The Champs-Elysées Film Festival is now over and after the many feature films we have talked about, let's take a look at the shorts. The previous year's American selection offered us works that were as impactful as they were memorable. And although this year's selection contains some nuggets, it is clear that this one is less memorable than in 2017. Focus.
Great Choice – Hallucinatory Advertising
The selection of short films gets off to a flying start with Great Choice, a completely barred comedy that cheerfully mocks advertising. The story is about a woman who finds herself stuck in a (deliciously kitsch) ad for Red Lobster. She then becomes more and more crazy when she realizes that she can not get out. With its completely crazy staging and its situations as gory as comical, Great Choice has something to please the greatest number (avoid showing it to the youngest). Its 4/3 format gives the image a very appreciable retro side and the recovery of advertising codes to divert them is particularly successful. The flashes borrowed from horror films are also very appreciable and the end reveal offers interesting clues as to the madness of our protagonist. A parenthesis beyond the very pleasant reality.
Agua Viva – Sweet neurasthenia
We enter a more melancholic register with Agua Viva, in which a young Asian woman established in the USA tries to describe her emotions within this place. Unfortunately, she struggles to find the words. This animated work offers us a dive into the depths of human melancholy, through the feelings of a young woman who has migrated far from home. Although it is animated in a summary way, the film sincerely takes us into the inner torments of this young person. Her reflections push us to question our own condition and our own life choices, which also leads to a fairly natural attachment to her. Agua Viva is a work that is both simple and complex, because it manages to translate in simple words the entanglement of human feelings. The attachment to this young girl and her turmoil is natural and we would even like to discover more about her life. It is a work that deserves several sequels, because it would lend itself quite well to a series of short films presenting us the life of this person.
Skip Day – A soft report
We come to the part a little less entertaining with Skip Day. This report presents us with a parenthesis in the life of some Florida high school students, who decide to enjoy a day at the beach once their school year is over. If filming a parenthesis in the life of a group is interesting, the treatment is unfortunately quite soft or even boring. Little room is left for the psychology of these young people, the report being content to film their day. Only a few exchanges allow us to take an interest in these figures and their doubts about their future. But unfortunately, the rest of the report is very factual and doesn't tell us much. We just follow people and their day. In some ways, Skip Day is reminiscent of Hale County This Morning, This Evening. A dive into the daily life of some people that could have been interesting, but that does not manage to embark us for lack of psychological development adapted to the subject.
Ready For Love – A funny experimental pamphlet
Amber Lynn Weatherbee is a young Texan who is desperately looking for the man of her life. Convinced that she will be able to find him in the show "The Bachelor", she decides to send her application… three times. This funny and touching work is as much a comedy as a social drama. Indeed, several contrary emotions cross us by discovering this young woman through her three applications. Certainly it can be fun to discover this person and his evolution via the videos he sends. And her naïve and jovial character makes her immediately endearing. But as soon as you dig a little deeper, you see that Amber is in the grip of deep emotional despair, as well as a real obsession with this show. Several social comments then become discernible. The most obvious is the impact that television can have on citizens, as well as the need for recognition exacerbated by this kind of programming. This need for recognition translates into both Amber's desire to find a partner, and to do it through TV (which in all likelihood, is not the ideal place to find true love). Ready For Love stands out as a cynical fable about the life of a "Mrs. everybody", hiding a deep depression. A very successful tragicomedy and pushing us to question our society based on appearance. It should be noted that this work received the France Television Award at the Closing Ceremony of the Festival, involving its purchase by the television group. And it is rather fashionable that a film denouncing the impact of the media on human behavior is bought by television to be broadcast.
After/Life – A boring social commentary
Decidedly, reports are not in the spotlight on JustFocus for this edition of the Festival (we really love it). After/Life presents simulations of the US military near the Mexican border, where many migrants try to cross it on foot. It also depicts the wanderings of several San Diego citizens with difficulty searching for the remains of their missing family members, friends or strangers. Everything came together to teach us a lot in a very short time, but unfortunately this documentary is content to be a soft contemplation of events. Certainly the images are beautiful and the staging thoughtful, but it is ultimately a documentary not very striking and very soft. As in other reports we have already discussed, he is content to show without really trying to understand or get to the bottom of things, which leaves an aftertaste of unfinished. A thorough explanation of the geopolitics and events taking place in this place would surely have helped to get involved a little more. We could have benefited from a geopolitical pamphlet that was very impactful.
The Shivering Truth – A merry hyper creative mess
We go back to something more joyful with the short film that received (rightly) the jury prize for this 8th edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival. The Shivering Truth takes us on a collection of waking nightmare so creative that we don't know where to start. We will therefore suffice it to say that it is one of the funniest and most absurd short works that can be seen. The cynicism emanating from this film is most appreciable and the passion shines through in each wonderfully animated image. The stop-motion animation also helps a lot to the immersion in this joyful delirium. This film reminds us of the absolutely crazy short film Black Holes, presented last year at the Festival. A real nugget that did not deserve its price. Fun fact: the directors who could not be present on site to receive their award decided to leave a message just as cynical and absurd as their film, in order to thank the jury for this award. This confirms their spirit as deranged as it is fascinating!
Absent – A Life Without Hope
Awarded the Audience Award, Absent tells us the life of Zola, a woman imprisoned in her monotonous daily life to take care of her mother with senile dementia. Meeting an old love, she decides to escape from this life for one evening. Although this film is a little too long (and therefore a little sleepy) for the story it tells, the summary staging allows a real immersion in the life of this woman. It is easy to feel the monotony punctuating one's life and eating away at it day by day. We instinctively understand his need to escape, despite the heavy responsibility on his shoulders. This leaves the feeling that no hope is possible for this woman who would like to live for herself and not for someone else. If we feel a certain amateurism that hovers over this work, we also feel the passion with which it was created, which makes you want to discover the next films of the author in order to see his evolution as a filmmaker. Perhaps the Audience Award will allow him to evolve into other more accomplished films that we will be able to discover.
Hair Wolf – A Hair (and Social) UFO
When the cartoonish horror film meets social satire, it is likely to make sparks. This is certainly the case with Hair Wolf, whose title alone is an absolutely hilarious reference (real people will know what). In a black hair salon in the heart of Brooklyn, hairdressers must fend off a rather singular demon: a white woman coming to suck their black (and hair) culture. Just by its basic premise, this short film goes beyond morality and political correctness. But where the film stands out the most, it is by its staging taking up and diverting the codes of the horror film. The white woman is shown both as a demon and as a "perfect" figure that hairdressers fear as much as they envy her. The photography is not left out, since the play of colors are absolutely stunning and make us want to discover what would be able to do the director Mariama Diallo on a feature film. A funny work from a very promising young filmmaker.
Disintegration 93-96 – an interesting reflection on identity
More than a film or a reportage, Disintegration 93 – 96 is a real filmic essay. This work evokes the reality of immigrant and undocumented Filipinos in the USA. This work borrows from pop-culture deals with integration into a foreign environment with a humanity that commands respect. The narrator forcefully demonstrates that despite the fact that they do not have their residence permits, they make the country live in the same way as American citizens. The positioning between two fundamentally foreign cultures is shown as a difficult but above all courageous act, from which one can only emerge grown when one knows how to find a happy medium. Very short, this little film offers an interesting reflection and does not leave us time to get bored. A wise choice to have made it such a fast and impactful work. An interesting short film to discover (and which a certain president of the USA would need).
Caroline – An excellent idea moderately staged
A six-year-old girl is left in a car with her little brother and sister by their mother while she goes to fix a problem. This child must then take care of it alone. However, a couple stumbles upon these children and calls the police to take care of them. This work with great potential unfortunately offers us a mixed result. The realism that emerges is appreciable and the reflection it brings on the responsibilities of a parent is very interesting. However, the staging is a little too confusing and the rhythm moderately managed. Although the acting is very correct, the final result leaves a messy feeling about this work. Caroline is a short film that would have deserved a little more mastery in terms of writing and directing in order to offer us a better short film, because the essential ideas are present and waiting to be exploited to their fair measure.
If many of the American short films had great potential this year, the final result is unfortunately diminished by processing problems in several works. It is certainly an interesting selection, but a thousand places from the superb American selection that we told you about last year. Fortunately, some impressive films such as The Shivering Truth or Hair Wolf give this 2018 selection the spice it needed.
