“Life is long.” For a young girl and her family, a summer at their island summer cabin is filled with many things: boredom, excitement, discovery, loss, the passing of wisdom, and through it all, hope. The Summer Book, from director Charlie McDowell, based on the book...
“Who am I and who are the ghosts?” Philosophers often note that our mortality brings insight into our understanding of life. For example, Samuel Johnson noted: “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” Such is the...
“If a bad person pretends to be a good person, does that make them bad? Or good?” The Ugly, written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho based on his graphic novel, strikes me as a kind of fictional real crime podcast. Each step along the way brings new information, some of...
Teachers inspiring students is a familiar theme in films. Tinā, from writer/director Miki Magasiva, is the latest in a long line of such films. In this film, as in most such films, it is a two-way street as a teacher may not only bring something new to the students,...
“Into death and beyond it.” There are many times that I will think of a film derisively as hagiography (life of a saint). I say derisively, because it seems to be making someone look far better than they really were. So what am I to do with Anthony D’Ambrosio’s...
On the surface, Pools, written and directed by Sam Hayes, is about escaping the heat into the cool blue water. There are currents at work below the surface that occasionally take us deeper into questions of how we find the meaning of our lives. Kennedy (Odessa A’zion)...
Real life is often fodder for filmmaking. Films that are “based (or inspired) by true events” are not uncommon. That is true for shorts as well. Here are a few of the films at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival that have their genesis from real...
Among the hundreds of films at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, there were several that involved religious perspectives. I’d like to share a few that show just a touch of Jewish life. Babka (17 minutes) directed by Serena Dykman. Set in a Hasidic...
Lots of stories involve finding an important connection—or failing to find one. It’s the basis of romcoms, but also of more serious romances. Here are a few such stories from the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival. The Painting & the Statue (20 minutes)...