I was delighted to see shorts make up the Sunday screening. I love short films. They showcase, narrate, and frankly. The worst will be over, so there is only one benefit.
It’s quite a scatological way James Wren arranges the shorts. At first, it is better to put the animated shorts in one group. But in each successful screening, they have been selected to make great anthologies, and credit to the UVFF team for doing that.
While by no means the whole run, these films were highlights throughout the three screenings.
Holiday make- Harry Mead.
A warming story of one woman’s ambition to surmount the red tape of covid holidays through mixed media animation with a great ending that shows what ingenuity can do, both narrative and in the frame.
Salesman-Dylan Green
I was studying in Edinburgh in ‘99 a mate ended up selling talcum powder with another sales rep. After they had roamed the ink triangle and been popular with the ladies, he ended up with £150 of bathroom goods and no clients door-to-door. The postgraduate issues or our leaders are so sympathetic and genuine that they help frame the weirdly cultish neighbours in this short. It manages to see him looking at being in one trap. But it’s a bleak comedy, with his initiative validated at the end. A fable as much as anything else
Highs Louis chan
A great sense of place, scale, character, and urgency as our lead tries to navigate his own feelings and the needs of his loved one. Freshly organic delivered zingers hold the pathos. The cast is vital; even the sad, flat pasta man brings a certain quality. And an incredible journey on an errand. Worth seeking out.
Still Alive- Etienne Guignard
A music video or intense perspectives and animation. We watch a young man’s journey and ambitions of manhood through a world that forces beyond him can sweep away. Vibrant contrasts and smooth animation make it a mesmerising reward on the big screen, with plenty of engagement to see out the work.
Good Grief- Robert Sharp
A medley of melancholy and feelings as we follow child loss amongst four mums.
While each loss is different, the impact and constancy of its occurrence in their daily lives remain the same. As each develops their coping mechanisms and learns how one lives with loss and transforms it into the memories of life, we leave the film with a greater understanding of others and our link to the characters than when we started—a film of grace.
Spot the Indifference- Paul Rodriguez
That is a lovely comical comment on relationships. Once, I was in the blockbuster, that’s right. Go me. A striking blonde with a Scottish accent came over and started talking about which of the two films we should watch that night. I am trying to remember the titles in her hand. I was too busy thinking “RESULT” before she finally looked up from the box cover and realised I was not her boyfriend. This puts such moments well into the spotlight of a local coffee shop as a negligent beau tries to affirm the affections of his belle with the able mime and comic shine of Trevor Lock as the Barrister winning over with full ‘Gunther from friends’ energy—a shot in the espresso with laughs.
Vulnerable Adam Bellamy
Abuse. In terms of film, we tend to focus on physical threats and physical damage. They are making everything about a battle that 100 push-ups and an alpha male compensation could cure. That’s simply not true. Abuse is humdrum, every day and outwardly, often relatively innocuous. It’s the betrayal of trust, of confidence shatters, and intimacy soured with the dark twisting of heartfelt expression. Adam captures that with the survivor and abuser in a small sweet shop. The notion of redemption is possible. Or even legitimate is bought up as a way a childhood could be ruined. But to focus on the best or worst of the past is what we do in the present. A fantastic film that deserves to be seen by more
Half a second, Tamara Ly and Clement Chamard
With an unreal engine and a kitbash production, the level this film takes us is genuinely audacious.
Following a woman’s journey through her mind as a continual escape from the fears and depression that plague her, we move through almost dance-like levels of self-reflection from the dystopian city she initially inhabits to the more natural vistas she achieves. With various effects and perspectives, it’s a great showcase but never pales into a formula. Worth pursuing a view.
Fifty-four days cat White and Phoebe Torrence
A friend of mine told me just recently how his father committed suicide. This was many years ago before we knew each other. We are men in our 40’s. And it’s come to the fore now as he has recently started counselling for it. They are finding it highly beneficial. The shock and the suddenness of suicide can throw the ground from some and leave a sense of sinking or swimming all around it. We follow siblings processing very differently, with one trying to take to the water and taking pride in some accomplishment. While not as communicative, the other shows that grief is shared. But the process is individual, but as long as there is a process. One can find growth in the sun.
The interview with Paul Bertellotti
Job interviews. Difficult. Psychometric. Profiling. Before we even get there, an anglicised name is five times more likely to be granted an interview than one that isn’t. It’s Why Kieran is my middle name. This takes the sparring matches of hyper-city gherkin work to the top, though with the “interviewer” throwing in shades of Steve Martin’s absent-minded waiter. In contrast, the “candidate” takes a regular affable nature of us all into Arthur dent territory—a well-crafted short to end the festival with a high.
The Irish Indian Times. 
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