The email sender said he didn’t remember more than I did. I googled ‘20 mile limit’ ‘short film’ and it only returned these two threads.
I thought finding out that Tupelo Chain Sex was the band that recorded Everyday’s A Holiday was impossible, but it was done. So maybe finding information on 20 Mile Limit isn’t impossible. But this time I really think it is. [Gauntlet thrown.]
I’m assuming this was a US film (that the actors all had voices with American accents), since I think you’d have clued us in at some point if it was a silent film or if the actors all spoke in a language you didn’t know and there were subtitles.
I’m also assuming this was shot in color, not B&W.
If I have those details wrong, lemme know now. Also, if there’s anything else you can remember, lemme know.
I’m actually surprised I haven’t seen this. I’m a big fan of short movies (I have a nice little collection of about a hundred or so shorts) and I used to specifically tune into HBO, Showtime & Cinemax during the breaks just to see what shorts were playing.
Threaten? Oh, no; I never threaten. A threat would be evidence!
Not B&W. It was shot in colour, but the image was mostly white screen. First I thought there was something wrong with the cable. Then I wondered if somehow they had the negative toggle on. Then I decided it was supposed to be that way. Maybe they’d shot the film and it was all underexposed, so the filmmakers said, ‘Geez, we can’t afford to re-shoot. What if we just show the neg?’ Or maybe it was an intentional artistic decision. I don’t remember if there were any positive images in it.
It was in English, not subtitled. I don’t recall if the accents were American, but I’m going to guess they were. I want to say I saw it around 1980. I don’t think it was as early as 1979, and I’m pretty sure it was before 1984. It was around the same time that I saw another short (subtitled?) film on the same channel, about a German(?) soldier (whose name started with a ‘J’?) who is executed (by firing squad?). 20 Mile Limit was a very low-key film. Not a lot going on visually, of course. The story was told by a man, a woman, and I think another man who were discussing/arguing about what lies behind the limit. The government says that anyone who goes beyond it will die, I think of radiation poisoning. The main guy said that his research indicates that the ‘20-mile limit’ is really the boundary of the country’s fishing grounds and there’s nothing to be afraid of. He suggests that the government uses the radiation story as a bogeyman to keep citizens from escaping. I don’t recall seeing the little robot very well, but it was R2D2-like. It may have resembled a vacuum cleaner, as it had some sort of protrusion. I don’t remember if it was a flexible hose or an armature.
You’d think that with the title it would be findable; but ‘20-mile limit’ has a lot of uses other than the title of a film.
I have calls in to friends in a couple of places and am waiting to hear back from them and a couple of other resources I have as well.
I actually kind of surprised that there isn’t a better website for short films. I mean, hundreds of thousands of songs get recorded every year, and amg.com manages to keep track of them. imdb.com tracks thousands of feature films, TV shows, their crews, casts, etc.
But most of the short film sites are geo-centric: German short films, short films from Florida, that sort of thing. And most of them don’t really seem to go back much further than 2008.
I doubt it was ever was widely released, but the more the merrier!
I hope you do. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, and I’d like to know when it was made, who made it, why they chose to film it the way they did, blahblahblah.
Not to hijack my own thread, but have you ever seen I Was A Teenage Alien? It was billed as ‘The World’s First Science-Fiction/Horror Anti-Shoplifting Film’, and was made by a member of the San Rafael PD.
Bumping because my request for a comedy sketch ID, and the answer that it was actually a short film and not part of a comedy show, reminded me of this.
It’s been a long time since I saw the film, and only saw it once. It sure seemed like a negative image to me. Interesting choice. I’d love to see it again, knowing it was a conscious decision, and with 40-year-older eyes.
Fascinatin’. A few years ago, I was asked to produce a music video for a friend. I took a lot of material from this film and used it as visual background. Couldn’t remember how I happened upon it, but now it’s clear I found it after seeing this thread.
And here’s a direct link to the start of the short.
I would call that a “negative print” more than mere “color correction”.
That period in the late 70s spilling over into the 80s a little bit was a great time for seeing short films on HBO and Showtime. That had a lot of time to fill (despite being on the air for only part of the day for a while). They also ran some music videos, but MTV killed the pay-tv video star.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post.
I did not know this blog existed until recently.
The Solarized sampling of the footage looks great!
The correct link to the film is also very much appreciated too.
I am looking for another shot film I made maybe you all
Can find it? Here’s the details
The Unisphere was climbed in 1976 by George Willig (the so-called “Human Fly” who would later climb the World Trade Center), and Jerry Hewitt as part of a short film called The Third Stone Directed by Paul Hornstein.
Again I am blown away by the response.
Best, Paul
Sorry it took me so long.