I have been covering this fest that runs through August 23, which is headquartered at TCL Chinese Theatres and venues throughout Ovation Hollywood. Out-of-towners can watchhundreds of short films online, as well.
Here are a few films that I found of interest and took a further look. There are a bunch, so bear with me.
The Academy Awards® and BAFTA-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival is in its 22nd edition, continuing its legacy as one of the world’s premier showcases for short-form cinema.
“VITAL” is a gripping drama exploring love, desperation, and the moral complexities of the organ trade. In Iran, a mother considers selling her organs to afford life-saving treatment for her daughter, while in the United States, a doctor faces an ethical dilemma of his own as he desperately searches for a way to save his child.
This was a startling film, knowing that in some parts of the world income from the selling of body organs is looked at as a way to make money for bills, or even another medical debt.
A bulletin board with folks looking to sell and folks looking to buy was gob smacking. The doctor mentioned above is in a quandary, because how can he operate and save people’s lives while looking for organs for his daughter—organs that most likely he would procure from a possible living donor.
“Life Goes On” is a life-affirming British dark comedy that follows terminally ill Bill, who’s stuck in an infinite time loop on his last day on earth.
The darkly sweet and hopeful tale explores themes of family, vulnerability and saying the important things to the important people.
Bill (David Bradley) doesn’t have the same concerns as his fellow hospice roommates, because in his eyes, he’s not near death and he hasn’t accepted his demise. He finds the visits to them and himself as trivial until he has a sudden about face.
In my opinion, he needs to step into the light and embrace death.
“[This is] a short about dying that comes away feeling alive,” said Overly Honest Reviews.
“Mary The Widow” is a 14-minute dramedy about an elderly widow navigating a speed-dating event after the loss of her husband. It is a heartfelt tribute to the filmmaker’s, Ryan Noufer’s, late grandmother, also named Mary, whose struggles with dementia inspired the story.
This was an especially sweet and sad short. Mary is reluctant to attend the event and in the end after going through a few possible suitors, she loses the connection—as she loses a bit of touch with reality.
“Intimacy Coordinator” is a dark, sexy and twisted thriller exploring intimacy, identity, power and compulsion. Kate is an intimacy coordinator. She is also a sex addict. The director thinks that this is an especially timely subject, with so much conversation around changing dynamics on television sets and the wider cultural discussions and controversies surrounding the role.
At the start of this short, I was screaming for Kate to be fired. She’s putting too much of herself into the work as she’s guiding the actors. She attends a self-help group but after the sessions, she is pinned up against a wall having random sex with another group attendant.
Her job is at risk when her current actor spills the beans about her dreadful work ethic. But this revelation turns into a dreadful demise for the actor.
“Celeste in the Summer” is a visually striking romantic sci-fi from writer-director Hobby Holmes. Set within an endless summer day where a seemingly perfect relationship begins to unravel, it begs the question: Can love become control?
The short blends intimate romance with subtle science fiction to explore love, memory, identity, and the fine line between devotion and control—examining how love can become possession, questioning our desire to preserve people and relationships exactly as we remember them.
“Black Cab” is set in the very near future and follows Harry (Jay Simpson – “Black Mirror”), a third-generation cabbie, struggling to retain his place in a fast-changing world soon overrun by self-driving cars. The film is in association with Panavision and Kodak.
This is such a timely film, with all of the self-driving cars on the road. This is prevalent in the United States and overseas.
This was such a sad short to watch, as Harry is desperately trying to find a fare, as his wife and son are waiting at home for him. She has a job event and can’t leave the kid at home.
After unsuccessfully begging folks on the side of the road who are waiting for the alternative cab services, he is a mess at the end of the short. This is a good pick for the fest.
“O,oo”- (“Zero, Infinity”) is Mar Sudac’s acclaimed short, which is a haunting blend of science fiction, political satire and intimate relationship drama. It imagines a near future where sexuality has become the latest arena for government regulation.
Married couple Gus and Clark, hoping to apply for a mortgage and begin the next chapter of their lives, are forced to undergo a federally mandated medical procedure designed to “verify” their sexuality.
When the invasive test yields unexpected results, the couple is pushed to confront the limits of institutional control and the irreducible complexity of love.
Talk about testing gone wrong, as the researchers look in on various couples to see how they react to each other intimately. In Gus and Clark’s case, their results couldn’t be any further from the truth. It is a blaring testament to too much government overreach.
For more information on these films and their screening times and dates, visit hollyshorts.com.