People tend to take for granted how much love can be turned on and off, and how quickly relationships can end. “Wet Pavilion” is an unusual but interesting short drama about a young man sitting in the back of his brother’s car. While he, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend slide through a car wash, he watches their relationship disintegrate before his eyes.
Category Archives: Slamdance Film Festival
Tungrus (2018) [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Documentary Shorts Block
“Tungrus” is a short documentary that you’ll likely never see anywhere else. It’s a documentary about family, about living in confined spaces, and yes, it explores the idea that the possible to answer to a problem is eating the family pet. No seriously. “Tungrus” centers on the large Bharde Family, in Mumbai that lives in a cramped apartment with one another and their pets. After the father brings home a baby chick, the chick manages to survive and grow in to a large rooster.
Narrative Shorts Block 3 [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Blast Beat (2018)
“Blast Beat” doesn’t have much of a premise; it’s merely a slice of life for a black metal band. When a guitarist (Alexandre Dostie) auditions for a black metal band, he has a hard time convincing the lead singer that he can play with and for the band. When she (Corinne Cardinal) decides to try out his vocal abilities, he doesn’t quite seem to be up for the task. “Blast Beat” does have a few funny beats in its four minute run time, including the unusual ability of singers to be able to switch from beautiful opera to loud booming howls for their audience. Pascal Plante’s short is a fascinating and comical look at a skill many underestimate.
Dog in the Woods (2018) [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
“Department of Anarchy” Short Block
Christian Chapman, Paul Jason Hoffman’s “Dog in the Woods” is a simple but dazzling meditation on the dog and its harmony with nature. Though the premise for “Dog in the Woods” feels very one note, the direction by Christian Chapman, Paul Jason Hoffman opens up a new corner of the narrative with a premise that conveys a lot about how dogs have a better understanding of nature. Even the more domesticated dogs.
America the Beautiful (2019) [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
I expect that James Kaelan and Blessing Yen’s “America the Beautiful” might end up being one of the most polarizing and controversial films of Slamdance 2019. I can also imagine it might draw some jeers from the audience that might draw some preconceived notions from the outset. Even as someone who has been on the opposite side of the whole MAGA wave, I liked the idea of a found footage thriller based around Trump fanaticism. The idea is very good it’s just that the movie itself leaves so much to be desired, mainly because of its habit of being very abrupt and badly paced.
Slamdance Narrative Shorts Block 2 [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Akeda (The Binding) (2018)
Dan Bronfeld’s drama is a disturbing but fascinating bit of meta-fiction that examines the real life brutality of war and loss of innocence. Bronfeld stages the film initially like an actual confrontation between American soldiers and an Israeli family. When the surviving son of the family emerges from his spot we learn he’s actually making a film. But is he? As we learn more and more about the filmmakers and their inherent tribalism, what we think we’re seeing doesn’t quite seem as absolute anymore. We’re left to wonder if he’s making a movie, or if he’s merely lying to himself to shield from the horrors of the war and violence that’s unfolding all around him. “Akeda” makes a strong statement about the brutality and sensationalism of war, and it’s a gem of a drama.
Lost Holiday (2018) [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
I wish I liked “Lost Holiday” a lot more. While I think the premise has a ton of potential to be an off kilter drama mystery, it works a little too much in the bizarre comedy spectrum to really involve the audience. Michael and Thomas Matthews mix a coming of age comedy with a crime mystery, focusing on a gum shoe of a woman who has no idea how to keep herself from falling over, but decides to solve an unusual kidnapping that only sees her descend deeper in to catastrophe.