Author: festreviews

Feature Film Review: CLOSER THAN YESTERDAY. Directed by Lisa Le Lievre

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Two young San Francisco Ballet dancers compete on the world stage at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition.

http://closerthanyesterday.com/

Review by Victoria Angelique

CLOSER THAN YESTERDAY is a story of resilience and courage that follows Carmela as she trains for the Helsinki International Ballet Competition with her dance partner. This documentary takes an intimate look at what goes on behind the performance of a ballet performance and how it takes to rehearse in order to compete in a prestigious competition. 

The rollercoaster ride to Helsinki isn’t easy. First Carmela has surgery to fix an injury, then once she’s healed, her dancing partner has to be replaced the week of the competition because he gets Covid. Esteban’s replacement, Alexis, then has to travel six hours to get a travel visa at the last minute in order to travel to Finland. The tension could be felt through the screen, as the dreams of going to the competition felt like they could be dashed in a moment for all the dancers. 

The film is shot in a traditional documentary style, yet it still feels raw. This allows for the viewer to be immersed in the journey with the performers. We are rooting for them throughout the rehearsals and the competition. The pace slows down between the rehearsals and the competition to give the audience time to feel the butterflies that the dancers must have been feeling leading up to the performances. The depiction of ballet shows how grueling of an art form it is, yet beautiful at the same time with the graceful movements of Carmela and Alexis as they move on stage during the competition. The general theme is to keep on dancing and living one’s passion no matter what the outcome of a competition is, because Carmela’s positive attitude stays consistent throughout the entire film no matter what gets in her way so long as she can continue to dance. 

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:

Today’s Filmmaker Podcast: EP. 1409: Charlie Spickler (RISING TIDES)

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RISING TIDES, 103min,. USA
Directed by Charlie Spickler
Rising Tides is the story of how climate change is affecting the fishing communities on the East Coast, the Coral in the Keys and the domino effect it has on the various regions. We are looking at the Science of Climate change and the politics of what is and what is not being done in Congress.

http://www.risingtidesfilm.com/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I read an article in the New York Times about the Peconic Bay Scallops dying before they could be harvested. I grew up out on Long Island, so this became personal for me. That led me to looking at the Blue Crabs down in Maryland and the bleaching coral down in Miami and the Keys and next thing you know, – Climate Change doc.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was overwhelmed. Especially some of the comments that were made that literally mimicked my reasons for making the film, I wanted this film to be accessible and understandable for people with no experience with climate change and or the science of global warming. I wanted to present this information in a way that was understandable, Based on the comments I think I succeeded in doing that.

Subscribe to the podcast:

https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod

https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/

https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

Watch Today’s Film Festival: Best of THRILLER/SUSPENSE Short Films

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Watch the Film Festival HERE: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/thriller-suspense-shorts-january-2025

Go to the Daily Film Festival Platform http://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 7 day trial to watch a new and original festival every single day.

Go to the festival page directly and watch dozens of films:
https://www.wildsound.ca/todays-film-festival/

See the full lineup of films:

THE LAST PUFF, 4min., India
Directed by Lorick Jain

https://www.instagram.com/lorick.jain/

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-last-puff


I,DOLL, 16min,. South Korea
Directed by Dasol Jeon
A woman prepares to go to the place she dreamed of. However, it actually feels scary unlike the place her imagined. How will she change with the changes in her life.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-i-doll

$TACK$, 7min., USA
Directed by Gerald Webb
Unprecedented times force two fierce rivals to come face to face, for the first time in over a decade, to close a deal for the most valuable substance on earth. Featuring the Daytime Emmy nominated performance of Mark Christopher Lawrence as Hector, $TACK$ is a sarcastic plea for every viewer to be responsible for the attitudes, assumptions and judgments buried deep inside themselves. It’s timely message taunts, teases and dares the audience to discover the film’s hidden twists and clues before their own biases and assumptions lead them down the wrong path.

https://stacksmovie.com/
https://facebook.com/theGeraldWebb
https://instagram.com/StacksMovie

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-stacks

Watch Today’s Festival: Best of CRIME/MYSTERY Shorts

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Watch the Film Festival HERE:  https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/crime-mystery-festival-january

Go to the Daily Film Festival Platform http://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 7 day trial to watch a new and original festival every single day.

Go to the festival page directly and watch dozens of films:
https://www.wildsound.ca/todays-film-festival/

See the full lineup of films:

BAD BLOOD, 19min., Argentina
Directed by Guillermo Ronco
Abandoned by the state and with his daughter’s life at stake, police officer Rafael chooses to break his deepest convictions and commit a crime to resolve his situation. But when what was supposed to be a robbery turns into a kidnapping, he discovers that there are limits he cannot cross.

https://www.instagram.com/lucero_audiovisual/

Watch the audience feedback video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-bad-blood



SHADOWS IN THE PARK, 6min., USA
Directed by Valerie DuPree
Two sisters venture deep into the woods…only one senses something watching. Fear twists into betrayal. Will they survive?

http://www.cavacastudiopictures.com/

Watch the audience feedback video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-shadows-in-the-park

EP. 1408: (Actors Podcast #7) Darlene Popovic & Cynthia Gatlin (GIN RUMMY)

festreviews PODCASTS

Hannah Ehman chats with actors Darlene Popovic & Cynthia Gatlin on the making of the short film GIN RUMMY.

“Three best friends have been playing Gin Rummy every week for over 50 years. On this Gin Rummy night they have made other plans as a final bonding of the trio.”

Follow Interviewer Hannah Ehman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehmanhannah/

Watch Hannah’s commercial spots: https://www.ispot.tv/topic/actor-actress/bP8/hannah-ehman

Subscribe to the podcast:

https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod

https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/

https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

Watch Today’s Film Festival: OMRO feature film, Winning CRIME/MYSTERY Festival Film

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Watch the Film Festival HERE: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/omro-feature

Go to the Daily Film Festival Platform http://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 7 day trial to watch a new and original festival every single day.

Go to the festival page directly and watch dozens of films:
https://www.wildsound.ca/todays-film-festival/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29711811/reference/

https://www.instagram.com/actortonyleegratz/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-chicago-feature-omro

Today’s Podcast: Screenwriter Megan Breen (SERPENTINE PINK)

festreviews PODCASTS

SERPENTINE PINK, 78min., USA
Directed by Vivian Sorenson
A dark surreal experience. A first of its kind, vortex of a lesbian?? John Waters film meets Yellow Rose meets early Almodóvar on a Lynchian induced trip??in the Mojave desert.??Serious Lost Highway vibes!

https://hardknockprod.com/serpentine-pink/
https://www.facebook.com/serpentinepinkfilm
https://twitter.com/HardKnockProdCo
https://www.instagram.com/serpentinepinkfilm

https://www.instagram.com/megzeppelinn/

Get to know the screenwriter:

Serpentine Pink started out as a play and was given a sublimely wild life as a visceral immersive festival production in Los Angeles in 2013. It was an incredibly special experience to put on such an emotional story about broken hearts trying to heal in the weirdness of the California desert, everybody involved in the production bonded through the uniquely rigorous catharsis that occurred after conjuring such rawness in every performance. I can’t remember who it was but it was either Kristin Condon, who co-leads the film as Henrietta and is a co-producer, or O-Lan Jones who plays Andra, who expressed that Serpentine Pink and the expansive possibilities within its surreal visual vocabulary, as well as the vibrational intimacy of the wounded characters, would make a rad indie movie. I was super moved and excited by the focus on the female-led filmmaking of an underheard LGBTQ+ story, as well as the idea of transforming the theatrical depiction of pain and the characters’ wayward navigational attempts towards healing into an ambitiously poetic cinematic experience – at once personal and epic, highly stylized and on location on the spiritual vortices of the Joshua Tree desert. 

Subscribe to the podcast:

https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod

https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod/

https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod

Watch Today’s Festival: Best of WILDsound Shorts Festival

festreviews Watch Today's Film Festival, Watch Today’s Film Festival, watch videos

Watch the Film Festival HERE: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/wildsound-shorts-january-2025

Go to the Daily Film Festival Platform http://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 7 day trial to watch a new and original festival every single day.

Go to the festival page directly and watch dozens of films:
https://www.wildsound.ca/todays-film-festival/

See the full lineup of films:

BARON MUNCHAUSEN, 20min., Ukraine
Directed by Ilya Noyabrev
Eternal love or eternal life? This difficult choice is facing a brilliant actor. His life in the gray real world and the life of the world of fantasies are so closely intertwined that bright pictures of visions in his imagination layered on each other, mixing and breaking into small fragments fold again into the incredible patterns of a magic kaleidoscope …

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-baron-munchausen


AN ARTIST’S CURSE, 10min., Australia
Directed by Steven J Mihaljevich
When a malevolent creature resides inside the artwork of a 10 year old girl, fate is sealed, with trauma from her childhood echoing across her life. Art and horror collide when the girl becomes a Mother and desperately tries to come to terms with her delusions and the shocking truth of her daughter.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-an-artists-curse


THE COORDINATES, 15min., Greece
Directed by Despina Moraitou
A husband and wife lawyer-team are caught between an ethical and a moral dilemma in the aftermath of their guilty client’s acquittal when the victim’s mother begs them to reveal her grave.

http://newbornshortfilmagency.com/https://www.instagram.com/newbornshortfilmagency/

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-coordinates

VIATICUM, 14min., USA
Directed by Derek Frey
A priest performing Last Rites is challenged by a hospice nurse who believes her patient should not be absolved of a deadly sin.

https://www.derekfreyfilms.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DerekFreyFilms
https://x.com/DerekFreyFilms
https://www.instagram.com/derek_frey_filmmaker/

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-viaticum


REMEDY, 30min., USA
Directed by Pat Mitchell
An intelligence agent must relive his past to remedy a mistake he once made.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2147487/

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-remedy

MINOTAUR, 14min., USA
Directed by Steven Wright Clarkson
I was just vibing on my adolescenct dungeon and dragons days in the late 70s/early 80s. 100s of AI renders on 12 different platforms were edited carefully together to tell the classic story of warriors fighting the dark creatures on their search for gold.

http://www.whenmountainsspeak.net/

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:
https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-minotaur