Reviews of screenings from the 2011 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival (WSFF), Toronto, Canada.
The Short Take: There's a variety of dynamics at play in these loosely-grouped shorts, but control is always a slippery thing.
Picks:
The Tannery (Dir: Iain Gardner, 6 min.) Could the forest creatures, both prey and prowler, be at peace with each other in the afterlife? A beautifully animated fantasy that muses on what we trap when we take something from nature. Spiritualist hoodoo, to be sure, but that doesn't mean it's not emotionally arresting.
Two (Dir: Maya Newell, 17 min.) Other people's fetishes and hidden desires can be rather easy to laugh at, so it's remarkable to come face-to-face with someone willing to "out" themselves as an adult baby. In this British documentary, Julian wants nothing more than the innocent security of being two years old, loved and protected from the world — along with a nanny to change his diapers. This isn't a metaphorical yearning, and we follow Julian on a retreat to a nursery for adult babies. It's easy to snicker, but the doc takes a carefully non-judgmental approach and let's us into Julian's world.
The Combo (Le trio) (Dir: Louis-Philippe Eno, 15 min.) Summer jobs. Whatever you're flashing back to might not be as bad as the three teenagers in this film who must've drawn the short straw at their fast-food restaurant, and are now consigned mascot duty, working the boulevard in foam food costumes. Or perhaps they're trying to be employee of the month. And, say, are the fries and the drink now an item? Nicely shot and feeling properly lived-in, this catches the mood just right.
Pans:
Taipei Taxi (Dir: Brian Lye, 7 min.) A voyeuristic slice of audio verité, this lets us listen in on a secretly-recorded conversation in a Taiwanese taxi. But there's not enough here to justify making a film of it, especially visually, where the same footage essentially is used twice in a loop.
Otherwise:
Rusted Pyre (Dir: Laurence Cohen, 14 min.) In Saskatchewan, no can can hear you scream.
Picnic (Udflugt) (Dir: Kasper Torsting, 19 min.)
A romantic tryst in the woods doesn't go as planned. A low-key thriller with the verisimilitude of always being queasily unsure of how high the stakes really are.
The Renter (Dir: Jason Carpenter, 10 min.) Enjoyable animated short that evokes the weird unfamiliarity of those times when your parents dropped you off to be taken care of by someone else for an afternoon — moments where the strangeness of other people's lives, boredom and imagination all get hurled together.
Northeast Front (Frente noreste) (Dir: Angela Torres Camarena, 11 min.) A gritty and realistic account of life in the narcoterritories of northern Mexico, as played out against the ordinary elements of work and family. Esperanza is sympathetic and middle-classed and helps bring home that the victims of this state of siege are mostly ordinary people, just like us.
This programme plays again on Saturday June 4, 3:00 pm at the Varsity.
The Short Take: There's a rich vein to tap into here, whether it's the idea of leaning in a little to hear something that wasn't meant for you or something that you're stuck with no matter how much you try not to. A particularly strong programme, and the best I've seen in the festival so far.
Picks:
Sleepless Night (Nuit blanche) (Dir: Samuel Tilman, 20 min.) A gripping, tense film, even though it consists mostly of shots of one man talking into a speakerphone and the voice of the woman he's talking to. A harrowing night detailing the efforts made to rescue a stranded group of mountain climbers, we mostly stay at the base camp with the officer maintaining communication. As a snowstorm approaches, the rescuers struggle to get there in time. Tense all the way through until the morning comes.
The Kook (Dir: Gregory Mitnick, Nat Livingston Johnson, 18 min.) A charming and frequently hilarious tale that works with all the familiar tropes about doomsday cults. With a snappy pace and witty visuals (including the most incredible group of haircuts in the festival) this feels like a big-screen movie. Worthy of a wide audience — just don't drink the juice until the Leader gives the signal.
Pans:
Ketchup (Dir: Konstantinos Frangopoulos, 7 min.) Not an outright dud, but in the company of the rest of the films on this slate, this familial Greek melodrama feels a little thin, and a little bit of this father and his adult daughter yelling at each other goes a long way.
Otherwise:
Marvin (Dir: Mark Nute, 7 min.) Child-like whimsy (delivered in rhyming couplets by Steve Coogan) reminding us that sometimes we have to put aside our common sense to enjoy the world around us. Animated and delivered with joy and inventive wit.
It Is Nothing (Ce n’est rien) (Dir: Nicolas Roy, 7 min.) The heaviest entry in the programme, this spare and actorly short felt a bit out-of-place amongst the films surrounding it, making it harder to get into its deliberate, unrushed rhythm. Following a rage-filled father taking matters into his own hands to protect his daughter, the film gives us glimpses of his agony but leaves the audience to draw its own conclusions.
This Chair Is Not Me (Dir: Andy Taylor Smith, 10 min.) Alan Martin is a dancer, expressing his hard-earned independence. You just might not realize it if you only look and see cerebral palsy or a wheelchair.
Boss of Me (Dir: Brett Blackwell, 9 min.) He's a gentle elementary school teacher; she's a professional assassin. Is this going to affect their marriage? This local short gets good laughs from the premise and doesn't outstay its welcome. Good zingy performances from the supporting cast. Warning: after viewing, you may end up addressing schoolchildren as "Garfunkel".
Projections (Dir: Sandrine Cassidy, Kendra Ryan, 3 min.) A welcome nugget of experimental film-making, where the technique becomes the idea, leaving lingering feelings of images flashing briefly in our brain and cohering as memories.
This programme screens again Friday June 3, 4:00 pm at the ROM. Highly recommended!
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