SBS's countdown to Tropfest highlights the best of short film ahead of the summer festival. Which are your favourites?

For Australian film fans, Tropfest is a summer essential that has long been celebrated with a picnic in Sydney's Domain – or other outdoor venues broadcasting around the country – while keeping a wary eye on summer storm clouds. So those with both sunbaked and sodden memories of battling the crowds and the elements to champion short films will surely join me in welcoming the launch of Tropfest TV. Launched on Sunday night, the next 12 weeks, SBS2 has the next 12 weeks sorted with weekly thematically linked selections of Tropfest shorts from home and away, including New Zealand, USA and the Middle East.

I can trace my love of short films back to Disney's 1952 classic Lambert the Sheepish Lion. I must have watched that eight-minute fable a thousand times as a child. These days, animated shorts may be dominated by Pixar (of which I can list many a must see: La Luna, Tin Toy and Presto among them), but Lambert's lament never strays far from my mind.

But if you've never fallen for short films in quite the same way, allow me to make my case for feature film's more compact sibling.

Short in length, high on impact, short films are a marvel of concertinaed time and distilled characters. As a spectator, it's remarkable to realise how quickly you can jump into a story, how eagerly you begin to anticipate the action, and the immediacy of your emotional investment. A great short film can bring about belly laughs, make your eyes well up with tears, or have you clawing at your arms with tension.

One of my favourites is Spencer Susser's I Love Sarah Jane. From the get-go I want to know why on earth this boy is riding along with a quiver of arrows!

Another classic from the Australian Bluetongue Films archive is Nash Edgerton's Spider. The characterisation is spot on: from the moment the radio is flicked on and then, promptly, off, you just know what is going on in this relationship (the same holds in the follow-up Bear). And even though I know how it ends, Spider still gets a jump out of me every time.

There is, also something to be said about the ability of short film to crystalise an idea, and to make you think. Warwick Thornton's 2002 short Mimi is the first to spring to mind. Satirising clueless white art collectors who invest in Indigenous art, Thornton keeps you laughing, while skewering his point home.

Kim Ho's beautifully honest Language of Love captured my heart. Created as part of the Australian Theatre for Young People's The Voices Project, 17-year-old Ho worked with director Laura Scrivano to bring his story of truth and sexual awakening to the screen.

The wonderful thing about short films is that they feel like a discovery. You can almost brag about getting in on the ground floor with an emerging filmmaker (much like I did above with Camera d'Or winning Warwick Thornton!). Are you a fan of David Michôd's Animal Kingdom? Then you'll want to take a look at his concept short Crossbow.

What about Wes Anderson's feature debut Bottle Rocket? That took off as a short film first?

At the recent Melbourne International Film Festival, there was much buzz about Perth-based filmmaker Zak Hilditch's feature debut These Final Hours. But before he was about to bring his version of apocalypse to the big screen, Hilditch set the scene with his award-winning short Transmission.

Such is the delight of short films: they can take you on a ride, expand your horizons and let you discover filmmakers who are truly interesting.