When it comes to putting together an issue of SHORT FOCUS magazine, the question inevitably arises of what exactly the perfect short film consists of. It forces me to consider what elements made me fall in love with the medium in the first place. I think of the television commercials that would indelibly etch their way in-between courses of evening soap operas, or the back-to-back, genre-hooping curations of music videos rolled out across chart show countdowns via terrestrial, and later, satellite-based broadcasts. I remember the late-night programmes of extreme, bizarre, and ground-breaking fictions from the minds of global indie filmmakers and animators beaming right into the darkness of my living room.
 
It didn’t occur to me in those days that what I was watching were meaningful works of art, carefully created stories, or meticulously and collaboratively designed productions. So much was taken for granted, but something just kept pulling me back. I loved how complete stories and entire worlds could play out in the space of just a few minutes; how I could voraciously gather up a large variety of thrills, frights, and pleasures in an hour or two; how I could be transported through time and place and back again at kettle-boiling speeds.
 
As I grow older, that obsessive fascination remains, and I am, probably, no closer to pinpointing what exactly keeps me coming back to this medium. Putting together this magazine and its eponymous annual festival with like-minded film enthusiasts is probably an attempt at getting to the heart of it, but is most certainly a gesture of appreciation to the filmmakers that have brought so many of us endless joy, education, conversation, and escapism over the years. Perhaps, in the scheme of things, it’s only a small reciprocation but, nevertheless, one sentiment endures…
 
We believe in the power of short film.
 
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