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World Wide Short Film Festival (part 3)

The final leg of the 2010 WWSFF commenced with the Official Selection, Not Just From Venus. A collection of absurd, haunting, experimental and tense productions showcasing a different side of the female character or form. A great short was Slip (which would go on to win Best Experimental Short and Best Cinematography at the Awards BBQ) by Chelsea MacMullen. This part dance, part art piece is done in a single, long shot taking place in a women’s change room. The choreography is alluring and creates a visual spectacle detailing the fluidity of the female form behind closed doors. Even the minimal sound establishes the disciplined filmmaking alongside carefully thought out costume design. Each silent character is aptly carved out through the design and colour of their clothing. Do check out this short on www.bravofact.com.

SLIP

There was also Chloe and Attie, which to be honest, really accomplished its objective in painting a purely haunting portrait of a bedridden sister and her care-taking twin.  Chloe bears a secret, and its effect on living things is deathly. For a film with such limited dialog (and I think the only use of speech came from a secondary character) viewers can learn how the aesthetics of storytelling can effectively harness motivation, mood, emotion, feeling and a villain. Deep blues, greens, and blacks were only interrupted with one out door scene which will have you asking questiong until the film’s narrative end.

Chloe and Attie on YouTube

The Awards BBQ was a celebration of the best of the fest, and one of the winners was Jean Malek’s Les Poissons. It’s reminiscent of Sophia Coppola’s early works in terms or the mood being strategically set by the music and the fragile beauty of the actresses. The story revolves around a night of firsts for three friends who have begun to drift apart. The young girls carry a continued sense of melancholy through the piece, and you feel you are on the ride with them for what develops during their night out. The director is clever to use a soft, slightly sweet voice of the lead to narrate and cohesively draw audiences in with her poem.

Les Poissons via Facebook