‘Shatterbox’ recently screened their second short film collection at Toronto International Film Festival 2018 and what follows is my brief rundown of the eight female-directed shorts.
“Women are half the population. However in 2017, women only directed 11% of the top 250 films. It’s time to see the full picture. You don’t know the half of it.”
– The films’ introduction
Gillian Jacobs’ Curated is her second short film in a directing role, and follows a young woman (Ahna O’Reilly) visiting her recently deceased grandmother’s house to pick out a keepsake. She is joined by her husband (Danny Puti), and they are stalked around the house by the creepy “curator” of the estate.
→→→ Key words: Matriarchy, eerie, and otherworldly.
French Fries by Janine Sherman Barrois is about a young professional with a deadline, attempting to concentrate on her job while her partner tempts her with procrastination and carbs (see featured image above).
→→→ Key words: Food, relationships, and work-life balance.
Yara Shahidi’s directorial debut X follows a young black boy getting ready for school one morning, and then morphing into an older version and a female version of himself, depending on his surroundings, during his journey home from school.
→→→ Key words: Marginalisation, race, and youth.
End of the Line, by Jessica Sanders, follows a man with a tiny human as a pet in a cage. In a montage of torture scenes, the tiny man is put onto the big man’s body, reminiscent of Pedro Almodóvar’s Hable con ella scene with a tiny man on a woman’s body.
→→→ Key words: Human pet, torture, and freedom.
Allana Harkin’s The Godmother is set in a church during a christening, and follows the godmother as she attempts to save face having arrived late after a wild night out.
→→→ Key words: Religion, judgment, and matriarchy.
Like an excerpt from a sci-fi thriller, CTRL by Ivy Agregan depicts two central female characters discuss a previous cyber war and their intertwined past. They act fierce, and this is interchanged with a scene of one upset and vulnerable on her own.
→→→ Key words: Futuristic, feminine strength, and vulnerability.
Are You Still Singing? by Gillian Barnes follows a struggling events performer, battles her anxiety without insurance for her medication. Quite a few fun costume changes, including a creepy Minnie Mouse.
→→→ Key words: Performance arts, mental health, and costumes.
One Cambodian Family Please For My Pleasure by A.M. Lukas depicts a Czech housewife in Fargo, North Dakota, and her writing a letter to entice other refugees from Cambodia to their town. Stars Emily Mortimer and is based on true events.
→→→ Key words: Acceptance, multiculturalism, and immigration.
All eight films are available in full on Youtube here.
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