Vimeo Staff Picks team selects its top 100 films in a decade for SXSW

South by Southwest (SXSW) opens today in Austin, Texas, and among the packed schedule of films, talks and events, Vimeo is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Staff Picks by opening its very own cinema. Across three days, The Decade presented by Vimeo will show over 100 films, as well as hosting talks, a meet-up for filmmakers, a digital museum of video innovation and an outdoor gallery exhibiting commissioned posters for the films being shown, plus Jim Carrey’s artwork. Filmmakers including Kirsten Lepore and Daniels feature on the speaker roster; see the full schedule and more details here.

To mark the event, the Staff Picks team has selected five of its favourite films from across the decade, and Sam Morrill, director of curation for Vimeo, writes for It’s Nice That about each film’s impact.

Kirsten Lepore: Hi Stranger

Since earning her first Staff Pick in 2008, we’ve watched animator Kirsten Lepore’s star skyrocket as the director of films that have won prizes at top festivals around the world, an Annie and Emmy-winning stop-motion episode for Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, and the delightfully disturbing short, Hi Stranger, which has earned several million views on Vimeo alone. Her accolades are endless, and Hi Stranger is a great example of the hilarious creativity that sets her apart from her peers in the field of animation.

Carlos Lopez Estrada: Clipping, Summertime

With 11 Staff Picks under his belt, we weren’t surprised when Carlos’ first feature, Blindspotting, was chosen as the Sundance 2018 opening night film and immediately thereafter picked up by Lionsgate. The leading man of this modern thriller was none other than Broadway star Daveed Diggs, for whom Carlos directed an ingenious music video called Summertime.

Daniels: Dogboarding

Schnauzers and Beagles magically turn into skateboards in the wildly creative action sports vid Dogboarding, which sprouted from the minds of accomplished directing duo Daniels. Since 2010, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan have been Staff Picked 11 times for their over-the-top music videos for acts like The Shins, Simple Song, and Passion Pit, Cry Like a Ghost, among many others. Their feature film, Swiss Army Man premiered at Sundance 2016 and starred Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse and Paul Dano as a desperate man stranded on an island.

Jersey 2nd Avenue: Curmudgeons

Our very first Staff Pick Premiere was Curmudgeons, a dark comedy directed and produced by Danny DeVito which premiered to rave reviews at the last year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Danny’s presence both behind and in front of the lens for Curmudgeons speaks volumes about its hilarity, but we’ll mention its 700K views and overwhelmingly positive feedback from the Vimeo community anyway.

Jim Carrey: I Needed Color

We all know Jim Carrey as an actor and comedian who could make us laugh into tomorrow, but who would have thought that he’s equally talented with a canvas and paintbrush? Earning six million views and over 15,000 likes on Vimeo in the seven months since its premiered online, I Needed Color is a short video documenting a deeper side of Jim Carrey as he philosophises on life and paints with great skill.