The thing that gets us out of bed in the morning is videos (and the gentle marimba from our phones) — we live for the new styles that emerge each year, from the up-and-coming creators who upload to Vimeo for the first time to the soaring talents of filmmakers who rake in awards at festivals. In 2015, this rang truer than ever. Each of our mainstay categories (which you can now follow) — Music, Documentary, Animation, Travel, Experimental, Narrative, and Sports — continued to knock off our socks on a daily basis as we discovered films that demonstrated ambition in concept, ingenuity in craft, and boldness in execution.
When creating a list to sum up such a strong year, we scoured through the Staff Pick archives and dove into the Vimeo On Demand catalog, revisiting the films that have affected us personally and altered our perception of what we can expect from their respective genres. With that, we are proud to present the top videos of 2015: a selection made with care and consideration, and an overwhelming sense of pride for all the filmmakers in this community that make it shine.
Music
TAME IMPALA “˜The Less I Know The Better” from CANADA
Runners-up:
- Royal Blood – “Out of The Black” from David Wilson
- The Sacred Egg / Nicolas Godin / “Widerstehe Doch Der Sunde” from riffraff films
- AZEL PHARA – “GREEN” from bif
- Childish Gambino – “Sober” from Hiro Murai
Fresh Dressed from Fresh Dressed Movie
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
Documentary
“Guerilla Fighters of Kurdistan” from Joey L
Runners-up:
- “I Thought I Told You To Shut Up!!” from Charlie Tyrell
- “THE REINVENTION OF NORMAL” from Liam Saint-Pierre
- “The Fallen of World War II” from Neil Halloran
The Look of Silence from Drafthouse Films
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
Animation
“Coda” from and maps and plans
Runners-up:
- “The Darkest Truth About Love” from Hannah Jacobs
- “ODIN'S AFTERBIRTH” from Joseph Bennett
- “Wire Cutters” from Jack Anderson
- “Oh Willy”¦” from Marc and Emma
The World of Tomorrow from don hertzfeldt
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
- Cheatin” from Bill Plympton
Travel
“Dubai Flow Motion” from Rob Whitworth
Runners-up:
- “Five” from The Mercadantes
- “Balinese” from Brandon Li
- “Loving Lanka” from Sebastian Linda
- “UGUISU” from Takuya Hosogane
Experimental
“INPUT/OUTPUT” from Terri Timely
Runners-up:
- “DRY LIGHTS” from Xavier Chassaing
- “Granularity” from redhoot
- “Blooms: Strobe-Animated Sculptures” from Pier 9
- “Seed” from Aixsponza
Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston? from Gabriel Sunday
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
Narrative
“POWER/RANGERS” from Joseph Kahn
Runners-up:
- “A Reasonable Request” from Andrew Laurich
- “Memory 2.0″ from Dugan O'Neal
- “CUTAWAY” from Medium Density Fibreboard Films
- “Donald and Jess” from PaulBriganti
Charlie's Country from Visit Films
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
Sports
“Skate Heads” from Flexfit
Runners-up:
- “THE WILD” from LIEBER FILMS
- “Waveform” from Tourist Pictures
- “Kite Fight” from Victory Journal
- “Sunland” from New Balance Numeric
View From A Blue Moon from The Orchard
Vimeo On Demand runner-up:
- Small World from Level 1
We hope you enjoy these picks as much as we did. Happy holidays and see you in 2016!
Love,
Vimeo Curation