High-Caliber Films screened to Packed Theatre
The
Festival
This
year’s Festival took on a new tone with a noteworthy attention to detail and a
schedule loaded with 125 high quality Shorts, grouped into 21 themed programs,
over three days and evenings. The Fourth Annual Dam Short Film Festival (DSFF)
was the place to be
this
past February for discerning Short film aficionados. Short Films are the only
type of movie accepted for this unique local festival. Shorts are a cinematic
art form finally ‘coming into their own’. In this filmic style, the succinct
storyteller matches wits with the clock to produce an entertaining film. The
MPAA sets the time limit at 40 minutes. Most filmmakers creating Shorts aim for
less than 15 minutes. The Festival Director, Lee Lanier, stated that the ‘sweet
zone’ is considered 8-12 minutes. Selected for this year’s Festival were one
hundred twenty-five Shorts, (of the 335+ entries), and those were matched
loosely together into similar theme programs, twenty-one in all. DSFF is
steadily building a solid reputation; each year sees increases in festival
attendees and this year, packed houses were the resounding answer to the
question of
extending into a larger venue.
DSFF
2008 audiences were rewarded with program after program of perceptive,
intelligent and strongly influential films. Short films have commonly been
thought of as just tasty morsels, tidbits and oddments not necessarily even
supporting a story. They showcase the filmmaker’s abilities, and as often, serve
as a resume demo/reel or as a trailer for a possible feature length version.
The
fourth year of the DSFF slipped into high gear Saturday, culminating in the
Awards Gala and screenings. The vintage 1930’s Boulder Theater, with its
old-fashioned entry and foyer, was built in the long slanting auditorium style
of another era. The first three Festivals were hosted in the American Legion
Hall, with a capacity of maybe 80-100 people. Desi and Amy Arnaz (Yes, the Arnaz,
Jr. of I Love Lucy fame) have been retrofitting the theater since they purchased
it in the late 90’s. They rented the theatre to the DSFF for this year’s
event, which was a fortunate turn of events for the Festival, given the capacity
crowds all day and evening, throughout the three days of the weekend event. The
CineVegas sponsored meet-and-greet reception with the filmmakers on Friday
evening was a special interlude including a nice spread of finger foods and
libations while everyone visited.
All felt
the level of craft and art demonstrated in this year’s entries was very high. So
many excellent Shorts in one festival left everyone satisfied. The filmmakers,
many of them
dressed
in their finest, stepped out of the Festival-provided-limousine onto the red
carpet Saturday evening, as their names were announced. Some visited the podium
to pick up a ‘Best of’ Award and say thank-you to those
supporting their chance to
express their ideas artistically. Most of these films are shot with little or no
budget, friends and family providing production support, cash, food and often
serving as ‘extras’ during the shoots. It was heartwarming to listen to the
humble thank-you’s from people so happy to have won, so proud to have completed
their film, so grateful to be able to share it and hear the reactions from the
audience.
A few of
these filmmakers are on their way to solid careers in the industry.
The
Films
Films
that stay with me, somewhere in the back of my mind, the story or visual
elements
sifting through, parts of it resurfacing repeatedly or days later—those are the
most notable to me. ‘Validation’ and ‘Passenger Seat’, comedies rewarding the
Festival crowd on the third day with laugh-out loud hilarity were my overall
favorites. Kurt Kuenne wrote, directed, scored, co-produced and edited
‘Validation’, stating he wrote the script and lead role with a friend in mind.
That friend would be T.J. Thyne (Fox’s TV hit Bones), whose vibrant
performance anchored the cleverly written story. The entire package of smart,
quick-witted humor wrapped in a confection of ensemble casting support,
superlative score and brief musical numbers is concisely presented in 16 minutes
Truly a comedic gem.
‘Passenger Seat’ is the newest work from our local Thompson brother team, Big
Brother/Little Brother Productions. Mike and Jerry Thompson hit real paydirt
with this script. Casting was perfection, delivering an ‘A’ list quality set of
performances. Californian Eric Albertson‘s mockumentary, ‘Freeway Dating’ was
sheer delightful silliness. Eric says this is his second film, which put a
smart, fast spin on dating trends, acquitting himself quite nicely in creating
this surprisingly professional work.
‘Home’
won Best Animation and everyone’s hearts. Matt Faust, in a first animation
effort presented the poignant dilemma of New Orleans area families left homeless
after Katrina—truly innovative and a strong reminder of those unresolved issues.
My
favorites after these films were: ‘The Needful Head’ by Zeth Willie, depicts a
man tired of his head—hmmmmm. I liked it. ‘Lucky Olis’ would be a great resource
for child safety, brilliantly executed by Sashka Unseld and Johmnes Weilaud.
Thom Harp’s ‘Fortune Hunters’ swirled through the flights of fancy one young son
takes in his father’s fortune cookie factory, although clearly the audience
fascination rested primarily on the lead actor. A riveting example of a film
that is both bizarrely enthralling and somehow empowering was ‘Bitch’ by Lilah
Vandenburgh, which, despite the language is a must-see.
‘Yoga
Noga Reyoga: The Enlightenment Competition’ was quite clever and the animation
enchanting. Chris Elley’s ‘Ghost Town: 24 Hours in Terlingua’ was a truly
entertaining peek into a tiny Texan town in the middle of the Chihauhuan high
desert, with townspeople espousing the joy of their quiet lives in the freedom
and solitude of this remote community. ‘The Curious Lives of Bottom Dwellers’ by
Megan Allison, amused festivalgoers, as did ‘Earano’, a sweet and youthful take
on Cyrano, by Luke Matheny. A.J. Eaton’s ‘The Mixup’ was plainly funny, the
casting perfect. ‘The Maltese Hamster’ by G. Scott Thompson (youngest and newest
Thompson brother to write a story suitable for the big screen) was a convincing,
humorous look at the Sam Spade types of film noir and whether it was how they
said it, as much as what they said that made the movie—and of course the
requisite cool looking trench coat and hat.
The
films that continue to haunt are ‘Deface’ examining the seeming futility of
rebelling against the oppressive regime of modern day North Korea, and ‘Milan’,
a look at a small family on a remote farm during the Serbian bombing crisis.
‘Still Life’ by Mahesh Pailoor about a war photographer, asked us to look beyond
the stills to the ongoing action and heartbreak of the lives of people caught in
the streets of their towns during wartimes. ‘Rogue 379’ briefly visits one down
side of an assasin’s lifestyle. Dan Addelson’s depiction of a friend saving
someone from a bad mistake was professionally rendered in ‘The Proble m’ (their
spelling). ‘It Rises From The East’ by Sudeep Kanwal was an interesting glimpse
of inspiration. ’10 Seconds’ by Taylor Horky, took another look at second
chances for workaholics.
Kristin
Holodak’s ‘Memory Sticks’ topped the list of filmic pithy insights, as well as
David Schmoeller’s (UNLV) entry, ‘Wedding Day’, weaving a lacy construction of
visits with a Japanese, a Parisian and an American bride, and a Latvian entry, ‘Veterinārārsts’,
an animation communicating the healing aspects of animals in such a durable
story with incredible visuals. ‘Defaced’ by Lorcan Finnegan, truly danced on the
screen. Destruction of bottles, glasses, water-filled balloons set to music and
captured in a rather visually stunning collection of clips was ‘Slow Motion
Movie; by Carleton Torpin. Naomi Wright’s ‘String’ was a visit to the bizarre,
as was ‘A Catalog of Anticipations’ by David Lowery.
Films of
the deeply disturbing variety still had standout leads. The strongest dose was
‘Rain’ which is a difficult to view and yet engaging assessment of possible
media-linked corporate and government conspiracies promulgated on an unwitting
and largely co-dependant populace. Simon Bovey’s ‘The Un-Gone’ was in a similar
vein, as was ‘The Nothing Pill’ by Yu Gu, and ‘Dreamtime’ by Tom Van Avermaet.
‘High Maintenance’ a twisted look at synthetic humans as companions, by Phillip
Van, delighted audiences Thursday and Saturday. ‘Side Effects May Include’, a
seemingly satirical spin on pharmaceutical TV commercials turns a final corner
in an unexpected and bloody ambush. ‘Rubberheart’ leads the viewer on, a trite
indictment of convenience store dating evolving into a look at one version of
objectifying women—one strange union of a sexually active woman who picks a
conundrum of a delusional man.
The
Eames Brothers retrospective of early Shorts filmed in the mid-Twentieth Century
demonstrated their durability and freshness to Twenty-first Century audiences.
The Filmmaker’s Discussion Panel netted many astute answers and useful details
of the challenges met by new filmmakers from Eric Albertson, Kurt Kuenne and Dan
Addelson.
Overall, the weekend left everyone certain they would be back in 2009 to see
what DSFF will bring together for their fifth annual festival.
Notes:
Ticket rates were reasonable: $5 per thematic segment program, of which there
were 21. Another bargain was the 3-Day Festival Programs/Film Market passes for
only $50. A ticket to the Saturday night Awards Gala, which includes a screening
of the award-winning films, is $15. For Festival information, call 702-293-4848
or visit the website:
www.DamShortFilm.org.
Festival schedule:
http://www.damshortfilm.org/2008/schedule.htm
Festival
photos:
http://www.damshortfilm.org/2008/pressinfo.htm
Eames
Foundation:
http://www.eamesfoundation.org/index.html
Jim
Blashfield website:
http://www.blashfieldstudio.com
Other
national Short Film Festivals:
Los
Angeles Short Film Festival
http://www.lashortsfest.com/video_list.asp
Miami
Short Film Festival
http://www.miamishortfilmfestival.com/
Chlotrudis 8th Annual
http://www.chlotrudis.org/movies/festival/
Coney Island Short Film Festival:
http://www.indiefilmpage.com/coneyfest.html
