Sven Pötting

Sven Pötting is curator and programme coordinator at Filmfest Dresden – International Short Film Festival, and co-director of the Latin American Film Days Munich (LAFITA). He also presents films at Filmfest München and Internationale Hofer Filmtage.

Sven Pötting 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 Sven Pötting’s submission:

This selection was made with the awareness that it cannot be complete, but rather represents a snapshot—a selection from many favorite short films that does not cover all eras, geographies, forms, or genres.

— Sven Pötting
Movie Original Title Director Country Year Duration
Un Chien Andalou Luis Buñuel France 1928 21’
Meshes of the Afternoon Alexander Hammid , Maya Deren USA 1946 14’
La Jetée Chris Marker France 1962 28’
Salut les Cubains Hello Cubans Agnès Varda Cuba, France 1963 30’

The Cuban director Sara Gómez, whose works are currently being rediscovered and should be canonic, was also involved in this film.
Scorpio Rising Kenneth Anger USA 1964 27’
Powers of Ten Charles Eames , Ray Eames USA 1977 9’
The House Is Black Khaneh siah ast Forugh Farrokzhad Iran 1963 22’
Tango Zbigniew Rybczyński Poland 1981 8’
The Wrong Trousers Nick Park United Kingdom 1993 30’

There are far too few comedies that are represented in any canon. This film stands as a representative of all timelessly entertaining short films.
Outer Space Peter Tscherkassky Austria 1999 11’

Representative of all outstanding Austrian experimental films.