short films

Film Review: THE BODY I LIVE IN, Documentary

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Played at the March 2017 DOCUMENTARY Festival

MOVIE POSTERTHE BODY I LIVE IN, 7min, USA
Directed by Sam Davis-Boyd

A personal-narrative documentary that follows Sam Boyd on her journey of self-love and acceptance, in a world that tells fat women they don’t deserve it. There is a large cultural narrative about female attractiveness, especially fat woman’s attractiveness (or lack thereof) that pervades fat women from feeling like they deserve to be loved, respected and wanted by another human being in a romantic way.

Review by Kierston Drier:

 Exceptionally strong and unwaveringly brave The Body I Live In directed by Sam Davis-Boyd, follows the narrative story of an American woman on the journey of love. Not romantic love, she’s found that, by means of a caring and supportive fiance.

But the love for herself is another story entirely. Despite being a beautiful, funny, inspiring woman, Sam is plus size. She grapples with the emotional and social repercussions of this everyday.

In Sam’s journey, we see her family, her partner and herself talking openly and honestly about what it means to live in their bodies and how it is to see Sam in hers.

This director should be commended for the honesty she puts into her work, and the very real world she puts the audience in. More importantly, this film leaves no easy answers, but still manages to show us unbreakable positivity. Sam has a rich full life, lacking in nothing sweet, loving or wonderful, and she knows it. For those watching The Body I Live In, there is much to love.

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Film Review: INTO THE DARK (2017)

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Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

MOVIE POSTERINTO THE DARK, 14min, USA, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Directed by Lukas Hassel

Sometime in the future, two men strapped in back to back, on a journey from Moon to Earth. Real Justice. Just Reality.

Review by Kierston Drier

 Director and main actor Lukas Hassel, brings to us the intense drama that is Into The Dark. A film that starts with no easy explanation, we open on our hero in a two person ship jetting through space. He is strapped in a pod, which is pressed back to back with his traveling partner, a slightly more optimistic fellow, we never see, but do hear. The discourse the two share is a fascinating breakdown of two people with completely different goals. Our hero’s counterpart seems to want to make a friend during this journey, and yet our hero seems bent on controlling what little he can, including the conversation. What is uncovered is that both our characters are in the process of paying the ultimate price for wrong doings we never learn about. The twist? It’s being live broadcast from space to the general public for entertainment and as a guard against other potential wrongdoers.

Fascinating as the concept alone is, Into The Dark has much to unpack for its short fourteen minutes. A prediction on the future of reality television? Maybe. A commentary on justice and the nature of punishment? Possibly. But what really hits this piece out of the park, as a piece of cinematic entertainment, is the acting. Hassel is our main character, and due to the nature of the film, nearly the entire piece is a close up on him, almost completely unmoving, in a tiny space. This is a dangerous and daring choice in filmmaking. It runs the risk of creating visual stagnation. Yet every moment in this piece is riveting. This is testament to intense and dramatic filmmaking, that is utterly simple, and that indicates incredible story telling.

A classic science-fiction in its form and function, Into The Dark nevertheless fails to entertain with dramatic and exceptionally engaging characters, story and twist.

 
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Movie Review: 20:15 (2016)

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MOVIE POSTER20:15, 12min., Canada, Sci-Fi/Thriller
Directed by Marc-Andre Morissette

20:15 is a drama-mystery, sci-fi thriller in which we follow the lives of a mysterious man and a loving couple. Their lives will forever be changed once their two worlds collide.

Shown at the September 2016 Sci-Fi/Fantasy FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

 20:15 from Canadian director Marc-Andre Morisette is a dramatic and impassioned piece played out with almost no dialogue. A stylistic choice that nevertheless heightens the tension of the story. After the horrific loss of his partner by an unknown gunman, our hero becomes obsessed on a machine, hell bent on using his present to somehow fix his past.

Full of graceful shots, excellent camera work and beautiful muted tones, this piece is poetically beautiful to watch. The story is engaging and the twist is satisfying, with a thought provoking ending that is sure to be a conversation starter.

Morisette’s choice to limit the diegetic sound in his piece gives this film a distinctive avant-garde tone. It changes the cinematic experience for the audience. A more traditional film may create the feeling that you are immersed in a real-life story, perhaps not even aware that you are watching a film at all, and instead standing invisible observing the lives of the characters.

20:15’s stylized choices give the distinct feeling that you are watching a piece of Art, where the stylistic choices are equal to the plot of the piece itself. Morisette’s movie has a mysterious tone, with notes of Film Noir. It is a film that feels like it provides cultural capitol as well as entertainment.

Lovely devices tie the story together and thoughtfully composed music and sound composition elevate the piece to a more refined level. A film that may not be everyones’ preference, but certainly an enjoyable watch.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:

Movie Review: A SHADOW OF DARA (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERA SHADOW OF DARA, 14min., Bulgaria, Sci-Fi
Directed by Kirill Proskura

A leader of a rebellion risks everything to find a powerful commander of an alien world who’s been captured by enemies and put into a fabricated reality for the extraction of valuable information.

Shown at the September 2016 Sci-Fi/Fantasy FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Science Fiction lovers are a tough crowd. Pleasing them requires so many things; a knock-out, often high-concept story, with an unbeatable twist, compelling and thematic world building and epic stakes. This is on top of the already compulsory requirements of good production value, solid performances and strong story elements.

Enter A Shadow Of Dara, directed by Kirill Proskura, an edge of your seat science fiction that boasts intensity, polish and turns to keep you guessing until the every last frame. Quickly paced and excellently performed, this is the tale of the chosen leader of an alien world who must fight against being trapped in an artificial reality, in order to not reveal important information to his enemies. Once he is able to break free from his false-reality changes, however, he must team up with members of another planet (coming to him from the future) to avoid loosing both worlds as they know it.

If there is any flaw to be had in this otherwise very well composed piece of sci-fi cinema, it is that it’s highly condensed manner can muddle the details and make it hard to follow. Conversely, the piece is strong enough to warrant a second watch. Full of details and gripping good versus evil, the piece has multiple twists and turns. The final moment in the film provides a great ending, and leaves the audience wanting more.

Hailing from Bulgaria, A Shadow Of Dara could be a proof on concept for an excellent feature, where its’ themes will make nods to well loved films like Inception and the entire evil-alien genre. Regardless anyone with an appetite for a good science fiction film would enjoy this film. It will keep you wanting more.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:

Movie Review: JAILBREAK (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERJAILBREAK, 1min., USA, Animation/Crime
Directed by Alise Munson

Shot in black and white, “Jailbreak” follows the daring escape of a prisoner fleeing his cell and his quest for sweet punishment. The animated short from HouseSpecial Director Aaron Sorenson is a German Expressionist-inspired design mash-up of stop-motion and illustration with a decidedly adult twist.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Jail Break coming to us from the USA and directed by Alise Munson is a delight for the senses.

The curious duet of stop-motion and art illusion is superb creating a reality and
otherworldliness that is both engaging and visually decadent.

The animation in this piece is detailed, lush and highly satisfying. The story packs of humourous punch for so short a film coming in at just under one minute in length. You can’t help but side with our hard bitten hero, a complex criminal with some choice eclectic tastes.

Jail Break follows our criminal hero as he escapes from prison, narrowly missing guards and various obstacles only to get himself chained up in another, more pleasureably sense.

Comic irony that adults will enjoy, and might just go over the heads of a young audience. (Hopefully.)

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Movie Review: TIME SMASH (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERTIME SMASH, 2min., USA, Animation/Sci-Fi
Directed by Benjamin Reicher

A time traveler goes back 2 weeks to stop himself from going to Cynthia’s new years party. Unfortunately, he brings his cat along and forgets to let him back into the machine when he returns to the present. The cat grabs onto the machine last second, becomes radioactive, and ends up in ancient Egypt. What the time traveler finds when he returns to the present is pretty messed up….

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Time Smash by USA director Benjamin Reicher, is frankly, hilarious. This is due to simple cinematic mathematics. The plot is clear, simple and concise, the visuals are strong and punchy, the story is strong and the punchline is fantastic.

The result is quick, effective comedy.

Our story opens on a young man bent on time traveling into the past by two weeks to tell his past self to avoid going to a party. Yet on his way back he has an unexpected guest in his travel machine his pet cat.

The cat stumbles out of the craft halfway through the journey getting hurled somewhere into the depths of space and time. When our hero returns to the present the future has been utterly altered.

It’s “an Oldie but a Goodie” plot line that nevertheless relies on a killer pay off to make the story really sing. And Oh Boy, does Time Smash deliver. The only line in the entire film, is well worth the wait.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film:

Movie Review: 1916 (2016)

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MOVIE POSTER1916, 4min, UK, Animation/Drama
Directed by Oscar Lewis

An old man remembers the last time he saw his father, walking with him to the train station in rural England. This short film was made to mark the centenary of men with families being conscripted to the army in 1916 during WW1.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Oscar Lewis, director of UK film 1 916 has chosen a story that is poetic and heartbreaking and it is visually interesting. The story appears to be the retold memory of that last time a boy sees his father.

The writing is poetic, thoughtful, abstract and heart wrenching as it slowly dawns on the viewer that the charcoal flip book style drawings we are seeing, are the worn and smudged memories of these final moments the child can recall with his father.

This piece is compelling, although slow moving. It is not a laugh a minute, raucous comedy, nor a bright whimsical romp through imagination.

It is a farewell letter from a son to his father, arriving a lifetime later. We know the narrator recognizes now what he did not recognize then that this one moment as his father walks him towards a the train that will carry the father off to war will be their final moments together.

Despite this mournful undertone the piece is not outrightly sad. It is reflective, pensive, and thought provoking.

Perhaps it is meant to remind us that memories can fade, like sketches in a book, and only with careful keeping, can we recall them and keep them close to us.

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Movie Review: SEA OF INK (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERSEA OF INK, 3min, USA, Animation/Drama
Directed by Chenxin Yang

Sea of Ink is a two-minute animation about an artist struggling with his creative block and his journey under the sea.

Seen at the August 2016 ANIMATION FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Engaging and visually lush Sea Of Ink directed by Chenxin Yang is a stunning visual adventure.

High concept and open for interpretation, it seems to display one artist’s struggles to find the creative inspiration in his work. As he tries to make his hands do what his heart feels he finds himself sucked deep down into the bottom of a creative ocean.

Full of fantastic imagery and beautifully composed animation, this piece could be about a creative struggling with mental illness, creative writers’ block, or some sort of emotional turmoil.

It could be the artist falling deeper into their own mind or retreating into their own creative world. As the viewer, we may place onto the film whatever lenses we like regardless, enjoy the ride that is Sea of Ink it
will take your breath away.

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Movie Review: BOTTOMLESS (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERBOTTOMLESS, 2min, USA, Animation/Biography
Directed by Veronique Vanblaere

A Belgian woman seeks citizenship in the United States, and finds that her experiences are bottomless.

Seen at the August 2016 SCI-FI/FANTASY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

This comical inversion on the classic fish out of water story is brought to us by Veronique Vanderlaere of the USA. An unapologetic and endearing story of immigration and assimilation, this piece will appeal to anyone who has ever felt the “otherness” of living what they know and becoming engulfed in someplace new.

Bottomless is refreshing! The artistic tastes are unique, the story is charming and most engaging perhaps is that the central story revolves around a tiny detail the nature of North American drinking glasses. It is not always the obvious change in scenery that gives a traveler culture shock it is the small things that remind us how far from home we are.

But our Heroine embraces her new home, and not only accepts the changes but loves them. A delightful story with some upbeat humor that will make you smile and long for an extra large soft drink.

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Movie Review: A SMALL VOICE (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERA SMALL VOICE, 2min, UK, Animation/Drama
Directed by Michelle Brand

A shy young boy is confronted with the relentless demands of an overbearing adult forcing him to sing in front of a crowd. Vivid imagery conveys the child’s trauma as it helplessly stands facing the expectant onlookers, unable to sing through fear. Overwhelmed by the ordeal, the only alternative is to run away.

Seen at the August 2016 SCI-FI/FANTASY FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Michelle Brand, director of UK Film A Small Voice, has a story to tell us. It is the story of a boy who experiences doubt, fear and anxiety. All universal feelings felt by us all, yet demonstrated through the eyes of one animated character retreating into a world of their own.

One of the points to touch on in this piece is the animation itself. The color scheme is very strategic. Our hero is drastically different in color from the clamoring background, occasionally represented as a white outline against a colorful backdrop. The piece can seem disorienting at times with its’ stylistic intensity. This intensity acts to establish meaning on a subtextual level as it demonstrates the disorienting experiences of mental illness.

A Small Voice is not a long film, but it is a powerful one. It conveys a very human experience through the lenses of colorful animation. It is a small voice, with much to say.

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