Hasta La Motion!

F5 RE:PLAY Films on Stash 60

Since F5 last April, I’ve received a slew of emails asking how people can get their hands on a DVD of the F5 RE:PLAY films. Never fear: Stash has swooped in to save the day.

Stash 60 is a special two-disc set that includes 14 films created for the F5 RE:PLAY Film Festival.

As a reminder, the RE:PLAY festival invited filmmakers from around the world to create original short projects for the F5 festival last April in New York City. The result was an astounding array of innovative, memorable work that has helped keep the flame of F5 burning strong.

Pick up Stash 60 here.

Review: Stash Short Films Vol. 1

While we’re on the topic of Stash, we received a review copy of Short Films Vol. 1, and it’s definitely worth discussing.

Focusing on non-commercial, mostly narrative works, this DVD signals an extension of Stash’s influence to a wider, more general audience.

The 30 films (with a cumulative runtime of 2:32) include work from some Motionographer favorites, including Neill Blomkamp (of District 9 fame), Roman Coppola, Gaelle Denis, Johny Kelly, Shilo, Three Legged Legs and Run Wrake. There’s also a healthy smattering of student work—all of which rivals the quality of the professional work. The majority of the collection is based in animation, but there are enough live-action and hybrid works to keep you guessing.

My honest appraisal: Short Films Vol. 1 is probably the best collection of its kind. Where other collections harbor a few duds that force you to keep your DVD remote handy, this disc is an inspiring lineup of glittering gold.

Complaints? The accompanying booklet, while informative, is a little confusing. Its contents were basically copy-and-pasted from back issues of Stash, meaning that the chapter headings don’t correlate to the actual DVD.

And I’m not a big fan of the DVD navigation. If you want to play a single film, you’ll need to recognize it by the tiny thumbnail presented on a two-screen menu system void of any descriptive text. I would have preferred a textual index. Minor quibbles though, given the quality of the work.

I’m curious to see how this release will broaden Stash’s reach. Hard-core Stashers who own the entire catalog of monthly DVDs probably will pass over this offering. But for those outside “the biz,” Short Films Vol. 1 will be an eye-opening introduction to work beamed here from some hitherto unknown universe, one full of promise and excitement.

NOTE: Motionographer and its authors receive no compensation of any sort from Stash. Review copies of materials are donated to SCAD’s Motion Media Design department.

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