1977 reveals a young girl struggling with gender-identity issues against the restricting mores and close-mindedness of a conservative small town.

Named for the momentous year of her birth, 1977 (U.K., 2007, 9 min., color, Sony HD Cam) tells the story of director Peque Varela's life through a lively collage of images, photos, and animation. Varela drew upon her own memories of rejection growing up in Galicia, Spain to form the basis for the script, then associated images with these events to reveal a young girl struggling with gender-identity issues against the restricting mores and close-mindedness of a conservative small town.

The short was made while Varela was studying animation at the National Film and Television School in London. She had to learn most of the technical aspects of the project while making the film -- often by improvising and trying out new ideas. She tried to get her whole team involved in the creative process, taking them on a trip to Galicia so they could understand better where she had come from. Six of the group spent almost a week shooting, photographing, and recording sound at several locations. Upon her return to school she spent around seven months animating on her own, then continued animating another three months with the help of two assistants. The whole process took over a year.

Set against the hot sun of Las Vegas and the freezing void of outer space, The History of America (U.S., 2006, 31 min., color, Sony HD cam) is a psychedelic western space opera where the iconic heroes of the West and outer space are pitted against each other in an epic struggle for America. The film is design and filmmaking collective MK12's tribute to all things American -- cowboys and astronauts, Las Vegas, the Civil War and Manifest Destiny

Chonto mixes photorealistic backgrounds and flat two-dimensional cartoon images with filmed footage of an actual moving mouth inserted into the cartoon drawing.

Using a similar process to one they developed for commercials and a music video for Hot Hot Heat, MK2 manipulated live-action footage in their watercolor version of Las Vegas that included real actors in costume performing -- and even flying around on ropes and pulleys -- in front of green screens as a basis for the animation.

The Kansas City, Missouri collective was founded in 2000 by art school refugees Jed Carter, Tim Fisher, Matt Fraction and Ben Radatz and has earned acclaim in both commercial and artistic arenas with their work in design, commercials, and short films. Over years of working together, MK2 has developed a collective brain by keeping the structure loose and allowing everyone to contribute to and critique all aspects of production.

The History of America was one of 16 works chosen by New York Magazine as the best online content of 2007.

In the bizarrely amusing buddy pic Chonto (U.S., 2007, 15 min., color, Sony HD Cam), director Carson Mell follows last year's Sundance-featured short film Bobby Bird: The Devil in Denim with another adventure starring the aging, wilted rock idol Bobby Bird, who this time tries to buy a friend when he adopts a monkey from a zoo in South America.

Mell's animation style is a mix of photorealistic backgrounds and flat two-dimensional cartoon images with filmed footage of an actual moving mouth inserted into the cartoon drawing. Camera movements are primarily limited to slowly zooming in and out. Bobby drawls the narration with a Southern homespun been-there-done-that ex-rocker mentality. With his web presence, Bobby Bird has garnered a cult following of fans.

Mary Ann Skweres is a filmmaker and freelance writer. She has worked extensively in feature film and documentary postproduction, with credits as a picture editor and visual effects assistant. She is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.