A cornucopia of shorts - documentary, animated, live action - 2015 nominees

The thing about short films is the writer/director has very little time to tell their story, anywhere from 2 to 50 minutes, I would say averaging 15 minutes. That's not a lot of time when you consider that most feature films seem to go two hours. Sometimes it works great and sometimes it doesn't. I didn't feel that this year's nominees were as strong as last year's, and that's across the board, but most notably for me, the documentaries this were...disappointing. Without further ado, all short films are herein reviewed for your edification.

Documentary shorts

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you already know I love documentaries, and if you read last year's entry on the documentary shorts, you know I had some pretty strong feelings about them. I am disappointed to say that aside from one entry, I was left a little unsatisfied.

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (USA)

My constructive criticism on this film is it should not have been first in the order because it set my expectations very high. Within only 2 minutes, I was tearing up. This documentary is about the Crisis Hotline that veterans or their families can call if they feel stressed, depressed or suicidal or that they may harm their families. It's in upstate New York and is staffed by people trained in mental health, around 10% are veterans themselves. Some staff is interviewed and while also having some of the calls video recorded (we never hear the calls, just the responses) and you can feel the tension and the emotion from the responders as they try to talk a veteran out of killing himself or talk to the mother of a soldier on Christmas Eve. The teamwork is incredible; the responders are in constant contact with emergency coordinators who will call local authorities if additional intervention is needed. After the calls, the supervisor follows up with the responder to see how they are doing because it is a draining experience. Some of the calls last longer than an hour and they are filled with a roller coaster of emotions. The statistics are astounding: on average, there are twenty-two veteran suicides a day, almost one an hour. This movie humanizes those statistics. I think this should win the Oscar not only because of the relevance of the topic in this country now, but also the movie does the best job of conveying its ideas and is better grounded in a narrative than the other entries, in my opinion.

Joanna (Poland)

You may think I'm a heartless shrew, but just because a topic is touching does not mean it has been translated into a good documentary (again, my opinion). And I think that's the case here. Joanna of the title is very sick, but is trying to carry on with her young son and husband. In fact, we see a lot of little John, playing and being a very precocious little boy. Occasionally we get a glimpse of Joanna lying down or looking frail, but there is no narration or sub-titles to give us more explanation. We see through a window, with no sound, the moment that Joanna and her husband tell John that his mother is very sick (or dying, I'm not sure) and we see him crying. That truly was heartbreaking to watch; John is a very expressive young man, so he didn't hold back. Then we get the only real information in the form of Joanna's birth and death dates. Joanna had a blog, but I was unaware of it when I watched the movie and I would guess that many viewers were also unaware at the time. I think the running of the camera and just shooting may work better in long form documentaries because you have more time to learn about the people, but this did not work for me. I think a really good opportunity was lost.

Our Curse (Poland)

Our Curse is another film that is going to make me look like some bitter bitch. A lot of what I said for Joanna is my issue here, although we at least got some direct to the camera dialog from the parents. Our Curse refers to Ondine's curse which is a congenital respiratory disorder that involves the failure of the nervous system that allows us to breathe while we're sleeping; individuals who suffer from it are required to be on a respirator. Leo is Tomasz Sliwinski's and Magda Hueckel's newborn son who has Ondine's Curse. Magda and Tomasz sit on the couch, drink wine and contemplate their future and Leo's future to the camera. We see them as they care for Leo, having to change his ventilator tube, taking him out for a walk, etc. It is awful watching Leo struggle to breathe through his trach hole as they try to insert the tube. We listen as Magda challenges someone from the hospital (a social worker?) about having to pay for the battery for the ventilator while another family recently received theirs for free. Leo is definitely a cutie, and nobody likes to see a child suffer like that, and the film ends on a high note with Magda and Tomasz dancing with Leo and scenes of Leo eating and playing. BUT, again, I think a good opportunity was lost. Tomasz directed the film, and perhaps another eye or an interviewer or something would havemade it work for me.

The Reaper (Mexico/Nicaragua)

I'm not sure what to say here. This is an existential piece that went awry.  The Reaper of the title refers to Efrain, a worker in a slaughterhouse in Mexico. Efrain has been doing this working, killing bulls, for twenty-five years and we hear his narration over scenes of death and gore. He has a lot of insight into his feelings about the job, what it means to him and to his family, but unfortunately, I think any kind of intellectual enlightenment was lost on me with the intense and constant visuals of bulls being slaughtered or their carcasses stripped or blood being washed away. It was the type of visceral experience that turned me off and all I could think of was I wanted to walk out (and some people did). I'm not naive, I know where hamburgers come from, but I think one or two shots would have sufficed. Another 'what might have been' moment.

White Earth (USA)

White Earth was filmed in the oilfields in North Dakota, and shows us what life is like in what has become a community filled with migrant workers from all over the country and outside of the country as well. One of the children interviewed was born in North Dakota and her family goes back generations. She is not so sure of the oilfields and is looking forward to the day they are gone and life can get back to normal, when she could walk around without being apprehensive. She was wary of the new kids that came with their families, but then says they have become her friends. The young man interviewed is probably around 13 or 14 years old and he is staying in North Dakota with his father, who does not mind his son doesn't go to school as long as he is home to answer the phone when his father calls. He spends his days playing video games, walking around the trailer park. He actually has some pretty spot on observations about oil and gas, and is no longer enamored of the North Dakota winter. An immigrant woman is also interviewed, she is a mother and wife, who moved her kids from California to be closer to her husband and keep the family together. She works, cleaning trailers and toilets and making food; she wondered to another worker if the Americans would be angry she was there, taking their jobs, and the worker says, no, why should they be? Everyone was coming here (North Dakota) to find their dream. I liked this film and the lens at which it looked through this latest boom industry.

Animated Shorts 2/7/15

I'm not sure what the criteria is for the animated shorts (or the feature length animated films, either); I'd like to think it would be a combination of story and animation techniques, personally I'm still a sucker for hand-drawn animation.

Me and My Moulton (Canada/Norway)

My friend and I weren't sure what the purpose of the story was, perhaps it was semi-autobiographical? The narrator is the middle daughter out of three, and she talks about her parents, who are a little different than the other parents (in fact, her father is the only person in the whole town who has a mustache). She seems very frustrated by her parents' methods, particularly when it comes to getting her and her sisters a bicycle, one bicycle to share. Instead of getting a bicycle locally, they insist on buying a bicycle from England. It turns out it is a Moulton, which was a non-traditional design. There you go, that's the story. The animation was somewhat interesting, and there were definitely some funny lines. Not certain it should beat out some of the other short films we saw.

The Bigger Picture (UK)

The Bigger Picture caught my eye more for the animation style, which seemed like pastel chalks and some three dimensional material in a technique that I don't think I can really describe (sorry, not very helpful), but it was pretty cool. The story was about two brothers, one who takes care of his elderly mother and one who doesn't really, but is happy to take credit for it. The dilemma that the brothers face is a common one today, how to care for elderly parents and when do you make the decision to put your parent in a home. It was touching and relevant, and the style was innovative from my perspective, but it wasn't my favorite and I don't think it will win.

Feast (US)

Feast is a Disney short, and predictably cute. It stars a dog, later named Winston, and his new owner, and food. The unnamed owner loves to share people food with Winston and the two of them forge quite a bond, until the man meets a girl and Winston begins to just get dog food. This mildly depresses Winston, but his spirits are lifted when the couple split up and the man stops paying attention to what Winston is eating. Winston wins the girl back and the couple get married, and Winston is happy with his lot in life, until he meets a strange creature, a baby (or in Winston's mind, a feeding machine). And everyone lives happily ever after. It was adorable, but I don't think it was groundbreaking in story or animation.

A Single Life (The Netherlands)

At three minutes, A Single Life was the shortest of the shorts. Pia, the only character in the story, gets a record in the mail and as she plays it, she finds that she as she speeds it up, her life speeds up, or she can back up the record and go backwards in her life. It was fun and a lot of content was packed into 180 seconds.

The Dam Keeper (US)

The Dam Keeper was probably my favorite of the shorts. The main character is a pig who has taken on the responsibility of the dam keeper in town after his father did the job (I can only assume the father is deceased based on the melancholy look the pig gives a family picture). The dam appears to be part of a windmill, and after the pig cranks the windmill, he goes off to school where is made fun of and teased but the other students. The pig is sad and lonely until he meets a new student, a fox, who also sketches. The fox makes funny sketches of some of the bullies and shares them with the pig. After the pig and the fox have a misunderstanding resulting in hurt feelings, the pig is late to wind the windmill and disaster befalls the town. When the pig realizes his mistake, he hurries home to right the wrong. I really loved the story, which was sweet and had a good message about friendship. I also liked the animation, which was a similar style to The Bigger Picture.

Live Action Shorts 
The live action shorts were my favorite collection this year. I may not have understood all of them, but those that I didn't, I still found whimsical and interesting. Last years's films set the bar very high, and I don't think this year's elicited the same emotions, they were good.

Parvaneh (Switzerland)

Parvaneh is a young girl from Afghanistan working illegally in Switzerland to send money home to her family. When we meet her, she seems quite lonely and not afraid, exactly, but timid. Parvaneh needs to go to Zurich to send money to her family but because she does not have the proper ID to send money and is not 18, she can't send it. She wanders the streets looking for someone who will help her; she gets turned away by a few people, but then meets a young girl (whose name I didn't catch and she is credited as 'punk girl) who is willing to help for a 10% cut. Unfortunately the girl does not have her ID on her, so they have to go to her house to get it. By the time they get back to the Western Union office, it's closed. The punk girl invites Parvaneh to a rave and then they'll go the office in the morning. Parvaneh lets her hair down at the rave, drinking alcohol, removing her head scarf and dancing. She is almost assaulted by one of the party goers but the punk girl comes to her rescue. The girls get the money sent off and Parvaneh goes back to the village she is staying. You get the feeling that both girls have been changed by their encounter. I'm not sure what exactly touched me about the film, but something did, and I really liked it. I think it was the unlikely friendship and the growth, especially on the part of Parvaneh.

Butter Lamp (France/China)

Butter Lamp at first seemed like a documentary. A roaming photographer is taking pictures of nomadic Tibetans (I looked that up, because I thought they might have been Mongolian or Nepalese) in front of a variety of backdrops, including a tropical island, the Great Wall of China, Tiannamen Square and Disney World. The photographer interacts with the different families, offering props and encouragement. It kind of reminded me of photographers throughout the American West in the 1800s taking photographs of families, often the only photographic evidence of their lives. I don't know if there was a 'point', but I didn't mind, I find that part of the world fascinating so it was fun to watch.

The Phone Call (UK)

The Phone Call, like the UK entry from last year, featured three fairly big name English actors (Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent and Prunella Scales). Sally Hawkins is Heather, a worker at a crisis center in England and she begins her shift by taking a call from 'Stan' (Jim Broadbent). Stan has swallowed several pills in a suicide attempt due to his continued depression at the loss of his wife, Joan, (Prunella Scales) two years earlier. Heather talks to Stan about his life, and tries to get him to give her more information so she can send help. He is strongly resistant to any help. When he realizes that he is close to death, he gives Heather his real name, and she remembers he called before. She does send an ambulance, but it's too late. We hear Stan and Joan chatting and they're clearly happy to see each other again. Heather takes some of Stan's advice and goes out to hear some jazz with her co-worker. Even though this seems like a sad film, I took a sense of optimism and a plea to live life. I thought Sally Hawkins was wonderful (she is generally wonderful in everything I've seen her in) and she was acting to a voice, we never see Jim Broadbent, and she conveys empathy and genuine caring in her voice and her facial expressions.

Aya (France/Israel)

Aya leads you down one path and then takes a twist. My friend and I talked about this one for quite a bit. Aya is at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, waiting for someone, but we don't know who, when she is asked to hold a sign for another arrival. When the arrival gets there, Aya acts like she is the driver and starts driving the man, a judge in a music contest, to Jerusalem. On the trip there, Aya tries to talk to Mr. Overby, a Danish music researcher. There is a quiet seduction that is happening and neither one seems to be aware of it until they get to the hotel. Mr. Overby invites Aya up to his hotel to talk, as she goes to park her car, she changes her mind (or maybe she never intended to go up in the first place) and heads back home. Even then, we're really not sure of her intentions as she seemingly tries to pick up someone in her apartment building. Aya enters the apartment and we discover who she was meant to pick up at the airport. My friend and I couldn't figure out what made Aya pick Overby up in the first place: a sense of spontaneity, a sense of adventure, a chance romantic encounter? I liked the quirks in the story, the air of mystery.

Boogaloo and Graham (Northern Ireland)

Last year's anthology ended on a funny note, which I appreciated after the heaviness of the day, and this compilation was no different. Boogaloo and Graham are two chickens that Jamesy and Malachy are given by their father. The film is set in Belfast in 1978, a time when the conflict in Northern Ireland was well underway; this fact is alluded to in the film, not directly highlighted. The boys treat the chickens as pets, putting them on leashes (to the amusement of the British soldiers), giving them baths in the house (to the consternation of their mother) and also being incredibly smelly. When their mother gets pregnant (quite graphically described by the boys), she decides that the chickens must go. In an effort to save the chickens, the boys plan a late night escape, discovered by their father. The boys run through the streets of Belfast, with their father chasing after them and they are brought up short by a gunshot. Luckily, the family is safe, but dad takes the boys back home. Unwilling to kill his boys' chickens, dad hides an egg under Boogaloo, ensuring that as long as Boogaloo lays eggs, the chickens are safe. This one is charming, funny with a touch of drama. The funny one won last year, and for some reason I see the voters going another way, perhaps for Parvenah, The Phone Call  or Aya (I can't make up my mind).

The shorts may be available on Amazon or other avenues if they are not in your local theaters. I hope you are able to see them.