Memorial Day weekend at SIFF is always ShortsFest weekend! I always like the idea of ShortsFest, but it can be hard to give up so many prime feature film slots to make time for it. That, and each program only runs once. Well, for SIFF@Home, I didn't program in any conflicts, so no problem!
I watched 40 short films in these ShortsFest programs. Putting together the programs in such a short period of time required quick and shallow research. I sourced my shorts mostly from Tribeca, SxSW, and Criterion. Because I was watching most of these from free sources, I was able to send out my shorts programs to a few friends who watched as well. Just no Criterion for them. Which is too bad, because I felt like the quality of the films I saw through Criterion was higher on average than the other sources, and they tended to be longer and more film-like. Tribeca and SxSW shorts tended to be more "modern" and "punchy."
The films I picked were quickly sorted based on a scan of the description in these programs:
I watched 40 short films in these ShortsFest programs. Putting together the programs in such a short period of time required quick and shallow research. I sourced my shorts mostly from Tribeca, SxSW, and Criterion. Because I was watching most of these from free sources, I was able to send out my shorts programs to a few friends who watched as well. Just no Criterion for them. Which is too bad, because I felt like the quality of the films I saw through Criterion was higher on average than the other sources, and they tended to be longer and more film-like. Tribeca and SxSW shorts tended to be more "modern" and "punchy."
The films I picked were quickly sorted based on a scan of the description in these programs:
- Opening Night
- Just Your Imagination
- Around the World
- Midnight Madness
- Is it Love?
- Closing Night
I watched all of them except the midnight one. 😄
It's hard to pick favorites, but...
Grand Jury Award: All These Creatures
A beautiful and touching short film about a son's memory of his father and his mental illness.
Golden Space Needle Award (Best Short Film): Just Hold On
Ok, I have a weak spot for mutton busting, but this child's persistence goes beyond holding onto sheep.
And a few others that stood out to me for one reason or another...
Northbound
The most annoying thing about this film was the occasional talking, because overall the speech did not add to the experience of the film, but it did add large subtitles that blocked parts of the beautiful scenery. What a gorgeous place to be skateboarding and a meditative experience for a viewer to watch.
The Burden
This was so weird that I think I may have loved it, even though I was audibly saying, "uhh... what?!" multiple times through this film. Good thing it wasn't actually SIFF or I would have been shushed. Swedish animals singing of the sadness that is life.
Tungrus
It is absolutely hilarious to watch this rooster fly around this apartment and terrorize the family and cats. Roosters do not make good pets, but they do make interesting film subjects.
Yo! My Saint
I'm too scared to watch any of Ana Lily Amirpour's feature films, but I was happy to see this little short film / song. A lovely, creative portrayal of an artist and his muse.
Sunday was such a beautiful day that I couldn't spend all of it inside, so I went for a bike ride around my city. It seemed like everyone was out!
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