Naomi Pacifique

Naomi Pacifique 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 Naomi Pacifique’s submission:

There are so many films I could have included in the next 10 picks, and I'm glad to have the space to think of and remember these 10. Which is really just a way to say how strongly short films live with me, and how nice it is to take a moment to think of them and the people who made them. Thanks for this poll!

— Naomi Pacifique
Movie Original Title Director Country Year Duration
Aqueronte Manuel Muñoz Rivas Spain 2023 26’
Meshes of the Afternoon Alexander Hammid , Maya Deren USA 1946 14’
The Unseen River Giòng Sông Không Nhìn Thấy Pham Ngoc Lan Vietnam 2020 23’

I love this film for its circularity and lull: its swish, its currents and wandering camera. It draws me back to rivers, tears, and dreams. If I could spend a day inside a short film, it would be this one. It came out during covid. I remember watching it for the first time online on our projector at home in Hackney, as part of the online version of Locarno Film Festival: lifetimes ago.
La Jetée Chris Marker France 1962 28’

This short film is so unique. It was made 50 years ago and nothing quite like it has been made since.  Something about time and how it is frozen but moving in those shifting still images, combined with such an intricate story, feels like magic.
Could See A Puma Pude Ver Un Puma Eduardo Williams Argentina 2011 18’

I'm in wonder at the endless wandering in this film which turns into disappearance, and somehow ends up feeling like pure presence. The non-logic of this film feels so right, so true.
La Chambre The Room Chantal Akerman Belgium 1972 11’

Spending 11 minutes with Chantal Akerman in her room, as she hangs out in bed and then eats an apple - what more can I ask for? She draws out time, expectation and our curiosity, and rewards us with the beauty of the everyday - of simplicity, of breathing in a same space together.
Fajr Lois Patiño Spain, Morocco 2017 12’

This film tests my patience, and once I've given in to it, it allows me to find infinity in the present moment. I have the beach turning to pure white with me.
Pont de pedra Podul de Piatrâ Artur-Pol Camprubí Spain 2021 20’

A horse gives birth and time freezes on a TV screen. The logic of this film is so internal and remains, to me, a beautiful exploration of those things that exist at the limits.
Filipiñana Rafael Manuel Philippines, United Kingdom 2020 23’

The poetics of time and space are so precise in this film, and each scene is created with love and attention. The viewer is taken into consideration - seduced, surprised and invited.
Mother Prays All Day Long Hoda Taheri Germany 2022 24’

I love the intimacy of this film - waxing each other's legs, hanging out in bed, the camera entering the vagina. Few films dare in soft and tender ways like this one.