by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
The first program of the festival was a showcase of student films from across the Southeast. My thoughts and a brief description of each. If you missed it tonight, they'll be showing again on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Town Theatre.
Threadbare
(dir. Kristin Reeves)
One of the program's most experimental films. Shot on 16mm film, silent. Lots of very experimental editing, with many image overlays and a strong focus on presenting human subjects in unconventional ways.
1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go
(dir. S Cagney Gentry)
Told in mostly black and white still photography with accompany voiceover, 1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go follows a man obsessed with numbers and patterns as he tries to escape the seeming prison of his life. Gentry's choices to use still photography allow us to see the sterility of the protagonist's life and his belief that he is existing in a static state.
It Comes Naturally
(dir. Elizabeth Perlman)
Shot on film with no sound, It Comes Naturally is one of the more impenetrable films on the list. Filled with lots of close-ups of faces and bodies, Perlman tries to display our obsession with changing our faces and bodies to try and appear natural. Her color choices and extreme close-ups help draw attention to various fragments of bodies and distort their typical representation.
Pink Triangle
(dir. Ryan Jeffrey Davis)
This submission from the NC School of the Arts was one of the group's most polished efforts. Davis demonstrates his skill at collaborating and creating a clean, lean product (as the lengthy credits attest). Following a conflicted Nazi Informant, it initially feels like it's drumming up anxieties about Nazism for no particular reason. However, the overwhelming lack of dialogue and the film's turn towards an area of Nazi persecution rarely examined help make it a piece about trauma that truly works. It balances heavy emotions well, with the lead actor especially able to delve deep into his character's conflicted past without having to resort to explicating his emotions.
In the Moment
(dir. Debra Sea)
Sea's short animated film about those moments we drift off has a great, personal feel. The animation is great to look at, and the voiceover is humorous and real.
Mashed
(dir. John Heider)
Heider, who was present at the screening and called his project born out of "a leftover Halloween costume," is an extended trailer of a slasher film about Mr. Potato Head exacting cruel revenge on an evil genius and gang of baddies. Filmed locally, the camera work and actors are over the top, but Heider's obvious love for his material and the genre of shlocky B-movies he's paying tribute to definitely make this one win out.
The Gatherers
(dir. Nick Leopold)
Another offering out of NC School of the Arts, Gatherers is a post-apocalyptic film about children struggling to belong. Shot mostly in a warehouse, its use of empty space is terrific, while the child actors all perform their roles with surprising competence. Its shots of empty streets and a deserted grocery store are especially thrilling, and the film inspires a true sense of isolation.
Western Brothers' Adventure Story
(dir. Drew Xanthopolous)
This one comes to us from Texas's Radio-Television-Film program, and is my personal choice for Best in Show. Feel free to disagree, but Adventure Story is a deft balance of documentary and narrative. As a young boy tries to narrate a story, he and his brother act it out. On the one hand, it's about making a movie, with shots of the crew and their cameras interspersed throughout the film, with some members of the team interjecting to ask questions about the story. On the other, it's a pure little trip into a child's imagination, where he gets to act out the story he imagines.
Hershel's Chocolate
(dir. Joshua Rainwater and Adam Siler)
Filmed nearby in Florence, this follows two young boys as they try to find a monster in the woods and get a feather from the monster so they can belong to the "big kids club." Remarking on the film's theme of belonging, co-director Rainwater said afterward that it felt appropriate to make the film about kids because "once you get older, that wanting to belong becomes a lot sadder." Working with kids is never an easy task, but Chocolate is one of several films on the program that makes it look effortless.
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