Five must-see Show Me Shorts films
New Zealand’s annual celebration of short film kicks off in Christchurch tomorrow night. Now in its 11th year, the Show Me Shorts programme for this year includes 43 short films (including 19 from New Zealand) and five local music videos, culled from around 1500 submissions from 60 countries around the globe.
The festival, either the full programme or a specially selected highlights package, will visit 22 locations around New Zealand this year, as well as making their debut at Antarctica’s Scott Base. Culture had the opportunity to preview a few of the titles which will be shown at this year’s festival.
Die Badewanne (The Bathtub)
Further proof (after this year’s NZ International Film Festival crowdpleaser Toni Erdmann) that Germany really does know how to make comedies, Tim Ellrich’s 13-minute masterpiece is the hilarious tale of three disparate brothers’ attempts to recreate a much-loved childhood family photo for their mum.
Things get increasingly tense as the trio dredge up past pains and current concerns, while attempting to all squeeze into a tight space. What follows is poignant, powerful and, at times, priceless. A deserved winner of the festival’s best international film award.
Fabricated
A decade in the making, Brett Foxwell’s breathtaking stopmotion animated short is a triumph of attention to detail and visual invention. The story itself revolves around one creature’s search for a higher form in a dystopian, nightmarish world.
Clearly the creation of fertile, febrile minds with its slinky, sinewy creations, it has echoes of the works of Tim Burton and thinking person’s video games like Journey or Ether One.
Home
Jack O’Connell and Holliday Grainger star in this grim and gripping 20-minuter which aims to highlight the world’s refugee crisis. Daniel Molloy’s short takes a normal UK family and turns their ‘‘camping holiday’’ into a horrific descent into the middle of a war zone.
Secret Lives Of Furniture
Both hilarious and somewhat disturbing, Simon Oliver’s music video for South Dunedin band Ha the Unclear’s track from their debut album Bacterium, Look at Your Motor Go is a reminder of the dark little narratives the format can produce. Told from the perspective of a long-suffering coffee table, the song’s macabre lyrics are matched by some inventive and unnerving imagery.
Shout At The Ground
Bryan Shaw took home best editor for this amusing little Kiwi film about a mini-van full of band members recounting a significant loss after last night’s gig. As the recriminations rise, so does the bile as their journey’s twisty landscape takes its toll on the passengers. Not for the weak of stomach, Joe Lonie’s 11-minute tale is certainly memorable. ❚ The Christchurch leg of Show Me Shorts runs from tomorrow to November 2 at Alice’s Cinematheque. For more information, see showmeshorts.co.nz