shorts showcase

Film Review: THE KUSBEGI (Mongolia) Documentary

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Played at the November 2016 Best of Short Documentary FEEDBACK Film Festival.

THE KUSBEGI, 2min, Mongolia, Documentary
Directed by Johnny Cullen

A short film about Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Western Mongolia.

REVIEW by Kierston Drier: 

Kusbegi comes to us from Mongolia, boasting beautiful riveting imagery and opulent cinematography. A sample short for what could easy be a feature, Kusbegi tells a visual tale of the Mongolian Eagle hunters. The cinematography is utterly spell binding and the keen attention to visual details leaves the viewers’ wanting more.

 

Kusbegi merely wets the palate of what must be a rich, deep and complex culture of the Mongolian people. Their relationship with animals, tamed and untamed, is a remarkable alliance worthy of observation. Creating a deep and sensuous feel to the intimacy of a lone hunter in the pursuit of the necessary catch. The thrill, the patience, the focus- are all beautifully translated in this radiant visual masterpiece.

 

While Kusbegi as a short film seems to lend itself to a larger, more fleshed-out feature film, the short is no less enjoyable. Subtle, bright and flawlessly cinegraphic, Kusbegi is a film to capture your heart.

 

 

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK VIDEO of the Short Film:

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Movie Review: SILENTLY WITHIN YOUR SHADOW (short film) Directed by Scott Lyus

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SILENTLY WITHIN YOUR SHADOW, 14min, UK, Horror/Thriller
Directed by Scott Lyus

As their relationship grows, Lucette’s obsession for ventriloquism and her dummy Hugo starts to strain her relationship with Jace. To Lucette Hugo is more than just a dummy, he’s her best friend and represents her ambition as an artist, to her, he’s very much real.

Read review by Amanda Lomonaco:

I have to admit to having a lot of mixed feeling about Scott Lyus’ imaginative short. Like a lot of other films in the February lineup for WILDSound, Silently Within Your Shadow played on an already familiar storyline, and added its own interesting twist to the tale. Nevertheless, I had a difficult time immersing myself into the story of the film, for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, I have a slight bias against ventriloquist doll or other doll related horror films. For one nothing, in my mind, will ever beat R. L. Stine’s brilliant stories, aside from the hilarity that is the entire Chucky series. Moreover, whenever I see a horror movie doll my heart feels immediately torn between a slight feeling of distaste and an anjoyment of all cinematic things that compel me to squirm in my seat.

The performances in Silently Within Your Shadow also threw me off a little. I wouldn’t go so far as to criticise any of the actors too harshly for their work, but there were definite points in this short where I wasn’t quite buying what was going on. My uncertainty, however, stems from the fact that I couldn’t quite tell if my disbelief was based purely on the acting, or from the written dialogue itself. While the storyline for Lyus’ film twisted a well-known story in a refreshing way, the dialogue itself felt like it could have used a little more polished to seem more natural.

From personal experience doll-based horror films are something people have quite strong feelings about. Or perhaps that’s just me projecting. In any case, Lyus’ short was one of the few independently produced doll-horrors that have pleasantly surprised me. Regardless of how you might feel about these films there is one valuable lesson we can get from them; be wary of ventriloquist dummies and the people who play with them.

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Movie Review: BALLERINA (short film) Directed by Marc Thomas

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ballerina_movie_poster.jpgBALLERINA
WATCH Audience FEEDBACK

5min, USA, Horror/Thriller

A woman at home alone encounters a malevolent presence in the form of a… music box?

Read review by Amanda Lomonaco:

At first glance, Marc Thomas’ Ballerina seems like your typical, every day, predictable horror film, but don’t get too comfortable. Through very subtle nuances, fantastic special effects, a great musical score, and excellent timing, Thomas has made an excellent short film guaranteed to make your skin crawl.

This is definitely one of those short films that I’m at risk of spoiling by saying too much about it. At just 5 minutes, there isn’t much you could reveal about Ballerina that wouldn’t ruin Thomas’ excellently plotted suspense. What I can say is that as a horror lover I rarely find myself crawling with goosebumps when I watch a film, but Thomas’ short had me at the edge of my seat.

One of the great things about this short is what Marc Thomas has managed to do with an already familiar, and almost cliché storyline. Though it’s a difficult art to master, the advantage of using these kinds of stories is the ease with which you can surprise the audience by veering from it even if slightly. Ballerina has achieved this in such a discrete but impactful way, that it’s impossible not to commend it.

The reactions to this film were all intense and infectious. It speaks a lot about any film when it can provoke such a strong reaction from a large group of strangers. If you don’t like horror films, beware; Ballerina will almost certainly give you nightmares. Then again, if you’re anything like me, that might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of BALLERINA:

Movie Review: CANTATA IN C MAJOR (short film) Directed by Ronnie Cramer

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CANTATA IN C MAJOR, 7min, USA, Horror/Musical
Directed by Ronnie Cramer

Six-hundred-five film clips are assembled and used to create a piece of electronic music. As the visual component appears in the center of the screen, the original analog audio is sent to the left channel while it is simultaneously converted into digital music data and sent to the right channel.

Read review by Amanda Lomonaco:

Definitely not your average night out at the movies. Cantata in C Major is a shock to the system in more than one way. From the very beginning the film jars you with its unconventional structure; introducing itself and its composition from the very start. Even so, director Ronnie Cramer, manages to maintain a sense of intrigue by never quite explaining the purpose of such a rigidly constructed film.

There are definite moments of despair in this film, and not for the reasons you might imagine. Though I will admit, about a minute or so into Cantata I found myself wondering when it would end. Still as the jolting mixture of images and sounds continued something clicked in me.

You suddenly become incredibly immersed in the patterns and tropes you never would have otherwise noticed. Cantata almost seems to cancel out your other thoughts, feelings, and sense, until all you can see, hear, think about and experience is what’s right in front of you. It’s almost as if Cramer’s intention was to invoke some sort of disturbing meditative experience, an intention that seems almost implied by the film’s closing titles.

Cantata in C Major isn’t really the kind of movie you watch to experience a storyline, or to submerge yourself into someone else’s life for a short while. Cantata is a film about sound, patterns, and noise. It’s a film about films, how we watch them, how we make them, how they construct and provoke different emotions. It’s certainly not the kind of film everyone will enjoy equally, but it seems to be an introspective piece that might provide you with some interesting food for thought.

 Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of CANTATA IN C MAJOR:

 

cantata_in_c_major_movie_poster.jpg

Watch FEAST Short Film. Oscar Winner 2015

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As the Oscars go on, we like to present last years’s Best Animation Short Film Winner.

Watch FEAST:

Feast is a 2014 American 3D hand-drawn/computer-animated romantic comedy short film directed by Patrick Osborne, and produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It made its world premiere on June 10, 2014, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and debuted in theaters with Big Hero 6 on November 7, 2014.[5]

The short won both an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 87th Academy Awards, and the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject at the 42nd Annie Awards.

Short Film Movie Review: THE FAUCET (4min, USA, Comedy)

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THE FAUCET played to rave reviews at the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival in January 2016.

MOVIE POSTER

THE FAUCET, 4min, USA, Comedy

Directed by Samip Raval & Danny Klimetz

Movie Review by Amanda Lomonaco:

How many times have we tried to wash our hands on touch-less faucets, or tried to dry them on automatic driers, only to look like idiots as we stupidly wave our hands in front of an unresponsive sensor? We put a man on the moon, but we still can’t invent dependable motion sensors somehow. Yet thankfully these situations lead to hilarious plotlines, such as that in Samit Raval and Danny Klimetz’ film The Faucet.

The only minor critique I would have for this short is that, for such a predictable outcome, the film lasts a little longer than you would normally expect. Regardless, Raval and Klimetz still manage to somehow extend the element of comedy by using a few clever curveballs throughout the film. These unexpected mini-twists almost turn the technology itself into a character that is simply out to get our poor, hygiene-conscious, protagonist.

If you enjoy being frustrated, or you have some sort of a gripe with new technology, then you will very likely enjoy The Faucet. I do not all into any of these categories myself, but I was certainly able to appreciate the humour in this film. After all, lets face it, who doesn’t enjoy a good comedy? Particularly one that so many of us can relate to.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film

Short Film Movie Review: LIKE IN THE MOVIES (5min, Italy, Documentary)

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LIKE IN THE MOVIES played to rave reviews at the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival in January 2016.

MOVIE POSTER

LIKE IN THE MOVIES, 5min, Italy, Documentary

Directed by Francesco Faralli

Following his cinephile passion, Daniele Bonarini (from the Association “Il Cenacolo Francescano”), realizes digital feature films shot with the enthusiastic support of friends and volunteers using disabled persons as actors.

Movie Review by Amanda Lomonaco:

This is the second of Francesco Faralli’s films that I’ve seen, and the second with Tiziano Barbini’s participation, and I can’t help but smile every time. There is something truly wonderful in the work that Faralli does by making films with the disabled. He creates true masterpieces, and, in pretending, provides us with a deep look into who these people really are.

There is a split second where you’re watching Faralli’s films where I noticed myself laughing at a disabled person, a concept that I had always imagined appauling. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to not laugh while watching Faralli’s work. Him and his actors create wonderfully heartwarming stories that demonstrate just what the disabled are truly capable of, and I can truly say it’s a hell of a lot more than I can do.

Tiziano Barbini is one Faralli’s most popular leading men, and together the pair have won several awards in film festivals world wide. Tiziano, at least in Faralli’s films, is a very positive, loving, and emotional person, who seems to experience every detail of the world with the intensity most of us reserve for more extreme achievements. He truly exemplifies the concept of living life to the fullest, and appreciating every moment, smiling at the smallest of details, and pointing out beauty everywhere he goes.

Perhaps it’s just because I’m a sentimental ball of mush, but I could watch Faralli’s films a million times and never get bored of them. Tiziano stole my heart in the very first of his documentaries that I watched, and without ever even meeting him, I know he’ll always be able to bring a smile to my face. I don’t know if everyone would enjoy this film as much as I did. The audience at Wild Sound certainly seemed to give it a very positive reception. In any case I urge you to look in to some of Faralli’s work. What he is doing both for the independent film industry and for the disabled community in Italy is amazing, and it deserves more attention from all of us.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film