DANCES WITH FILMS: Indie Short Films I watched

 REVIEWS WRITTEN BY JOE COMPTON

I have had the wonderful privilege of experiencing the Dances With Film LA Film Festival digitally this year and here is a look at all the films I have seen. Keep them and the folks involved on your radar as you never know when you just might get the chance to see them for yourself. 

We are going to start with all the SHORT FILMS I watched.

BREAKFAST AT BERGHAIN 

COMEDY

RUN TIME: 14:21

FILM BY AUTUMN PALEN

STARS DOMINIQUE BOOTH, JOHNNY BRISENO, JUL KUHLER

This is a fun pseudo-Cinderella-esque, not a retelling but a reshaping in many respects. I appreciate its absurdity and its daftness, layering a tad bit of social commentary into the mix.  Autumn is a good writer, but I really appreciate her filmmaking prowess here. It's the close-ups that have this nice depth of field to stretch or elongate the visual elements, the very nicely constructed pans and two-shots, and just a nice design aesthetically that is enhanced by a gorgeous production design. The colors here are marvelous, and the wardrobe is equally stellar. 

I think Dominique Booth has this radiant star quality that jumps off the screen, and she does so well at being restrained when the moments call for it, and then letting loose when those moments come, too. You feel rewarded for her aweshuckiness, which might have come off the wrong way in the wrong actor's hands.

My favorite character is The Doorman, and I love that we get a little flashback backstory there, very clever. I also think that backstory does a bit of a disservice to the rest of the film because that cleverness is not repeated for any other character, and while I understand we can't have every character's backstory, especially in a short, I think this would serve well to kind of tell a different "truth", if you will, for the tourist in Walter.

That being said, this is the kind of great thing you want to see at a film festival, a very good filmmaker finding her way and taking bold risks. I think Autumn has an incredible visual eye that will serve her well if she chooses to move into features. Whether she is DP or a writer/director, or just directing.   

  CAPTAIN MILO

DRAMA

RUN TIME: 11:46

FILM BY DARCY MILLER

STARS AUSTIN THOMAS

I am absolutely blown away by the performance of Austin Thomas here. Though I am not surprised, this is not Darcy Miller's first foray into this medium, nor my 1st time seeing one of her films. I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing "One Bird At A Time" at a film festival. Darcy has this innate way of pulling these performances from these actors. What I also appreciate about her films is the amazing way in which she engages us with palatable scenes that put us in the character's shoes. Often amidst silent and beautiful moments, but with this one, there is a lot of great sound design, especially in the pool scene.

Darcy also gives us this realistic palette that feels almost like a documentary. The camera shakes at times, and the wide view from what feels like a "safe" distance to observe the subject. This playground is so apt for Austin to roam and give us just moments of joy, heartbreak, and fear. All to watch him navigate the loneliness with rather ease at times and just a subtle maturity in other moments. It is incredibly impressive how he utilizes this freedom to move, or sometimes not move, and keep us engaged. You can't take your eyes off what he is doing and how he is doing it. This has an incredible youthfulness to it that I haven't seen from Darcy's films before. I think from that perspective, it's really uniquely riveting. Darcy knows how to construct a narrative from nothingness, and when she has a partner like Austin, it really shines brightly.  

PALE SHELTER

 

CRIME NOIR

RUN TIME: 15:27

FILM BY ROBLES

STARS JONATHAN MEDINA

This is a clever David Mamet-esque noir fashioned in a unique environment of homeless shelters, and it utilizes a smart homeless man as its arbiter and amateur sleuth. The use of depth of field and composing behind and around the backdrop of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, and utilizing sundown and sunset in many of the compositions, really enhances the noir feel of this.

Jonathan Medina is strong as the lead, and he does a great job of giving us this character of great integrity while not ignoring the position he is in. A lot of what is great about this movie is centered on his performance. 

The dialogue doesn't have the same hum as Mamet and in fact has moments where it trips on itself a little, but it ultimately doesn't take away from how well this sort does to get you and get you out and feel like you have had a complete experience. This movie does not feel like 15 minutes. 

PLEASURE SEEKING

DRAMA/BODY HORROR

RUN TIME: 14:20

FILM BY MICHAELA HOLMES

STARS CHARLOTTE FRIELS, WILL MCNEILL

I love the manner in which Michaela Holmes builds the tension, repetitive shots, sound effects, and gorgeous framed shots, especially in moments where Charlotte literally so enters the frame as Sasha, even literally crawling into it in one scene. 

This short follows a very nice slow-burning pacing that really feels perfectly aligned with the reveal and subsequent absurdity that follows. 

There is also some nice and disturbing subtext about the power and the punishment of loneliness and modern technology.

Charlotte plays her arc very nicely and gives us that nice turn that finishes here. I love the choices here by all the actors. Michaela designed it all very easily behind those choices, in many cases making them bigger or stretching their frame to accentuate the absurdity, which is just a fantastic decision. This is a solid film with talent on both sides of the camera that I can't wait to see more from.  

  

BREATHE BROTHER BREATHE

DRAMA

RUN TIME: 18:52

FILM BY ARMAN KHAGHANI

STARS VARAK KIKORIAN, MILAD DYLAN, DAYLYN ALAYSIA

There is really nice prowess shown from the actors through the dialogue, but even more so in the lingering wide shots where they are given room to react and show emotions, or lack thereof. Which I think is a great decision by Arman Khaghani here. This is an incredibly poignant and different point of view on relationships, especially in the case of two generations of father and son.

There is an incredible scene that is shown through a phone that I was riveted by, and it stays with me even now. I loved the framing of it and presentation, but the message here is so strong, and it defines a backstory for 3 characters that I think just says so much with so little.

I honestly wish there were more of that here. I get that not everything in a day-in-the-life type story is or can be riveting or powerful. We aren't built like that, and I appreciate the mundane as much as anyone might, but in a short film, it drags it down a little. I also think about 10 minutes in when this really finds its legs, and the last 8 minutes or so are very, very good. 

The acting is good. The film production is fine, but it never really changes, even in different environments. I would have loved more variety of shots and angles here. There is a great shot in the music room where Kian, the young man, is practicing, and the young lady, Riley, wanders in, and we see her through the mirror. Still, though, it was born through a static shot, which there are a lot of here.  The editing saves a lot of the mundane with sharp cuts and strong transitions. 

I do think, however, this might be one of the best narratives told of any of the films I've seen here, especially among the short films. 

 

THIS LITTLE PIGGY GOES TO MARKET

COMEDY
RUN TIME: 14:18
FILM BY KATHERINE CONNOR DUFF
STARS FRANK KRUEGER, SIENA SOLINDA, JORDAN HENDRICKS

Love the satire's intention here, and while the statement itself is a sad indictment on our society and our attention spans, and our warped sense of beauty (or I should say the male gaze fucked up sense of beauty), I love the manner in which Katherine presents it and pushes it.

I like the compositions and how careful she is, but still inventive in how she conceals and then presents the reveal. I love the Brady Bunch-esque box frames that allow us simultaneous reactions. A very clever and aesthetically astute filmmaking design that really helps the jokes hit and helps the audience feel the tension of the reveal. 

Siena Solinda is great as an unreliable narrator of sorts here; she utilizes her screen presence and the confines of that very well and still gives us enough emotive behaviors and vocal pitches to keep us there. 

As tongue-in-cheek goes, I think this does well to do what it wants to do on screen. I am not one for censoring comedy or telling someone else what's funny; I only know my sense of humor, and if I had been 25 years younger, I might have liked the jokes themselves a lot better.  That being said, I did chuckle a couple of times, though, but for me, the way this is put together is where I think Katherine is on to something. I really like the clever way in which we get to see this film. 

 THE ART OF SHARING

DOCUMENTARY

RUN TIME: 19:46

FILM BY ROC SERENA

STARS MINH PHAN

This is an excellent Documentary short. Most who read our blogs know I am a sucker for meta art within art narratives, and I love the choice to use a lot of it for the backdrops of the interviews. That was very smart. Mostly, though, I am blown away and super impressed by how much information is packed in here, and information that is not fluff, important info. Also equally, if not more, impressed by how they were able to get each of the elements, each cog in this wheel, so to speak, that contributes to what Food Forward is and does, all while telling a dual story of Minh Phan creating art within their facility and not missing anything in 19 minutes. 

I love the landscape drops in here to, even though a lot of those are drone shots. There is a nice, clean look to this Doc, and it feels like the production value is paramount to that of a bigger budget. 

I think with a documentary making its point pales in comparison to aesthetics and compositions, but I appreciate that it seems as important to Ric Serena, and it shows.   

OMA

DOCUMENTARY

RUN TIME: 10:18

FILM BY SHANE BANNON

STARS GETCHEN CORBETT, ZE' ZE' CRAMER

Another, aesthetic wise, great looking short. I especially love the fisheye lens in the beginning and how this feels old school gothic. The candlelight highlighting the faces of the actors and the beautiful dark blue of the moonlight night all are perfect in this movie. 

I love the play on innocence and the stark reality of the end. There is a comfort and calming effect that plays and the young lady, Ze' Ze' plays it so well, there is a maturity to her sympathies when she has to correct her Oma, and still this charming innocence that really just a great bit of technique. 

I am really appreciative of Shane's clinical sentiment here. For someone who has studied how people die there is a lot of truth to how this all goes about it. Even within the confines of the interesting juxtaposition of a pseudo fairy tale retelling. This is a very nice 10 minutes.   

GOOD VIBES ONLY

COMEDY
RUN TIME: 12:58

FILM BY SARAH D' AMBROSIO

STARS HANNAH EMILY ANDERSON, MADDY FOLEY, ANDREA PAVLOVIC, AND DALMAR ABUZEID

This was outstanding. The writing here is witty, inventive, and in a marvelous manner absolute skin crawling to absurdly poignant. Sarah perfectly aligns and sets up a beautiful narrative here with very shot selections and crucial hard and jump cuts that just pace this so naturally. I love the close ups to pan out, and a particularly well edited sequence in the cubicle with Eva freaking out.   

Hannah Emily Anderson is already well on her way to being a star but is so nice to see her in this light. Comedy suits her well, in some respects better than pastel purple does, and she absolutely owns the screen here, right from shot one. I love her arc and how she handles it. Some static moments where you can see everything you feel with her on her face and even in her eyes. She does a great lip quiver that I think is so subtle it sells so much. 

I love the commentary on AI here and I have no doubts that this not as far fetched as it may seem. Right now its absurd but it could easily be tantamount and that is frightening but it makes for good fodder here for sure. I especially the phones talking over one another, that is so clever and says so much. I even appreciated the subtle foreshadow of the break room whispering. 

This is strong, funny, and just so needed right now. I am super impressed by all aspects of this short.