Short film day!
Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
Garan (Tur) - A farmer waits patiently at the border between two bickering states, waiting for his precious cows to be delivered to him, but as the border closes and the trucks depart, his delivery, on which his families livelihood depends, is still missing. Desperately, he scours the dangers of the border in search of answers. 7.5
Malicia (Gra/Col) - In rural Columbia, two youngsters take a bike ride to the scene of a previous shooting, where their friend, El Mono, perished. Death is around each corner and mourning is a luxury. 7
Crumb (Ru) - An orphaned teen with learning difficulties works at a bakery in the hopes of one day breaking into society, but for the moment, his meager wage is spent with friends, buying clothes and trading nudie pictures. A chance encounter with a female co-worker awakes something in him and his innocent attempts to try and woo her can't go unpunished in a cruel world where only crumbs come within reach 7
The End of the World (Peru/UK) - A strange, allegorical tale; the elderly Epifanio buries himself at the foot of the mountain whose avalanche killed so many of his village so many years ago. Suddenly a child and back in the time of his parents, he spends what little time he has been given to reconnect and remember. 6
Honey, My Love, So Sweet (Phi) - Two children begin to explore love, gender and the wider world in the shadow of their parents crumbling cinema. It was a bit too cryptic for me. 5
Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
Blue Heart (Hair/Fra) - While their son chases the American Dream half a world away, his father struggles with the care of his frail wife, who is recovering from a stroke. They await a phone call to pep their spirits, but rarely do they get it. A little abstract, it swings wildly between absurd Avant Garde and the quiet contemplation of love enduring all hurdles. 6
Ali (Ban/Phi) - A singing contest comes to a remote Bangladeshi town, and Ali can sing beautifully, but not in the 'right' way for his mother, whose imposed societal limitations force a perpetuation of in-grained self-persecution. Ali wants to show the world who he is. 7
What if they Bomb Here Tonight? (Leb) - An unsettled night for a family in Lebanon; the father fixates on the glass in the windows above their bed, fearful of the planes overhead and the rolling news reports on the telly. In the midst of this horrible situation, a darkly comedic tale appears. 8
In Between Storms (PR) - Lost to a hurricane a year previous, Camplos lies in a coffin washed away by storms. On the night before a new hurricane is about to hit Puerto Rico, Cheita, makes a desperate bid to retrieve the coffin from the rubble and bring it home safe. A sobering tale of loss and resolution. 8
Cucumber (No/Jp) - A cute tale based upon a real Hikikomori - a term given to someone socially self-withdrawn - who on receiving a simple gift from a neighbour, spirals out of control thinking and overthinking about an appropriate response, armed with precisely zero social skills. 7.5
Dancing Pigeons (Swe/Fra) - Finally, a cautionary tale about a spiritualist, whose cocksure handling of a show at a local village goes out of control when a woman asks about a very specific person she lost. Used to seeding the audience with vague hints to get a match, suddenly he needs to actually connect with a real soul or lose it all. 8
Fanomenon Short Film Competition 3
Grandma is Thirsty (UK) - Clearly channeling that episode of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, a bullied boy is taken into a house by Bronte and Benny, two creepy kids who promise him they will stop the bullies. I mean, they do... But... Ugh. 8
Em & Selma go Griffin Hunting (US) - Em and her mother live in an alternate America where the Griffin is a real creature, and the women of the community sanctify their womanhood by slaying one. When Em has second thoughts at pulling the trigger, she is forced into a choice between tradition and ostracisation. It was a little heavy handed with its points but nonetheless powerful. 7.5
Night Whispers (UK) - A man gets more than he bargained for when the woman he beds suddenly starts acting posessed. A quick kip in the afterglow of a conquest starts to go horribly wrong. 7.5
Stomach Bug (UK) - A Cambodian father tries to stay connected to his distant daughter, whilst having to contend with a seriously distended stomach. The docs seem disinterested, and then things start moving inside. A bit of an icky one but very well done 7.5
Checkout (UK) - Agnes just wants a quiet life but her neighbour likes Martine McCutcheon just a bit too much for her thin walls to take. But his music tastes will soon be the least of her problems when a trip to the shops turns into a fight for her life. 7.5
Plastic Surgery (UK) - Heavily pregnant surgeon Dr. Terra is seeing out her last days in the hospital before maternity leave, but a series of increasingly bizarre 'foreign object' emergencies, each involving plastic embedded in the body, spirals out of control. A tense, uncomfortable thriller with a powerful message underneath. 8
Crowded Out (USA) - Stressed from work and trying to find a parking space remotely close to home, Owen ends up picking up a hitch-hiker who wastes no time picking apart his imperfections. More and more hitch-hikers appear and things just turn into the weirdest way to die. 7
Leeds Music Video Competition
Despite the name, it contained videos from across the globe. A quick rundown of the ones I managed to catch:
Check your Face - Okay Kaya - Smooth, sensual vocals overlay a very odd film depicting a body warped by film and cut in half. 7
A Little More Action - Yoann Roussin - A french version of the Elvis Presley classic, playing to an animated clash between rival police gangs, seeing who can abuse the most protesters, as the rest of us look the other way. 8
Heute Ist Mein Tag - Hanningbarna - A company mandated training course accompanied by some angry screaming metal went better than you might think. 7
Julie - Horsegirl - A really nice indie song using animated scenes of nature, let down a little by the repetitiveness of the visuals. 7.5
Avalanche - Monolink - Two revellers retrieve their clothing on their separate walks home after what was clearly a wild night. 6
Buddha Was a Rich Boy - That Handsome Devil - madness and anarchy await a pair of young children as they gatecrash a gig in a pub toilet helmed by a madman. Over the top but fun. 7
Lost in Space - Foster the People - My personal favourite, a very 80's feel with elements of The Human League and Bryan Ferry to it. Gonna find out more about these guys. 8
GOD SAVE THE PONY - BIG SPECIAL - The band members are ponies in an office space setting, which predictably descends into chaos. 7
At Dawn - Pit Pony - Irish rockers Pit Pony give us a fast-paced ballad about being the odd one out in a relationship. 7
Ruth - Nick Leng - A nice, slow ode to a love of a life with a nostalgic feel. I can find the tune, but not the video. 7.5
Panic Shack - Girl Band Starter Pack - The band swap with a quartet of drag queens for a romp around the city streets. 7
Invincibility - Alabaster DePlume - Bit of a weepie as a dog is fatally injured and both mum and distraught daughter take it to the vet for the last time. A melancholy tune accompanies the sad event. 7
ITS JUST LIFE - GANS - The humdrum of the daily work trudge. Wake, work, repeat, played as a trippy hallucination and a nod to the post-punk of the early 80's. 7
Company Culture - Lambrini Girls - As with GANS, the Labbrini Girls are channeling The Divine Comedy's Office Politics, but with more chaos and destruction. The girls let loose with anger at the abuse and perpetual glass ceilings all too familiar to women up and down the country. 7
The Deep Blue Okay - Self Esteem - Done in a single take, one woman describes passionately what it is to be a complicated, stressed, overworked woman in todays society, and how she manages to try again the next day. Powerful. 8
That Summer In Paris (Fr) (wiki)
My only full-length film of the day. Blandine, a thirty-something has taken time out from her quiet, seaside setting in Normandy, to travel to bustling, noisy Paris. Bustlingier and noisier than usual, she is here to see the 2024 Olympics. The plan was to see it with her girlfriend, but they split up just before, and she didn't want to waste the ticket, so here she is, with an oversized backpack for company.
It wouldn't be a film about finding ones self if there wasn't a cluster of mishaps, and poor Blandine can't catch a break. Barred from using her swimming ticket due to her backpack, and kicked out of her 18-30 hostel for being a day too old, she finds herself at the doorstep of Julie, her half-sister. They haven't seen each other for a long time, before their father died in fact, but taking pity on Blandine, Julie allows her to kip on the sofa rather than leave home early.
The film tells a warm-hearted story of one person's personal discovery about themselves, but not in the ways you might expect from such a film, which I found refreshing. Blandine finds not companionship, but an understanding of herself and where she wants to be in the lives of others; an angle to this sort of film I haven't really seen before, and I found it satisfying that Blandine found what made her content. 7.5/10
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