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Culture and Trends

Trendspotting Tuesday: One-Minute Movies

By The YouTube Team

If you can spare about a dozen minutes on TrendspottingTuesday, you can catch 12 examples of tight film-making, as we highlight short films that punch the clock around the one-minute mark.


At a time when Hollywood blockbusters often run for more than two hours, it can be exhilarating to catch videos that can make a point in a minute. Take film maker Ari Gold, who delivered a sharp 60-second riff on culture, taking home the Best Narrative Short prize at the SXSW Film Festival for his efforts. User georgepaul123 took all of a minute to express his views on disability. Another meaningful moment comes from Friends of the Earth, who present the winner of their one-minute green film award, "The Plastic Battle", by Danish director Ulla Jacobson. (Of course, not every ultra-short short is designed to deliver a strong point. Spend a minute in "The Bathroom" to see just how far the film-making team can ratchet up the tension in what can only be described as a dark and edgy bathroom break.)


While not every video included on the homepage and playlist below is exactly 60 seconds long, it's clear that self-imposed creative rules are at work in many of these clips, with memorable results. Rather than take up any more of your time telling you about them, we can only encourage you to take a moment to watch them all:

And if even 60 seconds is too much for your short attention span, you can always go the one second route. C’mon – Kiefer (Sutherland), Kevin (Bacon) and Stephen (Colbert) are already in...

Gone in 60,

The YouTube Team

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