Juan Barquin (they/them) is a Miami-based writer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in a variety of publications. They are also the current chair of the Florida Film Critics Circle, as well as the co-creator and programmer for the queer film series Flaming Classics, and aspire to be Bridget Jones.
Juan Barquin
Juan Barquin 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 Juan Barquin’s submission:
I would like to formally apologise to all the films I couldn't include here due to the limitations of selecting ten (Mothlight, The Wrong Trousers, Un Chien Andalou, etc), but my focus while scraping down from dozens to a tight ten became about highlighting works that are permanently embedded in my mind. "Greatest" as a label will always put me off, as I choose to think more about the impact any given work has on me personally. These are shorts that expanded my view of cinema in some capacity, and that I think everyone could learn something from. Some are already canonised, others have only seen the light of day thanks to the queer people who have ensured they continue to exist.
— Juan Barquin| Movie | Original Title | Director | Country | Year | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickle Surprise | Tom Rubnitz | USA | 1989 | 2’ | ||
| Center Jenny | Ryan Trecartin | USA | 2013 | 54’ | ||
| Mouse Klub Konfidential | James Robert Baker | USA | 1976 | 16’ | ||
| Begone Dull Care | Evelyn Lambart , Norman McLaren | Canada | 1949 | 8’ | ||
| Duck Amuck | Chuck Jones | USA | 1953 | 7’ | ||
| La Jetée | Chris Marker | France | 1962 | 28’ | ||
| Fireworks | Kenneth Anger | USA | 1947 | 14’ | ||
| Breakaway | Bruce Conner | USA | 1967 | 6’ | ||
| Meshes of the Afternoon | Alexander Hammid , Maya Deren | USA | 1946 | 14’ | ||
| The Blood of a Poet Le Sang d'un poète | Jean Cocteau | France | 1932 | 55’ | ||