Shorter is Better!
The 2012 Worldwide Short Film Festival is fast approaching with a wholesome bunch of films, 244 to be exact, from around the globe spanning 35 countries altogether. This year’s “Celebrity Shorts” program will be rolling out a star-studded line-up of films featuring some well-acclaimed favourites like Judi Dench, Anna Paquin (True Blood), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), David Duchovny (The X-Files) and Michael Fassbender (Shame) to name a few. Did I just hear some screams?
Truly, with such an eye-popping, head-turning set of celebrity names I felt compelled to watch and decide whether the quality of shorts will actually live up to the hype that has been created around this program. Guess what? The WSFF has really gone beyond expectations to bring you some amazing, often times shocking stories that are a must-see (and see again) during the festival.
Without giving away too many spoilers I’ll give you a brief synopsis of these shorts that are mainly US & UK based productions with all but one making their Canadian Premiere in Toronto at the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival.
To get you in a good mood and your laughter going is the short “Friend Request Pending” (12 minutes), written by Chris Croucher, featuring Tom Hiddleston (Avengers) and Judi Dench as Mary, a mature woman who turns into a typical teenager while Facebook chatting with a man online for the first time. This short will be make you laugh and ‘aww’ at the same time as you discover how online interactions can turn an older generation of people into youngsters getting to know each other.
Next up is “The Carrier” (18 minutes) written by Colin Borden featuring Rita Wilson, Chad Michael Murray and Anna Paquin amongst others. It is the story about a grieving mother’s (Wilson) discovery about her playboy son (Murray) after his sudden passing away in a road accident. The story is heartbreaking and really shakes you in a number of ways; makes you question how well you even know those closest to you. Wilson has done a wonderful acting job to really deliver the emotion that would be felt by a grieving mother whilst discovering things about a son she thought she knew.
“The Beaufort Diaries” (2 minutes) by Alex Petrowsky, featuring David Duchovny, shows how quickly and easily the pressures and fame of Hollywood can corrupt someone and really push them to the edge and in some cases, over. The short is a really cool animation that follows the story of a cartoon polar bear who leaves his hometown to relocate in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood land. The story felt so real, scary, and honest that it reminds you that things really are not what they may appear to be in the news and tabloids – that the reality is much different.
“The Voorman Problem” (13 minutes) by Mark Gill is a story about a psychiatrist, Martin Freeman (The Office) ,who has been called in to diagnose a maximum security prisoner, Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean), who is causing problems by saying he is God himself in an attempt to be sent to an asylum. The story is very clever and witty. It almost makes you uncomfortable to be in your own skin and made me question whether what I believe to be real is really real?
“The End” (17 minutes) is a French production by my favourite David Frankel, Arno Moria, and written by Didier Barcelo and Benjamin Parent. The short features and follows the story of once-famous actress Charlotte Rampling, who is going through a crisis after finding out that she is being replaced in all her older movies by a younger, more prettier actress. This story really rings true in today’s era as the entertainment business has dramatically changed from relying on talent to revolving around the young, the pretty, and who can get the black-suit executives those millions of dollars!
“Butterflies” (2 minutes) by Sandro Miller and starring John Malkovich, is an experimental short about the addiction to television and is shot in a really apocalyptic kind of way. The no dialogue short delivers the audience exactly what we all think and feel about how television and other forms of technology have completely taken over our lives. Whether it’s a good or bad thing that’s up to you to decide.
“Blitzen Trapper Massacre” (7 minutes) is written by Brian Koch and Rainn Wilson. It features Wilson as a hard-core fan of the band “Blitzen Trapper” who completely looses it after the band refuse to let him play a gig with them. The short is like a typical nightmare a celebrity or other well-known personality with a huge fan following would have! It’s hilarious to watch but made me actually feel the fear of stardom!
Lastly, but definitely not in the very least is “Pitch Black Heist” (13 minutes) written by John Maclean, featuring Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and … wait for it… Michael Fassbender (Shame). The short is about two safe crackers who must ensure they don’t trigger a light-sensitive alarm. However there is more to the story than just cracking open the safe, with a very shocking twist that is kept well-hidden and revealed towards the end which will definitely make the audience go Woah! Call it bias for Fassbender but I had to watch this short twice because of it’s truly “awesome” factor.
It’s hard to say which one is my absolute favourite as I loved them all, so much that I feel I need to re-watch the Celebrity Shorts once more. The program is playing next week, Thursday, June 7 at 7.45 PM at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. Do check it out! For more info, visit http://worldwideshortfilmfest.com/films/program/celebrity-shorts/.
Stay tuned as we journey through the 2012 WSFF to bring you ongoing coverage of many other exciting themes playing at this year’s festival and to help facilitate your choices!
Photo sources: CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival Image Gallery
By: Myra Rehman
T: @myrawales F: www.facebook.com/myrarehman
Also posted on: http://www.iheartmoviesto.com/
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