Whether its about life and death emergencies, or the world’s loudest burp, short documentaries help us meet interesting people and discover things about our world and perhaps ourselves. Here are some of the short docs playing at HollyShorts Film Festival.
A New Inferno (16 minutes), directed by Nita Blum-Reddick and Jonathan Pickett, comes from the New York Times. It follows a crew from a busy Phoenix Fire Department station on one of the hottest days of the year as they respond to calls of people who have collapsed from heat. Heat, drugs and homelessness make a deadly mixture. The firefighters are trying a new therapy of immersing the victims in ice before they load them into the ambulance.
The Baker’s Hotline (13 minutes), directed by Emily Shuman, is about emergencies of slightly lesser consequence. This film centers on the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Hotline that takes calls from people who are having trouble with whatever they’re baking. The calls can be about many things, and the people help as they can. We also meet two frequent callers, one of whom has a Ph.D in organic chemistry of carbohydrates. Of course, some people just call because they are lonely—and that’s okay too. By the way, if you’re having trouble with your starter or can’t get your cookies right, the number is 855 371-BAKE (2253).
Mon Taxi (8 minutes), directed by Meriem Sakrouhi, is a personal reflection. The Moroccan filmmaker (now in New York), shares sights from her daily life as she talks to her dead father on daily calls to let him know what she is doing.
Eructation (7 minutes), directed by Victoria Trow, is about a very strange “athlete”. Diminutive Kaylee is in training to set the world record for the loudest burp by a female. (That happens to be 107.3 dB, about the same as a leaf blower.) She shares what she does to create the kind of stomach gas that will hopefully get her that record.
A Man Who Takes Pictures of Flowers (13 minutes), directed by Yoo Lee, is a reflection on life and beauty. Lee interviewed Jung Myung Kim about his life photographing flowers. The film uses animation and Kim’s photography and film work as we listen to his thoughts. It become a meditation of finding happiness.
The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers (24 minutes), directed by Rosella Tursi, looks at a bit of family lore. The filmmaker compares the stories she and her cousins know of the time in 1983, when a pair of bank robbers entered their grandmother’s home and held her hostage for several hours. Then she discovers that one of the robbers is alive and gets his version of the story—which includes a spiritual awakening. Sometimes stories take on a life of their own, and help define the way we understand ourselves.
Plumped (12 minutes), directed by Faye Tsakas and Nora DeLicter, is all about the lips. Several women talk about the experience of plumping their lips. For some it is a life changing event. I have to say that I just don’t get it. There are surely comments about buying into what makes beauty that need to be said, but aren’t mentioned here.
