Shot on Film

Shot on Film

The shift to digital filmmaking that began in the early to mid 2000's led to an explosion of DIY filmmaking that continues to this day. NoBudge has long been an advocate and supporter of this type of affordable, homemade cinema. But as much as one touts the benefits and low barrier to entry to shooting digitally, there's no replacing the texture and timelessness of actual film stock. With that in mind, we thought we'd take a look back at some projects over the last several years that have shot on 8mm, 16mm or 35mm film. SHOT ON FILM. NoBudge Collection #11.

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Shot on Film
  • ADA

    Ada is an unlikeable competitive walker who makes a dress out of toilet paper and has an unfortunate run-in with a hose. Eleanore Pienta’s “Ada” is a lighthearted silent comedy following the unpredictable antics of a peculiar woman making her way through crowded New York City streets. As she walk...

  • Monster

    A stay-at-home mom experiences an unexpected upheaval during her daily routine. This Super 16mm short is about the other side of motherhood, beyond the joys. Directed by Jake Kolton. Written by Jake Kolton, Audrey Findlay. Starring Mascha Mareen.

  • Catherine

    A woman momentarily evades her discontent by adopting a stranger's identity. A stunning slow burn character portrait built around a masterful performance and sumptuous Super 16mm images. Directed by Jake Kolton. Written by Audrey Findlay, Jake Kolton. Starring Mascha Mareen.

  • Telephone Me

    An audacious drama about betrayal and gossip revolving around a college Halloween party gone wrong. A girlfriend cheats on her boyfriend with a man named Goatee Ralph, which sends her boyfriend, Jimmy, spiraling across campus in a rage. The next day, two classmates recount the incident in increas...

  • The Inconceivable Mountain

    A musicologist and her dog climb a mountain in search of an indecipherable song hoping to understand its meaning. Daniel Witkin directs “The Inconceivable Mountain,” which registers both as an homage and a satire of black and white silent films of the 1930’s, particularly a type of German film co...

  • Shelly

    Shelly is a peculiar young woman making a movie about a seahorse named Imogen. She picks up footage at the local aquarium and in her Brooklyn apartment while pursuing a deep sea diving certificate, so she can record the seahorses in their natural environment. We don’t quite trust the intentions o...

  • Drone Pilot has a Crisis of Conscience

    An upstart drone racing competition attracts a smattering of enthusiasts trying to qualify for a national race. David Ehrenreich directs “Drone Pilot Has a Crisis of Conscience,” which takes a futuristic sporting event and creates an art film around it, surreal, experimental, and shot on Super 16...

  • Cochran

    Jim Cochran hates his job, he wishes he could just shoot clay pigeons all day.

    Directed by James P. Gannon.

  • The Practice of Loneliness

    Brie adapts a new practice, a lifestyle of loneliness to achieve her highest self. Written and directed by Ester Song Kim, “The Practice of Loneliness,” is a stylish anti-rom-com about seeking happiness in solitude. Shot on nostalgia-soaked 8mm film, and featuring actors dubbed into French (thoug...

  • This Is Alice

    This stylish super 8mm film poem by director Lauren Rothery is a lovely, wistful portrait of Alice, her joys, anxieties, the way she looks when she’s a little drunk. A French-speaking narrator introduces us to the woman as we watch simple moments throughout her day, the voice remarks on her feeli...

  • Exit 9

    Maddy finds herself stranded somewhere off of the highway after being stood up by a guy named Mike. This 16mm short directed by Joseph Barglowski is an ambling, low-key mystery rooted with moments of dry comedy. The locale is right off the interstate (the titular exit 9) where Maddy is set to mee...

  • In Search of the Miraculous

    A hauntingly beautiful 16mm short about a young man seeking adventure or escape or both. A striking collection of images that seemingly materialize out of nowhere, there is no dialogue and no need for any — the evocative visuals and soundscape fill in everything you need to know, or rather everyt...

  • White and Lazy

    Set in 1991, this comedic portrait of a mumbling and indecisive young man trying to collect rent from his eccentric roommates taps into the grand lineage of poor college kids living as weirdo artists in houses with way too many people. It’s tried and true and "White and Lazy" captures it with per...

  • Rectangibles

    Set in a fictional trailer park community known as Happiness, “Rectangibles” tells the story of two young men who come across a batch of Kodachrome 8mm film and attempt to get it developed before the last lab in America stops developing the format. This offbeat tale directed by Colleen Kwok TungS...

  • Rockaway

    On Rockaway Beach, a young woman named Teresa borrows money from a teenage skateboarder in return a provocative kiss. She pulls a similar routine with another man working at a deli promising a sexual favor in exchange for keys to the register. These aren’t isolated incidents but a destructive pat...

  • Alphabet

    A lighthearted take on the Alphabet made in quarantine during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Guy Kozak directs “Alphabet,” which creates an appealing mood and atmosphere from a series of simple compositions, one for each letter, A-Z. There’s a lovely variety of visuals — some words are proper nouns, l...

  • En Plein Air

    Wandering the dappled grounds of an old farmhouse, Henry plays schoolmaster at an open-air painting retreat, where his instructional duties seem to involve holding forth at candlelit dinners in the garden and sucking down endless cans of Budweiser on the lawn while the work of painting and posing...

  • Bruno

    The story of an asthmatic misanthropic bicycle enthusiast named Derek and his sensitive all-american sitcom-loving cousin Bruno. Directed by Sam Goetz.

  • The Letter

    A little girl receives a letter from Santa Claus in this short and sweet holiday film from director Eric Paschal Johnson, co-director of “Observatory Blues”. Over a series of richly melancholic 16mm compositions of a young girl lugging a Christmas tree through fields and forests, Santa narrates a...

  • Jason Richardson

    Matteo reckons with the disappearance of his older brother, Damascus, after his car turns up unexplainably abandoned. A poetic mood piece directed by J.P. Emodi, “Jason Richardson” follows the young man through a quietly tumultuous period as he grapples with memories of his brother and begins to ...

  • I Know What I Saw

    Charting a cross country journey through rodeos, deserts, and motels, “I Know What I Saw,” is a poetic travelogue of American landscapes and small encounters. Directed by Gillian Waldo, who narrates a series of postcards addressed to someone named “N” — detailing low-key run-ins with cops and par...

  • La Roche

    A mysterious pile of rocks show up in a Montreal parking lot and a group of young people gravitate to the odd sight. “La Roche,” directed by Emma Cosgrove, is a mixed-media melange of documentary and experimental fiction, a poetic meditation on the natural world and the unique pathways of our liv...

  • True Blue

    In Atlantic City on a lonely night, two strangers cross paths and share the evening together. A soulful 16mm portrait of two men and their unlikely connection, by director Chris Osborn, “True Blue” draws its characters perhaps as symbols of a faded American dream, but does so with complexity and ...

  • 808

    In a near-future saturated by technology, Mars introduces Jay to a world outside their company’s confines. “808,” directed by Athina Wilson, is a gritty dystopian vision (shot on 16mm) reckoning with a world lacking in empathy and human touch. Mars is new to the job, a content moderator in a depr...