Short Film Program 1
Essex Girls dir. Yero Timi-Biu
After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.
Delicately and pointedly acted, and left without a conclusion to any kind of argument, which made it feel more grounded. I thought the makeup and hair did a lot of heavy lifting and the actual catalyst of the story pumped energy throughout. Some very effective emotionally-driven camera work too. It was great.
Pathological dir. Alison Rich
A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one day to discover her lies have become true.
Alison Rich is not someone who I knew of before this and I am so glad she's on my radar now. She wrote, directed, and starred in this delightfully bizarre, loud, and over the top comedy, and shined in each of those roles. At first I went 'oh god this is over-orchestrated, musically,' but then I realized what they were doing and fell in even harder than I had to begin with. It's over the top and hilarious and the use of color and absurd closeness were so engaging and underlined everything being said three times in bright red ink. Really, really fun.
ALOK dir. Alex Hedison
A compelling portrait of ALOK, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive-produced by Jodie Foster.
I zoned out. Alok sounds like a wonderful speaker and person, but I think I may be a bit too steeped in trans conversations to find anything of this particularly revelatory. That said, I'm glad it's here. We need more talk like this on mainstream (hah, as mainstream as Sundance is) platforms, and I'm glad this can be that.
Miisufy dir. Liisi Grünberg
Digital pet cat Miisu gets tired of her owner and starts to revolt. Inspired by Tamagotchi — observing the world through the eyes of digital pets.
(I was surprised that this wasn't in the animation program!) The lovely world that the cats live in made me coo out loud when I saw it, and the miserable trash fire that is being a virtual pet was so sad. Though the nonsense physics and not-caring-ness of the human character was delightful as much as it was a bit embarrassing - the painfully long avalanche of stuff falling over when she got in was awful/hilarious. The physical sensations in this - especially for the escaping cat - were wonderfully palpable, and magical.
The Heart dir. Malia Ann
A lonely man grieves the death of his mother after an argument about groceries and an odd request in her will.
This broke my heart, pun not intended. My parents dying is something that really spooks me, so I'm always affected by those plot points. That said, the experience of overwhelming grief was deftly done, and I sincerely appreciate the streak of awkwardness and not-quite-fitting-together-ness of the final scene. Also, the depth of focus (?) made the film feel like a tight hold. Not quite a hug, but definitely a firm, familiar hold. The final song, a cover from Miloe of Bless the Telephone by Labi Siffre, is what cinched the experience. A deftly crafted film.
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love dir. Makoto Nagahisa
Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with her friend Kubokayo.
Awesome use of straight to the camera narration! The framing and pacing and blocking all sang to make this weird little eclectic world, powered by emotions and relations, where a child of a human and crab was as real as anything. It really made me want to experiment with straight-to-camera narration of events in a story (this reminded me of one of the Wes Anderson shorts on Netflix with Benedict Cumberbatch it it too) and really play with someone flatly saying what happened with a bit of the showing interwoven throughout. Additionally, the use of lighting and framing was gorgeous. Great stuff!
Short Film Program 2
Pasture Prime dir. Diffan Sina Norman
A widow falls for a younger man she meets at the Cowboy Church.
This one took such a turn at the end that I'm still not sure what to do with it. Some great sound design, really unsettling, threatening, ominous... I wonder if I'd get more out of it if I watched it again. (Also that man was overreacting. Block her and throw the letters out, you'll survive dude. I have a family friend who is elderly and having trouble living alone so I am highly sympathetic to the old woman in this film, which is definitely coloring this reaction.)
Thirstygirl dir. Alexandra Qin
On a road trip with her younger sister, Charlie struggles to hide a secret sex addiction.
I appreciated how this one could get across that someone was horny just by how, how often, and how the camera presented how they look at someone/something. Not my bag, but well done.
The Lost Season dir. Kelly Sears
Winter is over. Continue watching.
I do and don't like this one, politically speaking. I appreciate the value of speculative fiction around climate collapse, but I do wish we saw more furiously hopeful pieces of speculation; what will it look like when we do fix the climate? That said, I think the presentation was eloquent, and I especially appreciate the narrator's refusal to participate in further extraction from calamity. The visual effects were overwhelming and effective. Worth watching.
The Stag dir. An Chu
At a deer farm in Changhua County, a middle-aged man is asked to cut off a stag’s antlers in front of his two kids.
This one had a lot of big thoughts about men, in every slice. It was very measured, and took its time getting where it was going, to the point where I assumed it was about to swoop into a bigger movement when it ended. It made me contemplate. The sound and visuals of the deer will stick with me. I appreciate seeing kids be casually destructive too; it's something I forgot I missed.
Merman dir. Sterling Hampton IV
A 58-year-old Black Queer man speaks the truth about his life as an emergency nurse, a leather enthusiast, husband, and civil rights advocate.
I could watch this beautiful man talk about his life for an entire feature. I don't know where this team found him/his work, but I'm glad we got a small window into his life, and his moving eloquence. What a gorgeous man.
The Masterpiece dir. Alex Lora Cercos
Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with something she wants.
I don't know if this was doing anything particularly extraordinary. It felt like the world (ie the high class house setting) of Parasite or Beef were remixed into a different setting. There were pieces that really intrigued me (again, as an American), like everyone speaking several languages, but I think this one took too long getting where it was going for my taste. When it picked up, it really picked up! But I'm unsure if it was worth the wait for the payoff. Fantastic costuming.
And that's what I watched yesterday! After finishing, I ended up showing Pathological, The Heart, and Pisko the Crab Child is in Love to my mom. A great deal of enjoyment in sharing media I've enjoyed!