Adam Baran)

Animated Shorts

• Our Bed Is Green (director/screenwriter: Maggie Brennan)

Midnight Shorts

• Flick (director/screenwriter: Ariel Zengotita)
• Joanne Is Dead (director/screenwriter: Brian Sacca)
• Puss (director/screenwriter: Leah Shore)
• Reklaw (director/screenwriter: Polaris Banks)
• Run That Shit! (director: Tristan Kim; screenwriters: Tristan Kim & Will Allyn Robinson)
• Significant Other (director/screenwriter: Quinn George)
• Stuffed (director: Theo Rhys; screenwriters: Theo Rhys & Joss Holden-Rea
• A Tale Best Forgotten (director/screenwriter: Tomas Stark)

Texas Shorts

• Malignant (directors: Morgan Bond & Nickolas Grisham; screenwriters: Nickolas Grisham & Curtis McOsker)
• The Unlikely Fan (directors: Sai Selvarajan & Jeff Bednarz; screenwriter: Sai Selvarajan)

Texas High School Shorts

• Beyond the Model (director: Jessica Lin)
• Holographic Dreams (director: Satvik Shankar; screenwriter: Jackson Coates)

Episodic Pilots

• Dale’s House (showrunner: Julie Lake; director: Kat Whalen; screenwriters: Matt Kirsch & Julie Lake; producers: Matt Kirsch, Julie Lake & Dana Fares)
• For the Record (showrunner: Julian De Zotti; directors: Lisa Baylin & Julian De Zotti; screenwriter: Julian De Zotti; producer: Lisa Baylin)

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