I Am Not a Hero by Henry Colin

With an interesting use of black as a key palette – much like the work of the late Joel Schumacher – this film chips away at intimate spaces and the unnerving psychological space of mounting pressure.

Several highlights of this film are largely honed in by the intimate spaces we inhabit – the careful minimalist lighting which often just touches characters, revealing their items and emotions (with some great facial acting from the lead male – Nick Piovesan), this becomes a very memorable effort from the COVID filmmaking moment.

The final act of the film, during which tensions rise, reveals the underpinned style of the film. It is here in director Henry Colin that drives the film away from the core character thread we had originally encountered into a different motif: that of the person in an exhausted, almost non-communicative state of anxiety. This final turn, largely shaped in an almost primitive film form, is the most unique memorable moment of the film – though the only downside is that it is centered around a topic that so many other filmmakers had indulged in over the course of the last few years.

This is a great debut feature film – and we are excited to see what else Colin makes next… because this is clearly just the beginning!

Hairy by Maximillian Aguiar

Hairy might be on the most ambitious indie films we’ve ever seen. At 2hours 30mins (well, basically) – and a comedy – this is a surprising effort from any entrant. It is in black and white, and quite snazzy with its presentation – intimate and character-driven (almost like a Mike Mills film).

The biggest upside of this is the character interactions. They feel authentic, and character-appropriate (as in, not contrived), and the use of locale is also quite interesting – as the film navigates the spaces from the perspective of its lead – making it natural and personal.

The downside is perhaps the actual pace. However, this is really a matter of taste. The film in its character and scenario feels smore like an American indie film – perhaps even a mumblecore film… but the mise en scene presentation and the tone feels at times more like Art House. The combination is unique and original… often very engaging, and perhaps only at times odd.

This is an opus – and an impressive one for indie filmmakers working with such a limited budget.

Hairy might be of the most ambitious indie films we’ve ever seen. At 2hours 30mins (well, basically) – and a comedy – this is a surprising effort from any entrant. It is in black and white, and quite snazzy with its presentation – intimate and character-driven (almost like a Mike Mills film).

The biggest upside of this is the character interactions. They feel authentic, and character-appropriate (as in, not contrived), and the use of locale is also quite interesting – as the film navigates the spaces from the perspective of its lead – making it natural and personal.

The downside is perhaps the actual pace. However, this is really a matter of taste. The film in its character and scenario feels more like an American indie film – perhaps even a mumblecore film… but the mise en scene presentation and the tone feels at times more like Art House. The combination is unique and original… often very engaging, and perhaps only at times odd.

This is an opus – and an impressive one for indie filmmakers working with such a limited budget.

The Bench by Jon Pegg

At 36 minutes, the runtime of the short film is quite odd. It isn’t so short that it would be a punchline… but it isn’t long enough to be a feature film. It has a particular Abbas Kiarostami conceptual style to it – a locale we can’t escape, talking characters locked into social spaces, the constant referral to social interactions via technology – and an unseen element of the story (the world away from the park).

The core highlight of the film though is the cast of characters who linger by the bench. They interact with one another with a strong community wave of ideas. It is probably a theatrical concept at its base level – but definitely becomes elevated and quite well-rounded in this cinematic setting thanks to the use of natural light, strong use of natural sounds, and clean editing.

The philosophical discussions, which often drift into a character’s internal arcs of desires and pursuits, allow for the film to become an elevated representation of regrets and the remaining opportunities the older generation can have. It’s charming, moving, and quite special as it gives a voice to an often neglected generation who don’t get to enjoy technology. Ultimately, the sour drama becomes a comedy and becomes an expressive and engaging film to watch.

I’d love to see this filmmaker perhaps pursue a serial-styled project in the future (when handling this kind of plot) – or a larger feature project. As this doesn’t quite feel quite fitting for a short film (which is a compliment – it is too textured for the short film format chosen).

Untitled by Joseph Thomas

‘Untitled’ comes with a great feeling of intimacy and internal consciousness – the lead actor, who is also the writer and director, has successfully produced a project that is almost entirely an evidence piece of the old-world cinema theory of the ‘ caméra-stylo’ (“camera-pen”).

The tight frames and the intense black and white photography all evoke the vibes of Aranofsky’s debut Pi… but it also feels quite remote from this – a smaller more intense project that involves a personal story of artistic struggle (one greatly enhanced by the auteur’s own authorial presence of such a struggle).

There is a strong sense of time, however, and perhaps with such a limited myopic topic – the 20-minute runtime can be felt at times.

Overall the project treads a covid lockdown vibe without the artistic limitation of such a theme, and is perhaps more in line with the Maya Deren films, though somehow very literary at the same time; rather than the plain avant-garde.

Shadows of the Dust by Ali Matlock

Shadows of Dust has a very bold sense of color with its setup – we quickly move from blue to red and then a natural lighting rigs. I have to add, it is an impressive touch here at the start to have the soundtrack merge into the radio playback. It shows great care for detail in a short film that many don’t bother with.

Ultimately, as the plot evolves, this short film becomes like the opening of one of The X Files. This isn’t a bad thing. The familiar ground of a couple out on the road and something unexplained happening to them is one of the best tropes of the sci-fi genre. There is even a hint here…. if one was to extend the runtime further, this could form its own little ‘world’ of narrative, like the works of Ray Bradbury (thinking mostly of The Twighlight Zone here).

Above all though the short film has a solid consistent production value. At no moment does it falter and become unappealing or unconvincing. And this is really key when producing a film of this nature – that the cast, the photography and the edit are all solid enough to make the heightened plot believable. Ali Matlock and his team should be above all commended on this… the sheer believability of the project is present and dangerous.