Profile - Wholphin DVD Magazine of Short Films
McSweeney's Supports Independent Shorts & the Arts
Jan 19, 2009
Not to be confused with the rare mammal of the same name, Wholphin is a DVD magazine of independent short films published quarterly by McSweeney's. According to Dave Eggers and Brent Hoff of the latter, the creature, a rare hybrid cross between a false killer whale and a bottlenose dolphin, did inspire their choice of names, however.
Wholphin Presents Unique & Ponderable Indie Shorts
"Wholphin" aptly reflects what Eggers calls the "unique and ponderable films" contained on each disk. McSweeney's published the first Wholphin DVD in December 2005, and have since put out six more. The publishing company is also responsible for The Believer monthly print magazine, and the quirky, hip McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, a literary journal of singular style.
Each "volume" of Wholphin contains anywhere from 12 to 15 short, independent films, those that cannot be seen elsewhere. Hoff states: "they're too short to show on TV, and they don't play in theatres because they'd rather show some great trivia about Adam Sandler." Each issue also comes with a booklet of interviews with the directors and/or writers.
Varied Content, Highly Praised
The films on Wholphin run anywhere from a couple minutes in length to just under an hour (most tend toward the shorter), for a total of about four hours of content. That content varies widely as well, from animated "cartoon" shorts to political documentary, foreign sitcoms to odd how-to's, and anything that can slip between.
It's likely that any undertaking of this sort would have its share of misses, but overall, Wholphin scores fairly high on number of hits. Rolling Stone recently commented about the publication: "You've got to love it when magazines release better films than Hollywood." (Issue #1058).
A Sampling of Wholphin's Best
While it isn't easy to single out highlights from so many wonderful independent filmmakers' work, here's a sampling of at least one writer's "Best of Wholphin":
"The Pity Card", a Bob Odenkirk directed comedy starring Simon Helberg & Derek Waters is an un-aired pilot about the consequences of taking a date to the holocaust museum. Absolutely hilarious stuff. If the Simon and Derek duo ever do make it prime time, they'll stay there.
Miranda July's "Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?" is a four-plus minute film that will leave the viewer thinking for ten times as long as the film itself. This is typical July material, understated, thought-provoking, and real.
The mistily stunning animation of "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello" transports the viewer to another realm, one that is difficult to snap out of 26 minutes later. It is directed by Anthony Lucas, and appears to have taken an eternity to produce.
"Two Cars, One Night" is an endearing 12 minute New Zealand film by director Taika Waititi. Since its appearance on Wholphin it's gone on to receive an Oscar nomination, and is in production for a full length feature. The story of children waiting in vehicles outside the pub, their parents inside, is in part autobiographical on Waititi's part. It was filmed outside the selfsame pub he waited outside as a child.
McSweeney's has recently issued their own Best of Wholphin (issues 1-6), containing some of the above, and several other gems. It will be included as a gift to anyone subscribing to a year of Wholphin in the near future. Regardless of which issue you choose, Wholphin makes for a great "short film fest" evening that will not only entertain, but undoubtedly lead to much discussion.
Subscribe to Wholphin at either the McSweeney's or Wholphin website.
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