Future Shorts held its monthly short film festival over the 16th and 17th of March at the Velvet Lounge. The format for the night, on St Patrick’s Day, was slightly different to last time. The main difference was that there was no intermission. This meant there were more distractions from people moving in and out of the room to grab a beer. And every time they did, the loud noise from the bar next door would filter in.
The event itself was kicked off by comedian Bonnie Davies, a very enthusiastic young woman who, like all comedians, relied heavily on social stereotypes for her material - sometimes way too predictably. To her credit, she did maintain her vigour despite an often weak response from the audience.
The first film of the night was local production Kanowna, directed by Chris Richards-Scully. This was one of the most compelling films of the night, looking at race relations in the Western Australians Goldfields at the beginning of the 20th century. The film contained beautiful scenery and brilliant acting.
The best film of the night was definitely Plank, a film about Morroccan born Nassim, who is an amateur skateboarder. This film works to dispel the idea that skateboarding is for the dregs of society. The subject is a 15 year old mature beyond his years. He is an interesting, compelling, and at times amusing, figure.
The first music video for the night, for Bombay by El Gunicho, drew on images from 1970s pornography and cult films. The excessive nudity didn’t seem to have much of a point – making the video seem like it was simply trying to be edgy by showing a lot of exposed breasts.
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A Distracao de Ivan, from Brazil, is a Cannes nominated film about a young boy’s coming of age. There may have been something lost in the translation, but this film centred on petty squabbles over balls, and culminated in the main character riding his bike down a hill, and was not particularly engaging.
The second music video was for Airlift, by Dosh, and was a collection of stop-motion animated photographs, telling the story of a man dragged down by his possessions.
Plasticine animation film Cousin was a brilliant and poignant film about the narrator’s cousin who has cerebral palsy. His worldview is so different, fascinating, and at times endearingly amusing. An excellent film.
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The final film, Skateistan, focused on the rise of skateboarding in Kabul despite the destruction of war. This was an interesting look into something I would have otherwise never considered and how such movements can offer hope to young people, especially young girls, in a war-devastated place.
Although there were some excellent films this month, the March edition of Future Shorts was not quite as impressive as the previous month. Perhaps a return to the prior format – including the distribution of a program – would be a good thing for the organisers to consider.
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