Kia ora and welcome again to the Show Me Shorts Screening Room. This month’s edition is a bit special in that we are breaking from our usual guest analysis of online shorts for good reason- the 2012 festival programme has been announced! So I’ll be taking you through some of the trailers for this year’s festival that stood out to me. You can also view trailers and clips for many other films in this year’s festival throughout our online programme.
Backing up a bit, I’m David, and I’ve been volunteering at Show Me Shorts for the past couple of years. Each year, watching all the entries to put together the programme is a labour of love, but it took several rounds and a few more break out sessions this year, as we had so many great options. We’re stoked to see the ever-increasing quality of submissions to Show Me Shorts, and have a couple of theories to explain it – including the easy access to new filmmaking technology and the renewed respect short film is getting as a form with Internet viewership. We’d also like to think the word is spreading about our great little festival! Whatever the reason, the upside for you is that all of the films that do make official selection are fantastic- I think I can safely say this is the best Show Me Shorts line-up I’ve seen.
With that in mind, I’ll also try to avoid giving too much away as we take a sneak-peek at some clips and trailers from some of the 2012 official selection.
43,000 Feet
Sitting in our Explorers session, 43,000 Feet manages to pull an introspective and harrowing adventure out of the often mundane and statistically-safest form of travel- commercial flight. With beautiful cinematography, a haunting score, and a light touch from the narration, this Kiwi short also made it into the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Ten Thousand Days
If you’ve come to enjoy quirky indie comedies within the short film genre, you won’t be disappointed with the intimations in this trailer from Ten Thousand Days. The comic pacing here is dead-on deadpan and the look is new age fun with a vintage feel. This Kiwi short also screened at the NZIFF and will be part of the Comedy Corner session of this year’s lineup.
CatCam
This American documentary starts as an experiment when an engineer creates a cat-wearable camera to see what his feline friend gets up to in the off hours. But the captured images go further to give a fascinating look into the behaviour of domestic animals and even manage to make us think about what may be considered art. CatCam is part of the Unrestricted Access programme, which is open to all ages. It also screened at this year’s South By Southwest festival.
Kia Kaha
In a stark look at the reality of the ongoing rebuilding effort in Christchurch following the massive 2011 earthquake, this documentary follows several residents as they try to pick up the pieces and move forward. In the face of aftershocks and insurance disputes, we also see signs of the resilience of the human spirit. Kia Kaha will be making its NZ premiere at Show Me Shorts as part of the My Hero session.
Parallel
With a mix of Sci-Fi and Drama, the Swiss film Parallel makes us question the unintended consequences of our actions and think about the fine line between dedication and obsession. Parallel is part of our Nerds’ Revenge session and has featured in several other festivals this year around the globe.
Lambs
This Kiwi film swept several of the awards for shorts at the New Zealand International Film Festival. In a painfully realistic and gripping story, the protaganist has to make a choice- escape his oppressive environment or stay to protect the ones he loves. We’re proud to feature Lambs as part of our My Hero session.
Thanks for checking out the Festival Preview. For some more insight into this year’s programme, check out our Director’s Welcome and, of course, the Programme itself. We hope to see you soon in a theatre near you!
