The HollyShorts Film Festival is underway with 427 films from around the world. Shorts are not second class films. They remind me of Edgar Allen Poe’s rules for short stories: they must be able to be taken in in one sitting, and every word (or with films, picture) must be important. There are many blockbuster films that have lots of pictures and words that could easily be discarded. Not so with shorts. HollyShorts is a Oscar-qualifying festival.
I want to start my coverage with a few films that all have some connection with religion or spirituality. (After all, this is ScreenFish.)
Snipped (13 minutes) from writer/director Alexander Saul. In this Danish comedy, a Jewish convert is going to the doctor for his circumcision. That, in and of itself, may be worthy of raised anxiety. But the Jewish doctor who used to do this has retired, and the doctor still doing them is Moslem. While the act is important in both religions, there are a few humorous barbs tossed about. When we think of the animosity that sometimes separates people of different faiths, this comedy gives us a chance to see a commonality.
May I Put You on Hold? (13 minutes) from director Ash Blodgett. A woman on hold with customer service finally gets connected, then immediately put on hold again. She screams, and suddenly finds herself in a forest. A receptionist asks her to sit. This, we discover, is the afterlife. It involves all the same kind of “sludge” as everyday life. When it’s discovered that a clerical error has been made, she will soon be returned to life. Along the way she discovers that she has been missing out on important things in life. A pleasant, entertaining look at an existential question of the meaning of life—and how easy it is to lose our way.
Unholy (14 minutes) from writer/director Daisy Friedman. Noa is going to her family’s Passover meal. The problem is that she has an intestinal issue that requires a feeding tube. She can have no solid food. This may seem like a set up for more comedy, but instead it heads into deeper waters. The dynamics are difficult (with a stereotypical Jewish grandmother who wants her to eat). She feels awkward and different. But most of all, she feels the loss of the holiness she used to feel in the prayers and the food. This film highlights the emotional power ritual can have in our lives. One of the upper level of the films I’ve seen so far.
One Day This Kid (17 minutes) from writer/director Alexander Farah. We follow Hamed, a first generation Afghan-Canadian through various points of his life. Early scenes deal with his relationship to his father, including trips to the Mosque together. Later, he is somewhat estranged from his parents, perhaps because of his gay sexuality. At one point, we sense a longing to return to some of the touchstones of his past. The film is loosely based on a work of art: David Wojnarowicz’s “Untitled (One Day This Kid)”.
