I saw the DC Shorts Program 12 at the Anacostia Arts Center,
across the “river” from Nationals Park and an adventure to reach.
The most important film socially was the first one, “First
Snow” (“Premiere Neige”, 13 min), from Montreal, by Michael Lalancette. Adult family members gather in a hospital
waiting room as the nuse informs the family that the father needs an emergency
kidney transplant since hemodialysis is failing, and that all the members, even
the wife, are suitable matches. A
younger adult family member arrives as “superman” in bobsledding clothes ready
for the onset of winter. There are
pontifications about sacrifice and selfishness.
Will any family member step up?
Does anyone really have to?
“Ephemeral” (“Efimera”, 18 min, by Diego Modino) is a
bizarre visual pate probably inspired by Cervantes himself. Alicia (Paula Penarva) dreams of becoming a
ballerina as she grows up in her windmill home.
But the community around her somewhat evokes David Lynch as much as it
does modern Spain, with bizarre tenements and industrial plants. Soon she encounters an underworld hostage
situation of utmost brutality.
“Frame of Mind”, 14 min, by Brett Cramer, sets up a kind of
combo of “Zodiac” with “Minority Report”, paying homage to recent hit police detective
movies. A witness to a playground
killing (Johnnie Oberg, Jr.) is wired up to electronic gear and his mind is
probed as police try to stop a supposed serial killer in a playground
situation. It gets dangerous to the
subjects, medically speaking, more so than the kids. A young teen gives an outstanding performance
outwitting the stalker.
“Loveseat” (15 min, by Matthew Richmond) has a young man, to
please a girl friend, parting with a piece of furniture that talks. Echoes of “The Puffy Chair”, maybe.
“A Little Something on the Side” (11 min.) explores
old-fashioned matrimonial jealousy in situation comedy, the way they did it in
the 1950’s sitcoms. I’m immune to it.
“Konig Ludwig” (5 min), a male couple plans for a “hereafter”
future in the Bavarian forest, and urns and ashes matter.
“Tomato Story” (4 minutes, Russia, animated), has two women
competing to cultivate the perfect tomato.
“The Boxer” (3 minutes, animated). I’ve never gotten the moral point of this
sport, so I leave it be.
“Performance” (4 minutes) also escapes me, as dancing and
boxing combine. That’s not to say that
dancing can’t be very macho.
.
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