The Short: Foutaises AKA Things I Like, I Things I Don't Like (1989)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet films long-time collaborator Dominique Pinon for their first work together as the actor recites a long list of the things he loves and those he hates.

It's easy to see Jeunet developing his keen observational sense of filmmaking through the short and also his talent for occasional bursts of wacky comedy.

If It Was Made Feature-Length: A lot of the style and feeling has since been poured into Jeunet's actual movies, especially Amelie.

Despite that, there's certainly scope for a spiritual sequel to the Audrey Tatou-starrer and though Pinon had a supporting role then, we'd shove him back front and centre.

Weaving a narrative around another slightly obsessive type who is wandering through life looking for something to latch on to should come as second nature to the director.




The Short: Smarienberg (1997)

Okay, so you probably don't know Michel Gondry's work by that name - you just remember it as "the cool Smirnoff advert on telly and at the cinema."

But while this production is a little different from most of the others on the list - because it was a paid commercial job - it's still extremely cool.

Gondry found a way to let the brand speak for itself and made the Vodka seem cool without having a bunch of stereotypically trendy types smugly gurn around a bar and laugh about how great they all are.

Plus it features some incredible effects - most notably a version of bullet time before The Matrix was so much as a flicker on audiences' brains.

If It Was Made Feature-Length: Gondry is about to tackle his first action adventure (and part comedy) with The Green Hornet.

Should the Seth Rogen pic be a big hit, Gondry could do worse than find a solid writer (Charlie Kaufman, say) to take this ad and turn the dramatic, genre-hopping tale of two secret agents into a new breed of action adventure.

And we'd let his imagination run free, to create something completely fresh.

Next: Richard Linklater & James Cameron