Short Films, but Long on Talent

A showing of short films at the Yarrow Hotel during the Sundance Film Festival was a good reminder that short films can be just as powerful and moving and unforgettable as full-length features, Andrea Chalupa writes from Park City, Utah. The only problem is, no one has figured out how to really make money off them.

According to Mikkel Kastberg, producer of the Danish short Dennis, short films right now serve only as a calling card to show off a filmmaker's style and prove that he or she can complete a movie and work with actors. Short films range in length from anywhere from 5 to 40 minutes.

Here's a look at a couple of short films at Sundance this year:

Welcome, written and directed by actress Kirsten Dunst tells the story of a family that moves into a home occupied by a ghost. Dunst's first film has a charming ending, but along the way it's scary enough to make you want to sleep with the lights on at night.

Pariah, directed by Dee Rees, feels like a full length feature as it exposes the complications stemming from the double life of a young, gay black woman and her conservative, religious family.

Man by Myna Joseph is an incredibly moving story between two teenage sisters stuck in a potentially damaging situation thanks to the prettier one's flirtations with a stranger on the internet.

Sick Sex by Justin and Thomas Nowell is the hilarious battle of a couple stuck in bed together as one of them is fighting a temperature of 102.