Block A of this year’s student competition featured five shorts dealing with love, loss and childhood fear.
“Cold Country”
“Cold Country” is an animated short inspired by Stalin’s exile to Siberia. The film is beautifully drawn, dark and concise. A solitary bear rides a train as an unexpected rabbit companion causes a mild disturbance and unfortunate end. While the film is incredibly short, it offers a snippet of a thought that will stick for much longer. Written and directed by Chris Palmer and Travis Overstreet, SCAD Atlanta. (1:14 minutes)
“Bone’Yeerd”
“Bone’Yeerd” was written, directed and produced by SCAD Savannah student Tom Salvaggio. The film portrays a solitary man coping with the loss of his family and the love of his life. The man refuses to let her go and must face judgment and retribution for his actions. The acting was superb, the dialogue was honest and the universal theme of this film makes it bigger than its small farmhouse backdrop. It’s a fresh, macabre twist at lost love. (9 minutes)
“Clear Blue”
A love struck 16-year-old lifeguard faces the cold reality of loving someone so different than himself. Flova, a 71-year-old retiree, swims every morning at Simon’s pool. As he stands guard over her morning ritual, he develops more than a crush. Sometimes to love someone, you have to go more than halfway to meet them. The film takes a poignant look at the difficulties of loving and the often subsequent crushing results.
This film was written and directed by Lindsay MacKay and produced by Brent Martin from the American Film Institute. (20 minutes)
“Galeana No. 8”
In “Galeana No. 8,” two kidnappers hold a masked man hostage as an accidental cell phone call strikes fear in the hearts of family and coworkers. The villains are believable, the scenery is perfect and the twist is comedic. While the characters are rushing to save the man, the audience gets a healthy dose of dramatic irony.
Written and directed by Andres Perez-Duarte and produced by Sebastian Celis and David Guti Rosado from SCAD Savannah. (12 minutes)
“The Renter”
“The Renter” is an animated short based on a true story as director Jason Carpenter takes audiences on a boy’s harrowing journey of confronting reality. The film is beautifully drawn and vibrant to behold. Audiences of all ages can relate to a confronting a childhood memory that seemed far worse than it really was. California Institute of the Arts. (10 minutes)
While all of these films were well done, “Clear Blue” shines as the script, dialogue and editing seem professionally done. The story is easy to follow, the acting is spot on and audiences are instantly drawn into Simon and Flova’s world.
Contact Jason Simpson.