It was truly an honor to have our first short ‘Alphabet Soup’ be selected at this year’s Carrboro Film Festival (the 8th annual film festival at Carrboro). Kudos to Nic Beery and his staff for expanding to two days and two venues. It was a great event for the community and a wonderful gathering of North Carolina filmmakers and enthusiasts.
Here’s what I took away from it and some favorites:
SHORTS ARE THE FUTURE OF FILM/VIDEO: There’s more to it than the fact that there is an ADHD epidemic. Short movies allow for more experimentation and creativity. Features have appeal because that is what we all grew to accept what ‘real’ movies are. You don’t see Tom Cruise in a little 10 minute short! But who can afford to see a Tom Cruise movie these days anyway? As prices go up at the box office and content continues to decline, shorts will continue to get more attention from the average moviegoer.
Here are my five favorite shorts from the festival:
THE CRANE WIFE by Daria Dorafshar (animation) – After saving a wounded crane and nursing it back to health, a poor man is visited by a beautiful woman with a talent for weaving. Based on a Japanese folk tale.
https://vimeo.com/42100012
THE POSSUM DROP (documentary) by Mindy Keeley – The New Year’s Eve traditions of a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains are being threatened by PETA who feel that lowering a possum in a box is inhumane. Hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ISVP8LjA4
HELPLESS (narrative) by Christene Hurley and Evan Scott Russell – Leah confesses her true feelings for Chayse in the school library while unknown malice lurks in the hallways. Chilling and powerful.
https://vimeo.com/74379060
LUMINARIS (narrative) by Juan Pablo Zaramella – In a world controlled and timed by light, an ordinary man has a plan that could change the natural order of things. From Argentina.
https://vimeo.com/24051768
KEN LOVE (stop motion) by Catherine Chao – A lonely doll travels around NYC looking for love and finds it but now must carry a deep, dark secret. (Sorry, couldn’t find this online, so if anyone knows where it is, please let us know.)
Hopefully this will be the first of many film festivals we will be a part of!