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Here’s a small selection of quick fire reviews of a selection of the Sundance Film Festival Shorts we caught at the 2021 virtual edition of Sundance.
Lizard (Nigeria)
An 8 year old girl with an ability to sense danger gets kicked out of Sunday School service. In her boredom, she wanders around the church complex and unwittingly uncovers the underbelly of a Mega Church in Lagos.
There are a lot of films that capture a kid’s perspective, but rarely do they make you feel like your inside the kid’s head. Lizard does just that, immersing the viewer in the curious mind of an 8 year old girl wandering a church complex in Lagos. We’re distracted by the visions in her imagination which lead us into places we shouldn’t be. However, our older minds, more than hers, can see the underbelly of the church that she doesn’t. The grainy footage helps draw the viewer in by creating the same look as home videos from the 80’s and 90’s, making it instantly feel more personal. If you’re after an immersive, magical realism infused glimpse of the hidden side of Lagos, seek out Lizard.
In the Air Tonight (U.S.A)
A ghost story, a simulation, a message unspooling from a fax machine: In the Air Tonight recreates the apocryphal narrative of the origins of Phil Collins’ anthemic ‘80s mega-hit, via the voiceover of an “artist friend” nicknamed Slipperman.
The film’s description above does a pretty good job of describing exactly what In the Air Tonight is, but only really makes sense once you’ve seen the film. It helps to have know Phil Collins’ hit, In The Air Tonight before watching this, as the director knows you’ll be waiting for the song’s crescendo. When it comes, it’s accompanied by one of the most obnoxiously over-the-top sequences I’ve ever seen. In this context, after telling a strangely curious fake story about the former pop superstar, it comes as a humongous bang of a punchline, which depending on your humor, is incredibly hilarious or incredibly stupid.
The Longest Dream I Remember (Mexico)
As Tania leaves her hometown, she must confront what her absence will mean in the search for her disappeared father.
In The Longest Dream I Remember, the feeling of the film is much more memorable than what’s going on. It captures the haunting melancholy of the search for a lost relative. Without any more clues to get closer to finding her father, the film instead tries to piece together memories to reconstruct her lost father. This way of processing comes across as more eerie than sad, as the ambiguity of his disappearance keeps them from achieving closure.
You Wouldn’t Understand (U.S.A)
An idyllic picnic for one is upended after the suspicious arrival of a stranger.
Time loop stories are fun to watch when they make sense, and luckily You Wouldn’t Understand doesn’t run for long enough to get confusing. In fact, if anything, it could run a little longer. It also contains just enough of a ‘something’s not quite right’ feeling to keep you watching.
Misery Loves Company (South Korea)
As Seolgi is lying on a grass field with friends, a shooting star falls, and dark, intrusive thoughts hit her. Her melancholy blooms into bright and colorful ‘flower people,’ dancing and wishing for a meteorite to end the world.
In just 3 minutes, Misery Loves Company animates the thoughts of a depressed high school girl wishing for an easy way to end the monotony of life. However, as depressing as it sounds, the animation is surprisingly uplifting with flower headed people celebrating the imagined end of the world to Seolgi’s singing. It reminded me a bit of the Blockhead’s ‘The Music Box’ – another colorfully animated music video with depressing undertones.
Ghost Dogs (U.S.A)
A family’s new rescue pup is terrorized by deceased pets in this odd-ball horror.
If you’re a fan of dogs and horror movies, and can appreciate a good animation, you should like Ghost Dogs. Firstly, the animation is brilliantly eerie. It looks a bit like a The Simpsons Halloween special gone awry with the dogs looking a bit too human and the house a bit too off balance and vibrantly colored. However, the tension built off the uncanniness is offset by a few moments which play off the horror genre nicely – what seems scary to us isn’t necessarily scary for our rescue pup.
Five Tiger (South Africa)
Set in present day South Africa, Five Tiger tells the story of Fiona, a god-fearing woman, who finds herself in a transactional relationship with the leader of her church as she tries to support her daughter and her sick husband.
Like Lizard, Five Tiger depicts the questionable side to Christianity in Africa. Fiona is stuck in a loop of exploitation she’s unwilling to escape, symbolized in a 50 Rand bill – which equates to roughly $3 – as it transfers hands between her and the church. Five Tiger’s story is shot well, and told concisely, with just enough subtlety in it’s portrayal of Fiona’s situation to keep the viewer feeling clever for understanding what’s going on.
Excuse Me Miss, Miss, Miss (Philippines)
Vangie, a miserable contractual sales lady, is about to lose her job. But in her desperate attempt to persuade her boss not to sack her, Vangie uncovers the ultimate secret to keeping it.
Excuse Me Miss, Miss, Miss carries a light humor that felt very similar to last year’s Filipino festival hit, Death of Nintendo. There’s bright colors, characters you can laugh at, and creepy supernatural events. However, instead of teenage boys, this short follows a young woman working at an empty mall. If you can handle a bit of silly humor, and are intrigued by the supernatural twist, give this one a shot.
The Fourfold (Canada)
Based on the ancient animistic beliefs and shamanic rituals in Mongolia and Siberia, The Fourfold is an exploration of the indigenous worldview and wisdom. Against the backdrop of the modern existential crisis and the human-induced rapid environmental change, there is a necessity to reclaim the ideas of animism for planetary health and non-human materialities.
The animation of The Fourfold reminded me of the arts and crafts classes from primary school; it feels very home-made. In this sense, animating leaves, textiles, and other materials feels like a perfect fit for the narrative of animistic spirituality. However, the visuals don’t compensate for the lack of a tangible narrative to follow in the voice-over, leaving the film feeling a bit too ethereal.
For more from films outside of the Sundance Film Festival shorts head to our Sundance 2021 page.
Immerse yourself in the patriarchy embedded in a traditional family in Lahore, Pakistan with Joyland. Don’t let the upbeat title mislead you. Whilst there are some warm moments in Haider’s queer coming of age story, his awakening is framed as a privilege of his gender. The women are all victims of the patriarchy whether they’re within the family house or outside it.
Despite being confined to a wheelchair, the grandfather is still the head of the household consisting of his two sons and their wives, as well as his eldest son’s many children. Haider, the youngest son, holds the focus of the first half of the film as he transitions from a house husband supporting his wife, to a husband seeing other women and turning his wife into a house-wife. The focus on Haider is representative of the patriarchal society he exists within. The audience initially sympathizes with him because he’s looked down on by the men of his family for his assumption of traditionally female role. Because of this set up, his queer coming of age is celebrated as it feels like he’s finally able to come out of his shell. The focus on his budding romance with his boss are some of the happiest moments of the film. However, in the second half of the film, his queer coming of age is framed as his male privilege.
Whilst Haider is out finding himself, his wife, Mumtaz, has been forced by Haider’s family to resign from her dream job and assume the domestic responsibilities expected of a wife. Simultaneously her narrative is overshadowed by Haider’s. Her screen time slowly diminishes as Haider’s grows. Even her star entrepreneurial scene from the start of the movie – in which she uses phone flash-lights to complete her job during a blackout – is hijacked by her husband when he pulls the same trick for his crush later in the film. Mumtaz’s repression by the patriarchy is represented in the empathy and upbeat scenes that are given to her husband, at the expense of hers.
Joyland is a technically faultless film – something you’d expect from a Cannes winner – and captures the dynamics of the patriarchy in Pakistan perfectly. However, whilst its Queer Palm win promises a progressive or unique portrayal of Queerness, Joyland doesn’t really stretch any boundaries here. Haider’s relationship with Biba, the only queer relationship in the film, is sacrificed for a melodramatic finale. Her role, whilst played brilliantly, mostly exists to be the exotic temptress for Haider’s macho-turn.
Watching the 2024 Oscar shorts is the quickest and easiest way to get closer to watching all of the Oscar contenders. So if you’re looking for something to say about this year’s Academy Awards, check out these short films at cinemas near you.
The Animated 2024 Oscar Shorts
Letter to a Pig (Israel)
Divided into two halves, the Animation Is Film Festival winner follows a Holocaust survivor’s story to a classroom of primarily ungrateful students, mocking his age and confounding seriousness when discussing his friendship to an unnamed pig. Slowly, the story shrinks to the focus of Alma, one schoolgirl who breaks the film into high fantasy – a torturous dream that evokes the cruel mob mentality of the past.
The average animation viewer will put a lot of prestige on the more creative visual displays, those films that take place in a dimension unseen to human eyes, whether it be felt or caricature. Letter to a Pig may not be the single most creative concept in the running this year, but it is the most immediately stunning – live action footage overdrawn with an extreme amount of minimalist line drawing. That minimalism, its biggest asset, is unfortunately quickly trumped by a dogged amalgamation of trauma and historical setbacks, resulting in more curiosity than rousing passion. -ST
Ninety-Five Senses (U.S.)
Coy is a senior citizen reflecting on the power and nostalgia that his five primary senses have brought him presented in a curiously dark order. Voiced by Tim Blake Nelson, Coy plays along with a chronology of significant events in his life, milestones marked by entertainment, love, ambition and eventually, death.
The Hess pair of directors & writers, using their Oscar nomination to eclipse their Napoleon Dynamite fame before piloting the upcoming Minecraft adaptation, have created something special with Ninety-Five Senses, a shockingly dramatic story that revels equally in its diverse and various styles of hand-drawn animation as it does its dramaturgy. While fishing for emotion where the wandering tales of an old man seem silly at best, the Hess’ make a sincere and effective plea for compassion and forgiveness within one’s own perspective, a deceiving victory if this year’s short film lineup needed at least one to speak for. -ST
Our Uniform (Iran)
Following a bit of unique structural storytelling, Our Uniform unravels a traditional Iranian schoolgirl’s daily attire to discuss the conventions that present with a young woman’s own identity. By taking the shirt, label, sleeve and linings bit-by-bit, colors and patterns reveal a creative tapestry by which the unnamed narrator contemplates her own femininity while dissecting what details about her past marked her outer shell most permanently.
At seven minutes, Our Uniform is the shortest Oscar nominee at this year’s induction, though an argument could made that it is also the prettiest – the carry-on textures Moghaddam uses to bring the girls themselves into their own environment, a schoolhouse or a road along which to travel, is immediately captivating. Naturally, with such briefness some a slight narrative, Our Uniform ending on more of a mid-sentence brushaway than anything resembling a punctuating note of contemplation. It is, simply, brief and honest, a meditation on time that has very little of it to spare. -ST
Pachyderme (France)
A young girl named Louise spends a routine summer with her grandparents, playing on swing sets and swimming in the local lagoon. Her small figure is stiff and roughed, overwhelmed by huge locks of hair that gives Louise a fairy-like physicality, matching the ethereal wonder of her painted world. Louise reveals that she thinks a lot about monsters, one in particular, who haunts her holiday trip, disrupting her innocent countryside summer.
Pachyderm is a deeply interesting, though uncompelling, experiment for the same reasons that make its nomination so intrinsic. It feels as though every year at least one animated short beckons a darker form of animation serving as trauma vehicle, small-form character arcs already knee-deep in an uncompromising past. A struggle with subtlety erupts in Pachyderm, the delicacy of Louise’s life at odds with her vague notions to disassociate. Where terrifying stories of childhood instability often layer into the hurt of residual mental warfare, Clément’s route is dark and lonely, a small light in an otherwise clouded vision. -ST
War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko (U.S.)
On opposite trenches at the climax of World War I, two frontline soldiers for the unnamed sides spread their free time out with the least leisurely round of chess ever played. By sending a carrier pigeon back-and-forth without their superiors’ knowledge, the two engage in a bout of metaphors, the escalation of their own board game matching the severity of the embattlements supressing their allies just outside their doors.
With a production credit by Sean Ono Lennon, WAR IS OVER! may win the Oscar on sheer starpower alone. The traces of the short’s development and press tour even go back to herald Peter Jackson, with Unreal animation done by his partner-owned Wētā FX Limited. It makes perfect sense, then, that WAR IS OVER! is easily the most treacly short of the animated roster, a laughable sentiment gone wrong that peace can overcome anything – or, at least that the power of Christmas, when John Lennon is the baron of tidings, is stronger than thought and diplomacy (if you want it). -ST
The Documentary 2024 Oscar Shorts
ABC’s Of Book Banning (U.S.)
Over 2,000 books have been removed from school districts in the U.S. The ABC’s of Book Banning follows the human toll the future will pay for depriving children of their right to read and learn about a complex world. Interviews with children and authors shed light on this ongoing dangerous precedent.
An important message made for screen with the elegance of a PowerPoint slide, ABC’s of Book Banning tries and fails to live up to the urgency and creativity that influencer-activists convey on TikTok. This documentary short interviews recognizable names (Judy Blume, Amanda Gorman) with cute kids, including one with a luscious mullet, to tell us that book banning is bad. Unfortunately, there’s little interest in the interviewees beyond snappy headline quotes, and the same surface-level overview emanates from the films slap-dash presentation. Despite the potential fodder of the polarizing subject, this is arguably the worst short of the bunch. -RS
Island In Between (Taiwan)
The islands of Kinmen sit as a barred entryway for the Taiwanese people to the Chinese mainland, a beachside land of sand and honey that serves as a focal point in the history of the Chinese Civil War. Remnants of that history soak in the seawater while the skyscrapers of modern China loom just miles away, visible over the horizon, as a symbol of the continued tension and growing disparity between the two nations, or so it would visually seem.
As cursory as they come, Island in Between might be the lightest and most immediately forgettable documentary in this year’s nominee pool, an already congested pipeline of nonfiction blandness. Like a teaser for something bigger and greater, Chiang’s story relies heavily on the immediate reliability of his subjects, their island fever boiled into something more sustained, a sunken propaganda-state they know no bounds from. For Island in Between to work, so must the direct shift to the political perspective of the mainland, a porthole Chiang’s film simply doesn’t seem to have the time for. -ST
Nai Nai & Wai Po (U.S.)
Sean Wang’s two grandmothers live in the same household, the best of friends – one from his maternal side, one paternal. They share in most everything together, co-opting each others lives as their own responsibilities for upkeep in this new post-pandemic world they’ve found themselves. With no left to care for otherwise, Wang’s Nai Nai and his Wài Pó confront the rest of their time together with love, fear, and comical sincerity.
Wang gained an immense amount of timely attention for his Sundance Award-winning feature debut Didi, which rose in profile around the same time his short received Oscar attention. It should be noticed, however, that Nai Nai & Wài Pó nonetheless stands as the least tedious of this year’s documentary shorts. Wang is easily able to immortalize his grandmothers’ wisdom and humor within the short’s brief runtime, a contemplation on the inevitabilities of life and beyond that speaks without hesitation to the reality we find ourselves in at the final crossroads – not alone, and absolutely not unfulfilled. -ST
The Barber of Little Rock (U.S.)
The Barber of Little Rock explores America’s widening racial wealth gap through the story of Arlo Washington, a self-made businessman who founds a non-profit bank to uplift a community that has been largely excluded from the financial engines that create wealth.
A pleasing documentary about a man set on uplifting his community – first through the barber occupation, and secondly adapting to a traditionally inhospitable banking community. The portrayal of the protagonists is so positive that it toes the hagiographic line, making you feel a bit skeptical of the many hugs and charitable grants Washington issues to community members on film; “is it all just for the camera?.” This isn’t helped by the style of the documentary which recalls the same inspirational lens flares over-used by political nominees in their TV campaigns. Skepticism aside, the message is an important one and a sign that the traditionally conservative Academy board is evolving. -RS
The Last Repair Shop (U.S.)
The most effective of this year’s doc shorts at giving perspective to the lower class (though, ironically, also the most well-funded courtesy of Searchlight Pictures), The Last Repair Shop dives anthologically into the backgrounds of four supervising craftsmen who maintain the host of instruments used by children across the Los Angeles Unified School District. In the reaches of downtown LA, all four subjects relate their own upbringing to the value they place in music education, both as a tool for extracurricular guidance and the harmonious lives they lead as experts in a career built on service to underrepresented parts of the community.
Bowers has been on a hot streak recognizable to even the most unsavvy Oscar voters – aside from his original score work on Green Book and The Color Purple, he was previously nominated in this same category for A Concerto Is a Conversation, a documentary that distilled the creator’s own legacy as a composer and instrumentalist into the lineage of Hollywood’s history far beyond his own. The Last Repair Shop, a semi-apparent sequel, ties its subjects even more succinctly than Concerto, a more diverse ensemble remarkable not only for earning their career-driven stripes but from how eclectic those stripes are in unison, coming together in uplifting & wonderfully empathetic fashion. -ST
The Live Action 2024 Oscar Shorts
The After (U.K.)
David Oyelowo finds himself in one of the most overly-dramatic Live Action shorts of recent times as we watch him unfold his range of emotions to a cheesy choice of backing tracks.
The After starts off in familiar territory; a father connecting with his daughter, but takes a wildly dramatic turn in an instant. The randomness of the sudden tonal shift is like reading a story written by a kid that has just discovered the art of story-telling; “I like the sand-pit and SHARKS ARE EATING THE FISH.” It’s worth watching for the comic effect the set-up unintentionally produces. To the film’s credit, it does recover the mood for a few scenes in which Oyelowo is silent. Missed calls and everyday conversations symbolize his loneliness. However, the film tries to outdo the dramatic start with an equally dramatic ending, bringing an awkwardly in-your-face crescendo succeeded by a awkwardly comforting song choice. Is this a secret comedy? – RS
Invincible (Canada)
Inspired by a true story, Invincible recounts the last 48 hours in the life of Marc-Antoine Bernier, a 14-year-old boy on a desperate quest for freedom.
Invincible feels very similar to the films of Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother, Mommy). All feature unruly teenagers situated in Francophone Canada struggling with their parents and themselves. The grainy, slightly faded look of the film combined with the abundance of nature emphasizes their angst. There’s too much natural physical space around them to make themselves feel significant. Invincible is an unusual pick for the Academy Awards, but a worthy one. It’s well-made and captures the unsettled mind of young Marc-Antoine authentically, even if the style and subject matter isn’t wholly fresh. – RS
Knight of Fortune (Denmark)
The loss of a loved one, the grief, the risk of yellow skin, and a coffin, this is too much for Karl to face. It is much easier to fix a broken lamp. A chance encounter with a stranger will help him face his pain.
Surprisingly, the makers behind Knight of Fortune have no apparent connection to the last Danish Live Action Short nominee, On My Mind (maybe there are just a lot of loyal Danish filmmakers on the voting committee). Both are about widowers confronting their grief in unique ways – On My Mind with karaoke and Knight of Fortune with an intriguing stranger. Knight of Fortune is better than On My Mind. Firstly, it’s not manipulatively holding back a reveal, and secondly it’s odd-ball humor comes much more naturally with the chemistry between the two leads. – RS
Red, White, and Blue (U.S.)
Rachel is a single parent living paycheck to paycheck. When an unexpected pregnancy threatens to unravel her already precarious position, she’s forced to cross state lines in search of an abortion.
Heavily influenced by Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, this follows another woman that heads on the road in search of abortion rights. It has a similarly grainy look and even the lead actors look similar. However, Red, White, and Blue hides an ace in its hand in the third act. It’s an ace that gives the short its oomph, but also leans into the extreme to convey a simple message; abortion rights should be protected. – RS
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (U.K.)
A Road Dahl story about a rich man who learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes and then sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.
The A-List short of this year’s nominees. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar features Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade. It’s also directed by Wes Anderson, who surprisingly, has never won an Oscar. As the clear favorite, this might be the way he finally gets his Oscar recognition, and it would be deservingly so. It features the trademark Wes Anderson style – heavily curated production design and color schemes, with quirky storytelling – but is backed by quality source material from a bonafide story-teller. This is the Oscar shorts; we’ve seen Two Distant Strangers knock out Oscar Isaac, but surely this is Wes Anderson’s time. -RS
“Why work if we can do it for you?” are the words at the bottom of a billboard with a white woman floating on a pool that starts The Best Families. The billboard hangs ironically above Luzmilla and Peta’s humble neighborhood in the suburbs. We see it as they start their long commute to work, switching their barren neighborhood for two aristocratic family houses in central Lima.
The two families they work for are stereotypically snobby. They look down on Spanish people that don’t measure up to their lineage and direct plenty of snide comments at each other to try and establish their superiority. Their snobbery is the target of this satire. Today, at their birthday get-together, an unexpected bombshell throws the event into chaos as a long held secret involving both households, crossing class and race, is finally revealed.
Whilst the chaos is unfolding inside their upper class bubble, there’s also chaos outside. The city is being taken over by a mass protest. However, despite the news attention, these two elite families are completely oblivious of the protests. Aerial shots of their living complex (two large houses surrounded by green gardens) marks their position of privilege. Their complex is the only greenery in the shot, and it’s surrounded by cramped urban development and the many people protesting. The shots highlight the stark division between the privileged rich and the rest of the country. It also shows the bubble they live in – they’re not aware of the people outside their property because they don’t have to interact with them. This means that they’re also a bit out of touch with society, making the satire all the more funny.
The unfolding secret creates drama that reminded me of the family chaos in Knives Out. Just like a whodunnit, we want to keep watching to find out how each family member will react. After all, who doesn’t like laughing at the snobby rich? It’s always comforting to know that they have just as much drama in their family as the exploitative reality talk shows focusing on the underprivileged – and us. However, it does end with a small gut punch. Despite the big reveals and controversy the film exposes amongst the aristocratic family, the film ultimately ends on a book-ended shot of the maids carrying out the same life they started with. No matter what comes to light, the wealthy will always hold their power.
Head to our LALIFF 2021 Hub for more reviews from the 20th edition of LALIFF.
Ayinla is inspired by the life of Apala music legend Ayinla Omowura. Set in 1970s Abeokuta, the film charts his rise in the local, national, and international music scenes and the tribulations and ultimate tragedy that accompany his fiery character.
Whilst this film is a dramatized story about Ayinla, it starts with a number of home-video style interviews from local politicians and his friends. These are all real people talking, not actors, and their interviews are used to set up the importance of Ayinla. He’s an artist whose renown never hit the astronomical highs of Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade, but with these interviews and the dramatized story of his life, director, and fellow Abeokuta resident, Tunde Kelani shows he’s worthy of international recognition.
The highlight of Ayinla is the music. Whilst not all of the lyrics are subtitled, you can tell that Ayinla was a playful and political lyricist from the songs that are. They’re all cut into the movie pretty smoothly and give the film the star soundtrack to promote his legacy. Kelani also shoots Abeokuta beautifully, making it appear to be a picturesque tropical city with greenery and Ulumo Rock dominating the drone shots. Another plus is that the entire film is shot in Yoruba, staying true to the region the film is based in, instead of opting for English in an attempt to appeal to an international audience.
The only downsides of this movie is that it doesn’t feel complete. It feels more like a bunch of episodes of Ayinla’s life that have been pieced together. The only thin plot-line is that of Ayinla preparing for his trip to London, but even this only begins to guide the story in the final part of the movie. As pointed out by Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku for afrocritik the film also introduces a lot of plot points that are never developed – such as Ayinla’s pregnant wife. Luckily the music for the most part covers up for the lack of plot.
For anyone into Nigerian music, or biopic style movies on making it in the music industry, Ayinla is worth a watch. It’s a decent tribute to both Ayinla Omowura and Abeokuta, the colorful city that both the director and the music star share.
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