Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Tribeca >> 2009 >> Shorts

The 46 works in the 2009 short film line-up are eligible to compete for combined cash and value-in-kind prizes totaling more than $15,000 for Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short and Student Visionary Award. Student films are marked *

Each selection is put into a themed programme, and they are listed below. Which programme a short falls into is listed in itallics:

• Means To An End - Everyone’s just trying to make it through another day.
• Mixed Feelings - Dreams and desires are contemplated and complicated in this selection.
• Wake-up Call - These shorts show life lessons learned, some the hard way.
• Truth or Consequences - These mature shorts concern growing up, getting off and getting by. Not recommended for those under 16.
• Time Will Tell - This group of documentary shorts will leave a lasting impression on the heart and mind.
• Human Landscapes - Drawn from filmmakers on three continents, this program of experimental short films and videos centers around the theme of the individual’s relationship to the environmental space he or she inhabits. The avant-garde filmmaking enterprise is essentially one defined by creative artists working single-handedly and with great sensitivity to interpreting the field of vision before their camera lenses.

View other Tribeca Festival Films by strand: Discovery Section, Encounters, Midnight, Restored and Rediscovered, Showcase, Spotlight, World Documentary Features, World Narrative Feature Films

The Last Mermaids and The Tinwoodsman's Home Movie #2

3 Wheels (Three Wheels) (Country: China, Taiwan; Year: 2009; Director: Tony Wei; Writer: Chung Lee; Stars: Mao-Shin Chiang, Chung-heng Chu, Cary Woodworth, Jia-Le Yan)

A rickshaw driver tries not to miss the boat.

Means To An End. World Premiere*

Almost Every Day (Quase Todo Dia) (Country: Brazil, US; Year: 2009; Director: Gandja Monteiro; Writer: Gandja Monteiro)

Agatha navigates work, love and the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Means To An End. World Premiere

The Bather (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: George Griffin)

A whimsical look at a bath.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

Blue Boy (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Alex Jablonski; Writer: Alex Jablonski, Kevin Canty)

Kenny is a country club lifeguard living in a haze, but one day all that changes.

Truth Or Consequences. World Premiere*

Cal Express (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Sergio Carvajal ; Writer: Sergio Carvajal )

An immature twenty-something grows up and comes out.

Wake-up Call. World Premiere*

Blue Boy and Almost Every Day

Camera Roll (For Taylor) (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Joel Schlemowitz )

Avant-garde short.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

Chop Off (Year: 2008; Director: M M Serra)

An exposition of the dark, fearful recesses of the human psyche by filming the body modification of performance artist R K, who literally risks 'life and limb.' R K's body is his medium and amputation is his art.

Human Landscapes. New York Premiere

The Company Man (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Andrew Zappin; Writer: Andrew Zappin; Stars: Wynn Everett, Matt Malloy, DJ Qualls)

A loyal employee longs for promotion.

Means To An End. New York Premiere

The Confession (Country: Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Thomas Hefferon; Writer: Thomas Hefferon; Stars: Donncha Crowley, Sean Flanagan, Stephen Morris), Official Site

A man at confession, grapples with a gossiping priest.

Truth Or Consequences. New York Premiere

Cutlass (Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Kate Hudson; Writer: Kate Hudson; Stars: Virginia Madsen, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Kurt Russell, Sarah Roemer, Brian Hooks, Chevy Chase, Ethan Suplee, Steve Jones, Dax Shepard)

Robin remembers what it’s like to want something really, really badly.

Mixed Feelings. New York Premiere

Cutlass and Chop Off

Deadline (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Joseph Bakhash; Writer: Sean McPhillips)

An ex-con confronts an abusive guard from his past.

Wake-up Call. New York Premiere

Deconstruction Workers (Bygningsarbeidere) (Country: Norway; Year: 2008; Director: Kajsa Næss; Writer: Kjartan Helleve)

Two Average Joes dig their way through the meaning of life.

Means To An End. New York Premiere

Densen (Country: Sweden; Year: 2009; Director: Anna Linder)

A musical trip through photos from Tokyo, St Petersburg, Barcelona, Milan and Buenos Aires.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

First Steps (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Jason DaSilva; Writer: Jason DaSilva)

A filmmaker chronicles his personal experience with multiple sclerosis.

Time Will Tell. World Premiere

Gefilte Fish (Country: Israel; Year: 2009; Director: Shelly Kling-Yosef; Writer: Shelly Kling-Yosef)

Gail is torn between a fish and her family tradition.

Wake-up Call. North American Premiere*

The Bather and Deconstruction Workers

Glock (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Tom Everett Scott; Writer: Michael McMillian, Tom Everett Scott; Stars: Rhys Coiro, Ciarán Hinds, Michael McMillian, Krysten Ritter, Stephen Root, Tom Everett Scott)

A new secret agent “kills” time waiting for his first assignment.

Means To An End. New York Premiere

Ha’Aki (Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: Iriz Pääbo; Writer: Iriz Pääbo)

Animated meditation on ice hockey.

Human Landscapes. New York Premiere

home (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Matthew Faust)

Flooded with memories, home is where the heart is.

Time Will Tell. New York Premiere

Hot Dogs At The Met (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Ken Jacobs; Writer: Ken Jacobs)

Experimental short.

Human Landscapes. North American Premiere

Influenza/Composition II (chrome square) (Year: 2009; Director: Jeroen Jongeleen)

Sticky squares reflect the life of a city.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

Gefilte Fish and Us

KOGI (Country: Brazil; Year: 2009; Director: Paula Gaitán)

A visual poem about indigenous people.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

The Last Mermaids (Country: US, South Korea; Year: 2009; Director: Liz Chae)

Generations of women free divers tell their story.

Full Review

Time Will Tell. North American Premiere

Love Does Grow on Trees (Country: UK ; Year: 2008; Director: Bevan Walsh)

It's 1989 and thirteen-year-old Danny's life is thrown into chaos when he discovers adult magazines, girls, and the embarrassment that goes with both.

Truth Or Consequences. US Premiere

Métro (Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: Martin Laporte)

Experimental short.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

Mustang: Journey Of Transformation (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Will Parrinello; Writer: Sarah Kass; Stars: Richard Gere, Dalai Lama, Luigi Fieni, John Sanday, Tsewang Bista)

A sacred Tibetan cultural site is restored.

Time Will Tell. New York Premiere

Nueva York and Trailer Trash

Nowhere Kids (Country: USA; Year: 2009; Director: Eric Juhola; Writer: Lindsay Goldwert, Eric Juhola, Jeremy Stulberg; Stars: Judith Boxley, Robert Haley, Eleonore Hendricks, Gregory Higgins, Cheryl Johnston, Gregory Kostal, Evan Louison, Naomi Madsen, Donnie Mastro, Rich Williamson)

Georgia’s journey to find her biological mother veers off-course when she meets some kids.

Truth Or Consequences. New York Premiere

Nueva York (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Manolo Celi; Writer: Manolo Celi)

Interwoven stories with a cultural connection.

Mixed Feelings. World Premiere

Oda a la Piña (Country: Cuba; Year: 2009; Director: Laimir Fano; Writer: Laimir Fano)

A dancing pineapple loses her rhythm.

Means To An End.*

Of Best Intentions (Country: Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Brian Durnin; Writer: Brian Durnin)

Five characters collide with cosmic consequences.

Mixed Feelings. New York Premiere

Oil Change (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Todd Luoto; Writer: Todd Luoto)

A big helping of truth is served at a dinner party.

Mixed Feelings. New York Premiere

Love Does Grow on Trees and 3 Wheels

Paradise Café (Café Paraíso) (Country: Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios; Writer: Alonso Ruizpalacios; Stars: Tenoch Huerta, José Sefami, Sophié Alexander, Enrique Arreola)

Showing as part of International Shorts: Mexico at EIFF 2008.

Means To An End.*

La Route Du Nord (Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Carlos Chahine; Writer: Carlos Chahine; Stars: Fadi Abi Samra, Carlos Chahine, Camille Figuereo, Rami Kadeih, Abla Khoury, Mathieu Marie)

A man heads back to Beirut to reclaim his father and his past.

Wake-up Call. North American Premiere

Search (Country: US; Director: Lisa M Perry; Writer: Aaron Walker)

Two teenagers skive off school and discover a dark place.

Truth Or Consequences. World Premiere*

Section 44 (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Wilson; Writer: Daniel Wilson)

Whom would you rat out?

Wake-up Call. North American Premiere

Shimasani (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Blackhorse Lowe; Writer: Blackhorse Lowe)

Mary Jane wonders if she’ll ever leave the Navajo reservation.

Mixed Feelings. World Premiere

The Company Man and Hot Dogs At The Met

Skin (Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Rhys Graham)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Time Will Tell. New York Premiere

Small Change (Country: Australia; Year: 2007; Director: Anna McGrath; Writer: Anna McGrath; Stars: Ditch Davey, Minnie Liszukiewicz, Ziggy Liszukiewicz, Vada Wardlaw)

Sophie hopes for a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Truth Or Consequences. New York Premiere*

Sunspots (Macchie di Sole) (Country: Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Stella di Tocco; Writer: Enrique Esteve)

Twelve-year-old Adriana spends a steamy summer by the sea.

Truth Or Consequences. New York Premiere

Team Taliban (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Benjamin Kegan)

Who will you root for?

Time Will Tell. New York Premiere

This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Long-Cuu Phan; Writer: Long-Cuu Phan)

Practically perfect simply isn’t enough.

Mixed Feelings. New York Premiere

Glock and Skin

A Time and A Time (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Sarah Cox)

Avant-garde animation.

Human Landscapes. North American Premiere

The Tinwoodsman's Home Movie #2 (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Naomi Uman, Lee Lynch; Writer: Naomi Uman, Lee Lynch)

The Tinman poses for snaps.

Full Review

Wake-up Call. New York Premiere

Trailer Trash (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Mark Street)

Manipulated movie trailers rescued from the trash.

Human Landscapes. World Premiere

Us (Nous) (Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Olivier Hems; Writer: Olivier Hems; Stars: Guy Abgrall, Valérie Bral, Jeanne Clinchamp, Sébastien Garcia, Marie Lauvériat, Hervé Mahieux)

In an apartment, a police captain discovers a man’s skeleton one year after his death. Several years earlier, the man had shot a home movie about his vacation at the seaside.

Human Landscapes. US Premiere

Without You (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Emma Passmore; Writer: Emma Passmore; Stars: Neil Bennun, Morven Macbeth)

Tragedy haunts the living and the dead.

Human Landscapes. North American Premiere

Wu (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Cécile Vernant; Writer: Cécile Vernant; Stars: Didier Menin, Marie-Anne Mestre, Océane Decaudain)

“Unhappy” is a seven-letter word.

Wake-up Call. North American Premiere