Friend and I went to the festival tonight, which was a first time for me. Saw a selection of six short films; events like this are always a mixed bag and the offerings varied wildly in style and quality. But at least, this being short film, the crappy ones didn’t stick around for too long.
1. Blood Pulls A Gun
A moody noirish short about a teenage girl who helps her Dad run a motel in the middle of nowhere and has a crush on a dark handsome dangerous stranger, with tragic results. Rather melodramatic but with some nice imagery and a dreamy soundtrack.
2. Stuffed
This one was about a shy, socially awkward man whose two big loves are his mother and taxidermy. When his mother passes away, he decides to keep her around, so to speak… but how will this affect the budding relationship with a woman who fancies him? I really liked it – a perfect balance of whimsical/creepy/funny.
3. Milkmaid
A bit of a dud. I think it was meant to be something like a fairytale about an Eastern European milkmaid (who wears eye make-up on her way to milking, because that’s just what milkmaids in Russia do), with an environmental message about cutting down the forests. However, it’s all rather clumsily made and the message has the subtlety of a brick in your face. Plus, if you can’t afford decent CGI for the human faces on the trees, better not go there at all – it just screams cheap otherwise.
4. The Story of Percival Pilts
Hands down the best short of the night; a charming, witty stop motion animated film whose main character decides to live his entire life on the stilts. You could tell that the filmmakers made the most out of their budget, and that a lot of love and care went into the film. The story is told in rhyme, too.
5. Scission
This short was so WTF the audience were too confused to clap at first. Something about a guy traumatised by the loss of his son who loses his mind and kills his family… maybe? Mostly it seemed like an excuse to throw some surreal weird-ass imagery onscreen.
6. High Tide
A story about a teenage boy who must choose between going fishing with his Dad and going to the cinema on the beach with a girl he likes. Pretty cute.
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