Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the 5th annual Pasadena International Film Festival in Pasadena, California. This is the only film festival I have attended more than once since I began writing about festivals for this blog last year. Similar to last year, I got to see many great short films and one feature length documentary. These films all covered a variety of topics, some of which happen to be quite relevant to themes in the news today. They also take viewers through a wide array of emotions throughout the screening blocks. Here are some of my highlights:
The first short film I saw was Bella Donna, a story of a husband and wife who don't see eye to eye on their ideas of perfection. The film opens up and we see the wife only from the neck down as she prepares a dinner and sets a table for what is sure to be a beautiful date night. She is faithful to her husband and has prepared a delicious dinner for him. But when he walks in and sits down, seems unimpressed. She sits down and the viewer realizes why her face has not been shown up until this point. She has a nasty black eye. At this point, it becomes clear to the viewer what is really going on here, especially once the husband begins critiquing the dinner in a way that suggests he is not totally satisfied. She is beautiful and does everything he asks of her, but it still isn't good enough. There was an audible sense of shock among the other viewers in the theater when her face is finally shown. As powerful men are taken down publicly by allegations of domestic violence one by one in these times, Bella Donna provides an interesting perspective from the victim's standpoint that we don't always see in the news. Now is a great time for this film to be released, as the issue discussed is on the minds of so many.
Underhanded is a short film about a young man who is the son of a well known bootlegger in prohibition era Atlantic City, New Jersey. The film begins as he is a boy, watching his father get shot by gangsters trying to take over the business. As their business flourishes and expands, the main character, now a young man, wants to get revenge for his father's murder. Underhanded is the kind of film that I can see being expanded into a feature film. As a short film, there is not enough time to fully develop the story as much as perhaps is necessary. However, the actors are all compelling in their roles and the film left me wanting more.
Vellum is a short film about a young woman's ride in a ride share program gone horribly wrong. It's late one night and the main character has called for a "Rydeshare" (think Uber) after a party. As the ride goes on, she begins to notice some strange things about her driver, such as ignoring GPS directions and some tattoos on his neck that would suggest he is a white supremacist (the main character is white by the way). She begins to fear that something is wrong and asks to get out of the car. She tries to call her boyfriend for help, but he does not answer. While trying to call for help she is kidnapped and wakes up sometime later in the garage of a house completely tied up and unable to get help. The same driver she was trying to escape from is holding her hostage along with another young woman who seems high on drugs. She does eventually find herself released from her captivity by these white supremacists and the film does have a happy ending. I found this short film to be rather thought provoking because it seems like so many times when we call for a cab or other ride share, it seems like we do exactly what our parents told us NOT to do when we were younger, which is to get into a car with a stranger. This was certainly an interesting film and I very much enjoyed it.
The Zim tells the story of racism in Zimbabwe shortly after gaining independence from the British. During this time, many black people were seizing the properties of white people throughout the country, and The Zim tells one such story. A white farm owner is approached by a black man one day claiming he has the right to the property. It has been the white man's family home for generations and he refuses to give up the property without first going through the proper channels. Things turn violent and nearly out of control. But if the white man is forced to give up his property, then where will he go? The Zim offers a history lesson to those of us who were previously unaware of the race tensions and turmoil that existed at the time. The film is the perfect length. I left the theater feeling like I had learned something as well as seen a fully developed story play out. It is sure to leave a lasting impression on audiences.
A Timepo (In Time) is about an undocumented immigrant trying to arrive at his daughter's dance recital in time. He can't leave work early to get there early, so if he gets done at the right time, he'll just barely make it. The problem is that when he is done with work, his truck won't start. Instead of calling for help to get the truck started, he starts to run to the location of the recital. He runs all the way there. But on the way, a police officer notices him running, reports it as suspicious activity, and begins chasing him. Intercut through the scenes of the man running are scenes of his daughter performing. He bursts into the auditorium just as she finishes her recital, with the police officer right behind him, pushing him to the ground and arresting him. Yet, that is not the focus of the film. The film focuses on the man working hard to provide for his family as well as being a good father. It showcases the difficulty undocumented immigrants face each day being in this country. It is never shown ultimately what happens to this man. A Tiempo is a great, thrilling and intense film.
Speaking of fast-paced, intense thriller short films, Active Shooter ratchets it up even more. The film opens up to a man horrified by what he is seeing on the television in front of him. A shooting is going on at his son's high school. As he watches more and calls his son to see if he is okay (only to receive no response each time he calls), he realizes the key to the closet where he keeps his guns is missing. He begins to worry that his son may actually be the shooter. All signs point that such may be the case. He goes through his son's room and sees that he is an introverted and troubled young man who was rejected by a classmate he tried to date (as notes show). Meanwhile the father keeps trying to contact his son, worrying he may in fact be the shooter or otherwise caught up in the situation. This film is perhaps the most topical of the short films at the festival I saw. It seems as if there are far too many school shootings happening these days, and other attempts that are thwarted. Active Shooter provides a unique perspective because it removes the viewer from the action and puts us in the seat of a parent who is frantic about the whereabouts and safety of his child. Of all of the short films I saw, this one was perhaps my favorite.
A Desert Storm takes place about the time of the first Gulf War back in 1991. Miles, a young boy, is out camping with his family when he stumbles upon a homeless veteran. No words are exchanged between the two characters, but he begins to think about what a soldier goes through in war. This creates a rift in his mind as he is caught between two phases of his life, the naivete of his childhood fantasies about soldiers, and the violent realities they experience. Miles becomes fascinated with the coverage of the war, unable to turn it off upon his family's return from their trip. Miles has a serious wake-up call about reality that shakes him to his core. As a young man who constantly has a model war plane with him everywhere he goes, he begins to realize that the people who fly those planes in real life do not experience fun and games, but rather extreme violence and chaos that have profound effects on them. A Desert Storm reminds us of ourselves during those times when we realized the world is a completely different world than we had once imagined, one that is far more complex that we previously understood. It juxtaposes the large and complex world we live in with the intimacy of a young boy coming of age to begin to understand it.
Sinatra in Palm Springs is the last film I saw at the festival this year, and it is the only feature length film I saw. This film is not a history of Frank Sinatra's life, but rather a film about his life specifically in Palm Springs, California; the place he called home for more than 40 years. Sinatra considered Palm Springs his true home even though he had a home in Los Angeles. If you are looking to learn about Sinatra's singing or acting careers, or just about his life in general, this is not the film for you. Director/Producer Leo Zahn interviews many people throughout this film, including owners and managers of many of the restaurants he frequented in the area, his wife Barbara, to whom he was married the longest of all of his wives, and actor and comedian Tom Dreesen, who was very close friends with Sinatra. This documentary paints an interesting picture of Sinatra's life in the desert. It's the kind of documentary that makes you feel like you learned something about Sinatra that is unique to that documentary. While other documentary filmmakers might choose to talk about Sinatra's life and professional career, Zahn chooses to tell the story about his personal life, but in Palm Springs. It is a truly fascinating film.
Image Source: Things to do in LA (www.ttdila.com)
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