Easy to overlook, a good short film -- like the starter to the main entree in a meal out -- can set you up for a great evening at the cinema.

Or at least it can at the Bermuda Film Festival where these mini-movies live on, years after they died out at film theatres.

One of the advantages of short films is they can give film makers the chance to make vignettes and explore elements of human character that might fascinate for five minutes but simply would not stretch to a 90-minute feature.

One good example of this is Simon Ellis' The Fiver Thing which gives audiences a sampler of life for the unemployed in some dreary northern town. The two pals/protagonists spend their time arguing over who owes who five pounds.

This can have disastrous consequences as we see in the opening scene when one is run over after being chased by the other after another bar room bust-up.

But neat characterisation and dialogue gives you the impression that this opening action is not exactly the norm as most hours are passed pondering whether to have another cup of tea or go fishing.

It is low budget and earthy and will no doubt act as part of writer/director Simon Ellis' CV and he hankers after bigger projects.

Whether its humour will translate for international audiences is another matter.

In almost complete contrast is Last Request which opens with panoramic views of the California hillsides and has a credit list seemingly long enough to staff a big-budget blockbuster.

Again it centres around two characters -- a hit man and his kidnapped victim who is led to a desolate spot to dig his own grave.

With nothing left to lose, the condemned man bargains for his life and attempts to wear away at the novice assassin.

Last Request delivers on that other essential element of short film. With a limited amount of time to play with the writer must put a greater burden on the twist in the tale.

Undone is another US made effort, this time by Kandeyce Jorden. Featuring a reasonably large cast it is the tale of one unforgettable night when three young punks on the run from Police somehow cross paths with a bondage party victim who is found dumped, chained and unconscious in an alleyway.

It nearly works. Although the plot has plenty of twists it is never quite believable, and for some reason I find more honesty is demanded in mini features than in full scale productions.

But it is a better effort than La Television by Marc Olivier-Picron which has neither action, dialogue nor plot.

It merely charts the nightmare of one Frenchman who cannot turn off his TV no matter how hard he tries, until he opts for some rock star antics and dumps the thing out of his high-storey window.

Conceived, no doubt, as some allegory on our obsession with the square box in our living rooms it manages to be overly long at 11 minutes and predictable.

Thankfully neither of these things apply to the outstanding Telling Lies in which writer Simon Ellis -- yes him again -- hits on the simple but blindingly effective idea of contrasting the words people say with what they are really thinking.

As each person speaks their real thoughts are flashed up in letters on the black screen as four characters try to pick up the pieces the morning after the distinctly messy night before.

Witty, insightful and very close to the bone -- we never get to see the characters but after four minutes you find you know an awful lot about them -- a mini film that will not leave you feeling short changed.

Coming nearly undone: Characters in "Undone'' react to the sight of a bondage slave they have stumbled on while on the run from the Police. Undone is one of several short films in this year's Bermuda Film Festival.

REVIEW REV BIFF MOVIES MPC