Films clearly have the ability to point to important ideas. Among the films at HollyShorts Film Festival are some that aim to have “Social Impact”. These are stories that ask us to see things that may need changing—or perhaps just inviting us to care. What We Wished...
HollyShorts Film Festival has plenty of documentaries. Today I look at some from the documentary section, and from a new section they have this year: Sports (which are also docs). Whitney Houston in Focus (34 minutes, US, directed by Benjamin Alfonsi) is pretty much...
Among the films at HollyShorts Film Festival are some that deal with what they call “Golden Age”—about the later years of life. Since I qualify for inclusion in that demographic, it seems like I should watch some of these films. Jellyfish and Lobster (20 minutes, UK,...
The Hollyshorts program for rom-coms is about relationships more than romance, but that works out fine for short films. Some of the films in this section were films that were by or about people with disabilities. Audio Description (5 minutes, US, directed by Luke J....
Since the war began, more than 15 million Ukrainians have left their country seeking safety. In the Rearview is a documentary that takes place mostly inside a van filled with various people on their journey to an unknown future. When the war started and many people...
When does childhood end? At adolescence? When we reach legal age? Of course, it’s not really a sudden shift so much as a process over a period of time. Red Island, directed by Robert Campillo, looks at the question in a semi-autobiographical reflection. A child begins...
HollyShorts Film Festival is an Oscar-qualifying event, currently going on in Hollywood. Over 200 short films are part of the festival. If you have read my coverage of festivals before, you know that I always try to see shorts at some point. Here are more than I’ll...
Today for HollyShorts, I’m taking a look at some sci-fi films that are part of the festival. Science fiction often offers us ways to look at our world as if from the outside. Good sci-fi is not about technology, per se, as much as it is about our humanity in whatever...
Very early on, Pete Davis (who directs and produces along with his sister Rebecca Davis) clearly states the premise of Join or Die: “This is a film of why you should join a club—and why the fate of America depends on it.” The film focuses on the work of Harvard...