In what I can now definitively call an annual tradition, I am watching the Sundance Short Films and writing up my reactions! For day one, I started off with Program 3, just to mix it up. I had to step away right after finishing this program, so hopefully my reactions are still cohesive and accurate.
Short Film Program 3
Full Month dir. Ash Goh Hua
Following the birth of her niece, Jing returns to Singapore for the newborn’s birthday celebration. She is forced to confront the contentious relationship with her estranged mother and traditional family politics, which prompted her departure a decade prior.
The colors and timing of this short is rich. It takes long moments to soak, and that feeling is built with both editing and lighting. Also, the lead is an extremely attractive lesbian, so I'm never mad at that.
Trokas Duras dir. Jazmin Garcia
Journeying through the interior landscapes of a Jornalero’s dreams, his waking reality in Los Angeles, and what it looks like when a group of people relegated to serving others labors for their own elevation of body and spirit.
This one feels like a collage or a dream or a feeling, collected. It floats in and out of literal moment to moment conversations and into the imagined, the ideal, the dream of what is and what can be. The way that they treat the subjects with the camera is engaging, really bringing me and my focus on the rhythm and shape of what is being said alongside the language. Each character felt like a whole human.
remember me dir. Claire Titelman
Claire just turned 40 years old, got dumped, and moved home to take care of her dying dad. She decides it’s time for her to go on a date.
This is one of my standouts from the program. The camera stays right on her face through almost the whole film, and it's never directly stated who she's talking to, but this kinetic, frenetic tempo from Titelman's performance (she's the lead actress, director, co-producer, and writer) gives a wide open window into how this character is doing - and the answer is not great! It's funny and deeply vulnerable, and I really really liked it.
Miss You Perdularia dir. Manu Zilveti
At a Cuban high school, a group of girls who call themselves “Las Perdularias” find ways to deal with the absences on an island that is becoming increasingly empty.
This was a feeling that I do not know. It was cohesive and hypnotic, but foreign to me. Perhaps I should have had more context for it, but even without the framing of shots and rhythm washed over me.
Almost Certainly False dir. Cansu Baydar
Having fled the war in Syria, Hanna and her younger brother, Nader, find themselves staying in a run-down neighborhood in Istanbul.
The way the framing, focus, and camera work in general was orchestrated made me feel extremely personal and up close with the characters while simultaneously feeling isolated and alienated from the places they were in. A masterclass in how to use the camera to enhance and reinforce narrative themes.
Ragamuffin dir. Kaitlyn Mikayla
A 12-year-old motocross racer spends what seems like an average race weekend at the track with her father. But as things unfold, she’s faced with her identity, her deafness, and what it means to be a girl.
I wish this one hit more for me! It did on many levels, but it started to lose me at the end, perhaps because of my lack of familiarity with motorsports (motocross? Case in point...). I think the way it evoked feeling alone and watching and the environment as a whole was deeply effective; I felt connected to this little kid who is so deeply entrenched in this culture yet still feels isolated within it and from it. Great shot pacing. It's rare that I see a piece of media where the main character has a specific relationship with their assistive devices, in this case a hearing aid (I'm not sure the proper name for the specific kind, but she could take it out whenever she wanted), in a way that contributed to the feelings in the narrative.
One thing that really struck me by this collection is how each story is steeped in intersections. Whether they be class, race, gender, age, ability, queerness... They're all touching and crossing each other and influencing one another. I don't often see a through line between films in a program, but this one felt cohesive in focused interest (though not in subject).
That's all I watched for today. It's important to note, I don't read any information before watching, so the descriptions above are things I didn't know coming into the films; I just take them as they are. I'll see you tomorrow!