Liquid structures with at least one free boundary and confined to small aspect ratios manifest strong susceptibility to surface forces and interfacial stresses. Such flows, well described by the so-called long wavelength approximation, are characterized by a reduced set of equations in which viscous and boundary forces dominate inertial forces, and velocity and pressure gradients across the smallest dimension govern transport behavior. In this limit, liquid flows respond instantaneously to spatial and temporal modulation of boundary forces, a feature exploited in the development of newer micro- and optofluidic devices. In this talk, we will describe two lesser known instances of surface mediated flows in micro- and nanoscale films, particularly susceptible to interfacial instabilities. The first, based on the flow behavior of molten nanoscale polymer films, holds promise for what we coin “3D thermocapillary lithography”. The second, based on flows generated by concentration gradients of surface active molecules, may help explain rapid molecular transport observed in a number of biological flows.