...

Short Film Program 5

I actually only got to a handful of movies today - I had all-you-can-eat sushi for lunch, took a huge nap, and then my house was loud as all get out for the rest of the day. Long story short, I didn't feel like it, so I didn't. I'm trying to be kinder to myself and encourage myself to just do what I want to with this rather than what I feel like I 'should' do.

Here's the films I got to from this program:

Hippopotami dir. Jianjie Lin

In the suburbs of a northern Chinese city undergoing urbanization, a quirky girl who wants to see animals in the zoo is taken for a ride that will forever change her perspective on life.

The sense of space was pretty fantastic in this film, even if I didn't 100% follow what the story was about. Worth watching for the shot framing and pacing alone.

Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail? dir. Bec Pecaut

While recovering from top surgery, Mad struggles with wanting their partner’s attention and accepting help from their mother.

Wfhwoof. Seeing what I could easily consider a nightmare scenario of healing post-top surgery goes into my 'too real, hard to watch' pile for this year. I think that Pecaut did an excellent job of capturing these characters as though they were real people in very specific ways - that partner is so spot on to some of the toxic gay people who are no longer in my life it's uncanny. I don't think I can accurately assess my feelings on this (yet) because more than anything it made me tense up.

Such Good Friends dir. Bri Klaproth

After ending a toxic friendship, a people pleaser finds herself falling into old patterns with her former best friend’s family.

This cracked me up and hurt so bad ahahah. It's also the film that made me realize my overarching theme of favorite films for this year is apparently 'white women desperately seeking connection.' I think the way the story was framed with just the main character alone and having a friend breakup slowly being eaten up by this family was so wonderfully awkward and painful and funny. Excellent execution of the concept.

The Long Valley dir. Robert Machoian

Documenting the people and landscapes of the Salinas Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in California.

The Long Valley's audio design is what makes it a standout for me. The all-consuming nature of how they use wind builds out this heaviness, humid-ness that permeates everything being said. The visuals are lovely, and I was happy to see a kind of landscape I've honestly never seen before (oh duh, of course that's how strawberries are harvested - duh). Listen to this one with the volume cranked up.

I finished the rest of the program the next day, so check that post for thoughts on the rest of them!