Nel Dahl

Nel Dahl 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 Nel Dahl’s submission:

There's so many short films that embrace the underground, the macabre, the nonlinear and experimental. Although it's frustrating to imagine all of the films I will realize I forgot for this, I wanted to at least include some distinctive films that are complements to the more recognized short films.

— Nel Dahl
Movie Original Title Director Country Year Duration
Swain Gregory J. Markopoulos USA 1950 24’
Un Chant d’amour Song of Love Jean Genet France 1950 26’
The Astronauts Les Astronautes Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker France 1959 14’

Borowczyk's strong eye, voyeuristic themes, and work with other avant-garde heavyweights are shown in this early film. After making several films with Jan Lenica, Borowczyk moved to France, where Chris Marker gave his name to help Boro secure funding for this short. (A few years later, Borowczyk's regular star and wife, Ligia Branice, would appear in Marker's landmark La Jetee.) Meanwhile, Les Astronautes' editor Jasmine Chasney was a co-editor on Hiroshima Mon Amour and Last Year at Marienbad.
Fuses Carolee Schneemann USA 1967 29’
Sweating Blood Ana Mendieta Cuba 1973 3’
Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy Kathleen Collins USA 1980 49’
Illusions Julie Dash USA 1982 34’
The House Is Black Khaneh siah ast Forugh Farrokzhad Iran 1963 22’
Stendali (Still They Toll) Stendalì: Suonano ancora Cecilia Mangini Italy 1960 11’
The Scarlet Flower Аленький цветочек Lev Atamanov Soviet Union 1952 42’