Following the much lauded success of the British and European collections, which included the works of Mike Leigh, Lars von Trier, Jean-Luc Godard, Sir Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan, the most recent addition to the Cinema 16 series showcases the best of classic and recent award winning American shorts. As well as squeezing over three and half hours of films onto one disc, Cinema 16: American Shorts boasts insightful commentaries from the A-lister and experimental directors behind the shorts that would otherwise be near impossible to see.

Of the big hitters on the collection George Lucas has arguably had the greatest effect on American cinema, but sadly his contribution Freiheit is perhaps one of the weakest. Unmistakably a university film, it depicts a student escaping across the border from East to West Germany. However, it does have a great atmospheric soundtrack, and an avant-garde quality that relates much more to THX 1138 than to Star Wars. Commenting on his very first movie, Lucas states "In short subjects you get to deal with the medium in a much more maluable way. It's a very different form, for people starting out, to be able to use a short form it helps you clarify your ideas and makes them very precise." Adding, "[short films] allow you to focus in a way that a feature really doesn't."

Tim Burton's brilliant stop-motion animation Vincent is far more satisfying. All the classic Burton qualities are here � the macabre sense of humour, awe-inspiring design, the disdain for suburbia � all washed down with a healthy dollop of Edgar Allan Poe and narration from horror king Vincent Price. Indie King Gus Van Sant's entry The Discipline of D.E., is a wonderfully wry narrated version of the William S. Burroughs story that teaches the viewer the principles of the "Do Easy" lifestyle. Alexander Payne's UCLA short Carmen, is a silent derived from the opera of the same name. This tragicomedy centred on a mentally-challenged gas station attendant's love affair with a manipulative woman, and was definitely a sign of things to come from the director of the funny/sad films Election and Sideways. Todd Solondz takes the lead role in his NYU short Feelings. It is as dark and singularly funny as you would expect from the director behind Happiness and Storytelling. Featuring a woeful rendition of the titular song and a suicide bid, its very amusing, especially after repeat viewings.

The art short film from yesteryear also gets a look in on this comprehensive, veritable film school on a disc. The impenetrable Meshes of the Afternoon, the brooding menace of Necrology, and Wharhol's Screen Test: Helmut, are perhaps important historical film documents rather than enjoyable experiences. Much more entertaining however is D.A. Pennebaker's (a pioneer's of Cinema Verité) Daybreak Express which takes us from one end of a 1950s New York subway route to the other, set to the Duke Ellington track of the same name. It's a blistering montage of images and very much ahead of its time.

The newer, award winning shorts are equally interesting. Adam Davidson's The Lunch Date is a much deserved Oscar winner, where a well-to-do white woman is stranded in a train station, explores ideas of stereotyping with a light non-bombastic touch. Peter Sollett's Five Feet and Rising and Mike Mills' (veteran of music videos and Thumbsucker) Paperboys tackle youth in modern America. As does the second stop-motion animation of the collection, the restrained and dark The Wraith of Cobble Hill, winner of the Jury prize at this year's Sundance festival.

Also represented are some of the first bone fide download sensations. Joe Nussbaum's George Lucas in Love, a loving satire that combines Star Wars and Shakespeare in Love, sees college student George find true love as he desperately searches for the Star Wars saga storyline. The short takes the old adage "write what you know" to the Nth degree, and is giddily referential. One of the funniest shorts of recent years is Terry Tate: Office Linebacker. Rawson Marshall Thurber's simple yet genius comedy gives the job of office enforcer to an American footballer who is charged to tackle anyone who breaks even the most minor office rule. The Terry Tate character went on to become an internet and advertising sensation, and Thruber went on to direct Dodgeball.

Perhaps the best short on this superior collection is Terminal Bar, a flash animated documentary about one of the toughest and most eccentric bars in New York. The film is cleverly pieced together by director Stefan Nadelman from his father Sheldon's photographs of his ten year stint at the bar from 1972 to 1982. An amazingly entertaining and visual document of a NY institution long gone.

The diverse Cinema 16: American Short Films successfully continues the series' proud lineage and, aside from providing short films with a much needed platform, Cinema16 is essential viewing for any filmmaker or lover of shorts.

Responses to Cinema16: British Short Films and Cinema16: European Short Films releases:

• "***** The quality of this collection is exceptional, it's like having a complete film festival in the comfort of your own home" Empire
• "A unique collection of exceptional short films" Dazed & Confused 
• "The range of work is rich and remarkable.  Essential" i-D
• "Film studies in a box" The Sunday Times
• "A must-have for any film fan" The Telegraph
• "Pure quality, beautifully packaged, with no filler" The Times
• "These releases should run and run" The Guardian

Cinema16 is a filmmaker driven initiative, produced by Luke Morris, who won the European Film Award and a BAFTA nomination for his first short Je t'aime John Wayne, and was BAFTA nominated again this year, with Toby MacDonald, for Heavy Metal Drummer. The Cinema16 label is distributed Europe-wide through Warp Films Distribution.