SUNDANCE - SHORT FILMS 2
Fauve by Jeremy Comte (2018) (Canada) (15m)
Fauve (Wildcat) played at many major short film festivals, winning a fair number of awards. It is easy to see why and one would be surprised if it is not nominated for an Oscar in 2019 (it was!). Although everything about it is wonderful, the acting of the two leads really is astonishing. It follows two fairly feral kids who wander onto a massive surface mine in sparsely populated Canada. However, in seeking to avoid being seen by a delivery truck, they find themselves in a sort of quicksand at the bottom of one of the pits.
Matria by Alvaro Gago (2017) (Spain) (21m)
Matria won many awards on the short film festival circuit, including the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Made in Galicia, Matria tells the story of the middle-aged and humorless Ramona as she struggles through a depressing daily routine of non-stop work, which includes working in a mussel-canning factory and buying her granddaughter's birthday present. Can anything make her smile? It is very much a slice-of-life piece, with minimal story, but it is very real with a great lead performance.
For Nonna Anna by Luis De Filippis (2017) (Canada) (15m)
For Nonna Anna won the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. It tells the story of Chris, a transgender teenager who is caring for her elderly, Italian grandmother (nonna). Chris expects her nonna to disapprove of her new gender but will the older woman surprise her? There is little dialogue - and what little there is often in Italian - making it feel like a mood piece and somewhat reminiscent (like many festival films) of Lynne Ramsay's early shorts. It is also filmed in the 4:3 format made popular by Andrea Arnold.
And So We Put Goldfish In... by M Nagahisa ('17) (Japan) (27m)
And So We Put Goldfish In The Pool won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It tells the story of four teenage girls who feel trapped in their home town and, in a somewhat madcap fashion, questions the meaning of life. It is a post-modern film employing a dizzying array of different styles, but this and the girls' constant quest for fun could be seen as a counterpoint to the theme - that everything we do is essentially pointless in the end.
