Co-reporting on the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) with Frances Dinger for this week’s Arts and Entertainment section, I literally watched 47 documentaries, narratives, and music videos, short and feature-length, totaling to almost a solid 9 hours of screenings alone. If I added in Frances’ numbers, plus the count of Volvo ads before each film, the calculations would actually reach a level of concern. Taxing though it may sound, the experience was truly incredible, and paring it all down to a mere two-page spread seemed impossible–so I’ve spilled over into a blog.

The films we saw were moving, funny, disturbing, invigorating, indescribable. The films we saw were, for me, a renewal of faith in the future of film. Below the jump, I’ve shared six of the shorts that I was able to find online. These filmmakers have important stories to share, from a look at life in the Lower Ninth Ward to a young adoptee’s search for his birth mother, lighthearted reflections on isolation and pacifism, and an ancient Greek classic illustrated by the festival’s youngest filmmaker.

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