Author: festreviews

Film Review: NIGHT LIVE, (China, Experimental/New Media)

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This strong and compelling seven minute film from China is a statement on society, and modern love in the age of technology. Our young hero, a gay techno-savvy man with a father bent on his professional success, hooks up with a online celebrity he meets on an online dating app.

Their encounter is fun, effortless and almost seems meaningless, but the entire process is steeped in technology. From their app-based connection to their live-streamed meeting, to their most intimate moments revolving around watching a screen. Technology both unites them together and divides them from a real human connection. But who is to say what is a human connection anymore when our worlds are so fully integrated with technology? The plot peppered with political commentary and overrun with the youth-in-revolt vibe, NIGHT LIVE tells  remarkably relatable stories for young and old alike. It is about a generational clash of a father and his son, it is about self discovery and the trails of youth, it is about technology and world around us.They are age-old stories done in a startlingly relevant light. A strong piece with deep undertones, NIGHT LIVE is not to be missed.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

NIGHT LIVE, 7min., China, Experimental/New Media 
Directed by Dazhi HuangA young gay man starts an online livestream with someone he just met on the gay social app, and of course, it leads to unexpected consequences.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, (USA, Experimental/Music Video)

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Experimental film is all about an “experience”. It invites you to sit back and engage with the media is an often profound but not always linear fashion. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND is one such production. It is a six minute piece coming from the USA which animates the live musical sessions. The animations are not the classic geometric shapes against black backgrounds- but vivid colorful geometrics, moving, ebbing, flowing and building.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND is an exploration in visual textures interpreting auditory textures. A beautiful, hypnotic visual journey set to a jam session.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, 6min., USA, Experimental/Music Video
Directed by Mike CelonaAn experimental abstract piece cultivated from three different live production sessions in which synthesized video images produced with Paracosm’s Lumen software were transferred to VHS tape, remixed through a circuit-bent Tachyons+ analog video processor and then subsequently reremixed back into a computer using Arkaos GrandVJ software.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: JOY! BLUE MOON, (USA, Animation/Music)

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This bright, happy musical number is full of starlight and technology. Literally. When the city goes to sleep, the technology that monitors the heavens comes to life. This three minute animated comedy is joyful romp through music and memory. Coming to us from the USA, the piece follows observatories, satellite dishes and radio towers all joining in harmony to the song “Blue Moon.” All bookkended by some very confused evening crew monitoring the event at their seats in the station.

There are many charming things about JOY BLUE MOON. One is that is uses a dated song and blends it with moderns technology, creating a lovely blend of old-and-new to create something lively and entertaining. Another, is that the animation somehow manages to capture a feeling a joy within the context of the technological pieces it uses as actors. The “actors”, the observatory, the satellite dishes, don’t have mouths, or even animate in a human-like way, yet they use what moveable parts they do have to give the impression that they are not only singing, but engaging in a chorus all their own. Away from humanity they sing to each other and for each other- a secret world of music under the stars.

Fun, fantastical and full of light hearted musical effervescence, JOY BLUE MOON is not to miss.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

JOY! BLUE MOON, 3min., USA, Animation/Music 
Directed by John VollmerMusic and images intertwine for a joyful experience.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL – Thursday May 31, 2018 – 7PM

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documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

The FEEDBACK Monthly Film Festival is back for 2018.. Our home is The Carlton Cinemas, located in the heart of downtown Toronto at 20 Carlton Street. The event runs from 7pm to 9:10pm.

Continuing to showcase the best of short films from around the world, while maintaining our audience feedback format moderated by Kierston Drier. Showcasing a festival twice a month in Toronto in 2018!

Tickets for 2018 are PAY WHAT YOU LIKE. Purchase your tickets online via Paypal or Credit Card. Tickets are first come first serve.

If you like to obtain seats in advance and pick them up on the day of the event (come for FREE, or make a donation), please email us at  festivalevent@wildsoundfestival.com and we’ll reserve seats for you.

You can pick up the tickets on the day of the event at the cinema. Tickets are first come, first…

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HIGHLIGHTS & VIDEOS: Experimental/Music Video Festival – April 16, 2018

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experimentalfilmfestival's avatarExperimental Film & Music Video Festival

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:

BEST FILM: ALL FALLS DOWN

BEST PERFORMANCES: EPINEPHRINE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: THE NIGHT SKY

BEST MUSIC: VOICES

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

festival posterJOY! BLUE MOON, 3min., USA, Animation/Music

festival posterWHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, 6min., USA, Experimental/Music Video

festival posterNIGHT LIVE, 7min., China, Experimental/New Media

festival posterVOICES, 6min., Italy, Experimental/Music Video

festival posterTHE NIGHT SKY, 3min., Sweden, Experimental

festival posterCALO MESA – TECHNO HIPPIE, 3min., USA, Experimental/Music Video

festival posterSAMFAELINI: BUSBY BERKELEY’S DREAM ABERRATIONS, 2min., UK, Experimental/Music Video

festival posterEPINEPHRINE, 6min., USA, Experimental/Music Video

festival posterTRAINS – RADIO CUT, 3min., UK, Music Video

festival posterBLACK BIRD, 4min., USA, Experimental/Fantasy

festival posterTHE LONGING RITUAL, 4min., USA, Experimental/Animation

festival posterYOU’RE DEAD WRONG, 6min., Canada, Music Video

festival posterALL FALLS DOWN, 6min., USA, Experimental/Documentary

festival posterSAINT ETIENNE – MAGPIE EYES, 3min., Music Video

This was a showcase of 14 of the best Experimental Films in the world today. The theme of the April 2018 Experimental Film Festival was “Attachment”

Funny story about this festival…

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Film Review: ORNAMENT OF BEAUTY, (USA, Thriller/Fantasy)

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This short and stunningly beautiful film comes to us from the USA. Set squarely in the realm of fantasy and inspired by Shakespeare’s’ Sonnets, ORNAMENT OF BEAUTY follows a beautiful maiden running through a graveyard, forced to face the voices that plague her and the visions that haunt her.

 

The film boasts sumptuous cinematography, gorgeous editing and brilliant casting. All the elements are delightful but what really shines if the aesthetic design. The Production design and production value make this work a cinematic joy to behold. The costumes, set and scene are meticulous and there is clearly painstaking detail taken in every aspect. The hard work pays off, and  ORNAMENT OF BEAUTY is a gorgeous film, inside and out.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

ORNAMENT OF BEAUTY, USA, Thriller/Fantasy
Directed by Andy Fortenbacher

A beautiful maiden is forced to confront the slanderous voices that torment her from the shadows.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: WINE AND EGGS, (Turkey, Drama)

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WINE AND EGGS, a five minute Turkish film is equal parts mysterious and thrilling. It leaves us constantly guessing as to the hidden story that is never revealed. A slightly disheveled and exhausted husband comes home from the rainy weather to greet his innocent and beautiful wife, who has been waiting for him at the window. She convinces him to go across the street for eggs to make dinner- and he finally relents. When he leaves however she is pours herself  glass of wine and watches (without a trace of surprise) as he is hit by a car.

 

We never know what has happened between them- but how accurately that mimics real life. After all, do any of us really ever know what goes on inside the relationship of our closest friends or net door neighbours? Behind closed doors, what secrets do we all keep? Whatever secrets lied between these two lead to a dark and sinister end.

 

Beautifully casted and with a subtle, smoldering sensuality, there’s something irresistible about this film- it pulls at you seductively, begging you to sit and ponder what details to you may have missed to undercover our heroines motives. To make a guess yourself, you’ll have to watch WINE AND EGGS.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

WINE AND EGGS, 5min., Turkey, Drama
Directed by Sertac Bozkurt

A woman watches out the window of in the house. The excitement that she had when her husband’s knock the door shows us that days end would be different than other days.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: TRAIN, (Israel, Animation/Music Video)

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A lovely musical piece childrens’ animation piece, TRAINS describes a parents playtime ritual with their small child. A lovely, beautiful piece bursting with bright watercolors, fun shapes and musical magic, this three minute Israeli film will transport you straight back to childhood.

 

Much like watching fun song from sesame street or your favorite children’s show, TRAINS will sweep you up in it’s joyful, youthful whimsy. If you can remember a time from youth when you became totally engrossed in your play-time, then you can sense the moment TRAINS attempts to capture in its viewers. If you are a kid at heart, it will succeed.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

TRAIN, 3min., Israel, Animation/Music Video
Directed by Sari Eran Herskovitz“Rakevet” (meaning train in Hebrew), is a music video describing the relationship between a mother and her young child. The stop motion animation combines watercolors and cutouts to express the emotions and the rhythms of their world, flowing between concrete images and abstract forms. The song was created and performed by Sari and Moshe Herskovitz, the animator and her husband, as part of their debut album released in 2016.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: DAUGHTER, (Canada, Drama/Family)

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A deeply moving and powerful story of two mothers who struggle to raise their daughters. DAUGHTER a three minute film from Canada, follows a young mother with a young daughter and an older woman with a young daughter struggling through her own issues. The two meet in the middle to remember that one promise stays with you forever- the promise of love that binds parent and child.

 

This work has some confusing elements, and the audience may be left wondering whose daughter is whose and which timeline they are in. But dispense the disbelief just slightly and you are hit with an impactful sense of love, loss and sacrifice. This piece has a strong focal point- love. And love always wins. At the end of our journeys through parenthood we may talley our victories and defeats, but the love that motivates all acts of parental compassion never changes. DAUGHTER is a tribute to such emotional journeys. For that alone, it is worth the watch.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

DAUGHTER, 3min., Canada, Drama/Family
Directed by Lia WilliamsonCreated as a ‘Two Stories’ project, this film follows two single mothers trying to successfully raise their daughters. As the years progress, this task becomes more and more difficult.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: MILE, (USA, Drama)

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A strong film coming in at just a minute in length, MILE is an exercise is emotional brevity. Our nameless hero spends the entire film running. And running. And running. No matter how slow, or how many times he has to stop- he keeps going. Until at long last, his mile is reached.

 

This film has no dialogue, and only one main character. But what is brilliant about it, is that there is nothing more needed to convey the strong sense of character and story. Truly great short films, that can take us on emotional journeys in under a minute are exceedingly rare. Yet MILE accomplishes this with ease. A single note, a single beat in a human’s’ life as the act to better themselves. One mile behind them- a thousand more to go. MILE is a short and wonderful film, simple, clear and worth every step.

Review by Kierston Drier

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

MILE, 1min., USA, Drama
Directed by Kevin AntonA large man is determined to run his first mile, but has to overcome his own obstacles first.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!