Bram Ruiter

Bram Ruiter is a filmmaker from the Netherlands, mostly preoccupied with the creative process.

Bram Ruiter participated in “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025, a first-ever poll of its kind as a collective love letter to the art of short-form moving image. yanco and Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, in collaboration with Talking Shorts, invited filmmakers, curators, distributors, critics, and scholars worldwide to nominate 10 audiovisual works under sixty minutes that they personally consider the “greatest” of all time. This was Bram Ruiter’s submission:

Movie Original Title Director Country Year Duration
A Letter to Uncle Boonmee จดหมายถึงลุงบุญมี Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand 2009 17’

Contains everything I need and want.

Comingled Containers Stan Brakhage USA 1996 2’

This one opened the flood gates.

Palms Mary Helena Clark USA 2015 9’

Abstraction through figuration.

Je vous salue, Sarajevo Hail, Sarajevo Jean-Luc Godard France 1993 2’

Heartbreaking. Truly and utterly heartbreaking.

In Order Not To Be Here Deborah Stratman USA 2002 33’

The greatest achievement in horror.

Still Raining, Still Dreaming Phil Solomon USA 2009 12’

This one did so much for me, but that can be said for all of Phil's films, really.

Pine Barrens Nancy Holt USA 1975 32’

Today, I felt like this one. Tomorrow, I might put Benning or Lertxundi here.

Worlds Isaac Goes Canada 2021 19’

Criminally underseen and an undeniable masterpiece.

Valentin de las Sierras Bruce Baillie Mexico 1968 10’

Saw this again a few weeks ago on 16mm and fell in love with it all over again.

Witch’s Cradle Maya Deren USA 1944 12’

Not her greatest achievement per se, but her most honest and open one.