SUNDANCE - SHORT FILMS 3
Lucia, Before & After by Una Valia (2016) (USA) (14m)
A winner in 2017, Lucia, Before And After opens with a Michael Haneke inspired scene (a one-shot wide), which is not continued afterwards, and tells the story of a highschool girl who travels on her own to an abortion clinic hundreds of miles away from her home. She is surprised to learn that she will have to wait a further 24-hours after the initial consultation before she can have the procedure. With no money and nowhere to stay, how will Lucia spend the intervening time, and how will she change after the wait is over?
Thunder Road by Jim Cummings (2016) (USA) (13m)
Cummings plays a grieving cop, Jimmy, who is the only one of three siblings to turn up for his mother's funeral. After delivering a heartfelt though often rambling eulogy, he decides to pay tribute to his mother by dancing to her favourite track: Thunder Road by Bruce Springstein. The result does of course make for uncomfortable viewing. It would be hard to argue that there is a lot of story in this short film, or that it is laugh-out-loud funny, but the monologue and acting really is superb, the awkwardness tangible and its simplicity impressive.
Her Friend Adam by Ben Petrie (2016) (USA) (16m)
In Her Friend Adam, Robert (Petrie) arrives to pick up his artist girlfriend before they go out to see a show only to discover that her friend Adam needs to pop by first to pick up his camera. The jealous Robert provokes an argument that spirals out of control because he refuses to believe that Adam is in fact gay. Her Friend Adam played at Sundance and SXSW (they often screen similar films - see this comedy).
