One of the things I’m always terrible at when going to film festivals is checking out the short films. I see a couple, sure, I make a point of catching the animated selections, but otherwise it normally comes down to watching the ones that I’ve been recommended.

So I’m making a conceited effort this year at the 20th Raindance Film Festival to watch more short films – and hopefully, in turn, recommend some to you so you don’t miss out on them either. When’s a better time to start than now? After sifting through the programme of 138+ shorts with a fine toothcomb (well, mouse and keyboard), I’ve already got myself a must-see list.

Here are 10 shorts you should see at Raindance 2012. The best thing about them? They all come with their own selection of other shorts, so you get something like nine bonus other films for every one that takes your fancy.

"I always had something special to show them. Pictures of my family, my mum and dad, me, Spider-Man…because I like Spider-Man..." 

There's some really quite stunning animation on BBC 2 at the moment in the series Seeking Refuge. It's a string of short films animating real-life stories of young people who have sought asylum in the UK. 

It's part of an educational series, which means it's dumped at God-knows-what-o'clock in the morning, but if you have a spare 20 minutes, the first episode is on iPlayer over here. It's worth a watch. There's no sign of a second episode yet, but let me know what you think - I'd be especially interested to hear how any Key Stage 2/Key Stage 3 students (its target audience) react to it. 

Apparently, it was broadcast to coincide with Refugee Week, a UK-wide event that goes on until tomorrow - which just goes to show that a pretty picture can go a long way. Look, ma! I'm raising awareness! 

Take a bow, animation directors Salvador Maldonado, Tom Senior, Jonathan Topf, Karl Hammond, producer/director/editor Andy Glynne and your team of talented people.  

London's very first Argentine Film Festival finished last night at the Ritzy Brixton (officially the comfiest cinema in London) with Medianeras. But before that came a selection of Argentina's early films - and it certainly was a curious line-up.

The newsreel film Revisa Valle (1926) was first, a standard current affairs round-up, full of riverboats and German dignitaries. While the comings and goings of the rich and famous - not to mention their fox-hunts - were intriguing enough, the movie worked primarily because of the live guitarist, whose mellifluous strumming gave events some much-needed colour.

If there's ever been proof of Charles Dickens' long-lasting influence upon film, the BFI's series of pre-1914 short films is it. Dating all the way back to 1901, cinema has been forever besotted by Dickens' work, from the author's grand sweeps across society to his small indoor scenes of poverty-stricken people keeping warm by expensive fires.

Oh yes, there've been a lot of Dickens movies over the years. It's a sign in itself that tonight's set of screenings is the second anthology of silent shorts put together by the BFI. Add that to the fact that A Christmas Carol appears frequently in both line-ups and you know what you get? Sick and tired of watching A flipping Christmas Carol.

Fortunately, you also get fascinated by a compilation of old creations that you wouldn't see at any other point in your life. Chief of which is the newly discovered 1901 movie, The Death of Poor Joe, the oldest surviving Dickens film, which will be screened as part of tonight's event. (You can listen to Michael Eaton's discussion of the film's significance at the premiere here.)

Last week, David Cameron said some silly things about the British film industry and how it should try to fund "commercially successful pictures" (because we all know that Tyrannosaur was missing real dinosaurs to make it better).

The comments came in advance of the government's film policy review this week, but while it's ridiculous to think that anyone can predict what will be a commercial success (look at Four Lions...) and whether it will be any good for the industry (...and then look at Sex Lives of the Potato Men), other funding news was announced on Thursday about another vital part of the country's movie industry: short films.

With the UK Film Council abolished, the BFI is holding the purse strings for UK filmmakers, and they've opted to bring in Lighthouse to manage the funding of short films.

Now Lighthouse, the Brighton-based arts organisation, is already involved in Guiding Lights, the UK scheme to support emerging film talent. They were also responsible for commissioning two short films that were nominated for major awards last year - Turning was up for a BAFTA and Wish 143 was an Oscar contender. In short, they know their stuff.

Every once in a while, we all get cravings for a panorama of international animation, but just when you think a programme to facilitate this need doesn't exist, up pops the London Film Festival’s International Animation Panorama Programme 1.

Something quite different to the rest of the LFF line-up (it doesn’t have Michael Fassbender in it, for one thing), this collection of five short animated films promises cute tales, intriguing observations and funny skits, with an eclectic range of style.

Some are stronger than others - it's worth going on Sunday just to see The Monster of Nix, which features both Tom Waits and Terry Gilliam - but at a mere 73 minutes in total, this anthology (picked by Jayne Pilling) is a pleasant way to escape from the usual festival fare for an hour.

Here are a few thoughts on each: