I find creating a complete and beautiful short film (whether it’s 4 minutes or 14), is a more difficult task than a well-crafted feature. With such little time you have to fit a fully fleshed-out concept from beginning to end that leaves the viewer satisfied. In many ways a short film director has the ability to get stuck in your brain for days or weeks after, because they have to hit you like a freight train with the story line or it just falls flat. It more often feels like a poem in motion rather than a story. I had the great pleasure of experiencing several beautiful poems at this year’s SIFF so I’m going to tell you about a few (in no particular order).
Category: Festivals
Movie Festivals around the world
SIFF 2021: My Missing Valentine, Final Exam, and Get The Hell Out
I mentioned in our mid-week catch-up that I was really impressed with the focus on diversity, and I don’t mean the surface type of diversity where you talk a good game but present your audience with little-to-no viewpoints outside of one or two token POC directed and/or acted films. SIFF has always done a decent job with this, but in 2021 they’ve exploded with a great lineup including a few “packages” that put a spotlight on regions and cultures that rarely see a single spot in a festival like this, much less a cluster of films. I’m so excited to talk to you about this set of films created by artists specifically in Taiwan. Even in just these three features there’s a diversity in emotion, experience and expression and you’ll love them all.
SIFF 2021, WTF Division: Censor, Strawberry Mansion, Too Late, Get the Hell Out!, and the Horror Shorts program
SIFF’s midnight screenings comprise some of my favorite experiences in a movie theater (usually The Egyptian) over the last two decades. That made looking at the 2021 Fest’s crop of WTF (Weird! Terrifying! Fantastic!) entries a bit of a bittersweet experience.
SIFF 2021: The Perfect Candidate, Sweat, Nudo Mixteco
Three stories of women around the globe struggling against the oppressive status quo to live as their most authentic selves.
SIFF 2021: Wyrm, Summer of 85, Captains of Zaatari
My SIFF watchlist hit a patch of coming-of-age movies over the last few days. A couple had me running for the fast-forward button, but these three A few others, though, had enough of a twist on the genre or point of view to hold my increasingly scattered attention.
SIFF 2021: Closing Weekend Already?!?
The finish line is in sight for the 47th Annual Seattle International Film Festival
SIFF 2021: The Pink Cloud, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet, Love Type D
Three films play with light sci-fi premises to explore different elements of the human condition.
SIFF 2021: Ma Belle, My Beauty; The Teacher; Valentina
Three stories of queer love and self-actualization from different parts of the globe.
SIFF 2021: The Earth is Blue as an Orange, Chuck Connelly: Into the Light, Little Girl
Short reviews of three documentaries about creative people stuck — due to war, personal turmoil, or prejudice — at home.
SIFF 2021 Check In: How’s your fest going?
Well, it’s halfway through SIFF and here at The Sunbreak we’re neck-deep in films from horror to comedy, short animation to feature …