A surreal, grotesque, and darkly funny stop-motion film from Czechoslovakia has just been named one of the greatest short films ever made. Jan Švankmajer’s 1983 masterpiece Dimensions of Dialogue ranks third on a newly published list of the best short films of all time by entertainment website Collider, behind only all-time Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902) and Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943).
According to author Diego Pineda Pacheco, Švankmajer’s 11-minute film is a “richly surreal study of communication, human connection, and the unifying and destructive powers of both.”
Utilizing a range of different animation styles, Dimensions of Dialogue is broken into three parts—Eternal Dialogue, Passionate Discourse, and Exhaustive Discussion—each exploring different, often disturbing dimensions of how humans try (and fail) to relate to one another.
Dimensions of Dialogue uses Švankmajer’s signature claymation and object animation to create a world where heads made of kitchen utensils devour one another, lovers merge in a violent embrace, and bureaucrats churn out indistinguishable forms in a loop of meaningless repetition. It’s as unsettling as it is visually inventive. Collider praises it as “definitely not the easiest watch for those who have never seen an experimental arthouse short, but also a terrific place to start.”
Švankmajer, who retired from filmmaking after 2018’s Insects after a long and influential career, is a cornerstone of Czech surrealist cinema. Though best known internationally for his feature films like Alice (1988) and Little Otik (2000), his early short films helped define his legacy.
Dimensions of Dialogue won multiple awards after its release, including a Golden Dove at the Leipzig DOK Festival, and remains his most widely acclaimed short work. It was also ranked by director Terry Gilliam as one of the 10 best animated films of all time in a 2001 article for The Guardian.
“Jan Švankmajer’s stop-motion work uses familiar, unremarkable objects in a way which is deeply disturbing,” Gilliam wrote.
“The first film of his that I saw was Alice, and I was extremely unsettled by the image of an animated rabbit which had real fur and real eyes. His films always leave me with mixed feelings, but they all have moments that really get to me; moments that evoke the nightmarish specter of seeing commonplace things coming unexpectedly to life.”
A global list of timeless shorts
Collider’s top 10 list spans more than a century of cinema, celebrating the short film format as a vital creative space for experimentation. The number one spot went to A Trip to the Moon (1902), the pioneering fantasy by French illusionist Georges Méliès, famous for its iconic image of a rocket landing in the moon’s eye. Though barely 14 minutes long, the film remains a cornerstone of early science fiction cinema.
Second place went to Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), a groundbreaking experimental film that blended dream logic and psychological symbolism to portray a woman’s descent into inner turmoil. Hailed for its innovative editing and feminist overtones, it’s widely seen as the starting point for American avant-garde cinema.
Other entries include both family-friendly classics and provocative arthouse experiments. Martin Scorsese’s The Big Shave (1967), a gory five-minute allegory of American self-destruction during the Vietnam War, sits alongside The Wrong Trousers (1993), the beloved Wallace & Gromit short that elevated stop-motion animation to new heights. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou (1929), an icon of surrealism, and Chuck Jones’ Looney Tunes parody What’s Opera, Doc? (1957) also made the list.
The list highlights how short films have served as a launching pad for major filmmakers and movements, while also offering a pure canvas for cinematic imagination. As Collider notes, “Short films are a unique outlet for filmmakers to unleash their wildest ideas… When done right, they can be life-affirming experiences.”
These are the 10 greatest short films of all time, according to Collider:
- A Trip to the Moon (1902, Georges Méliès)
- Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid)
- Dimensions of Dialogue (1982, Jan Švankmajer)
- La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker)
- Un Chien Andalou (1929, Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí)
- The Wrong Trousers (1993, Nick Park)
- The Big Shave (1967, Martin Scorsese)
- It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2011, Don Hertzfeldt)
- What’s Opera, Doc? (1957, Chuck Jones)
- The Red Balloon (1956, Albert Lamorisse)
