Short Film Corner

PRE-BLOG NOTE: I realized this was a repeat, sort of, of something I've already posted. I'm not deleting it. I'm catching up on blogging for about a week of prolonged internet starvation and it's making my brain crazy. It's hard to remember what I've posted or not posted about. Sooooo, I made some changes/additions that you will have to read this post for if you are interested in seeing them... or you can just skip the post and move on to some of my other reviews. Unless you just want a summary of the Short Film Corner at Cannes, in which case, go right ahead.

I took a trip to the Short Film Corner the last Friday of the festival, although not intentionally at first. Natalie and I missed the first film we wanted to see, With Love... In The Age of Reason, because I thought I knew a shortcut. I led us all around the back ways of the Palais and Riviera; at one point we wound up in a part of the building that just had a bunch of offices and elevators that did not take us anywhere we needed to go. After much wandering we finally found the theater, but by the time we got there it was at full capacity. Oops. So anyway, after we tried the theater and failed on my account we decided to salvage the morning by checking out the Short Film Corner downstairs in the Palais. The SFC turned out to be pretty awesome. There was a row of booths with computers, and if you used your badge to log in, you had access to all the short films in competition and in the sub-categories and from each of the countries.

Strangest Short Film I Saw: "TO SWALLOW A TOAD" (Norway)

Just. Weird. The artwork was nice, kind of scratchy like it had been colored with colored pencils and then rubbed in something gray. I liked it. The plotline was real strange though, and I wasn't expecting it because the way it was marketed made it sound like some sort of crosstown rivalry between people with round heads vs. those with square heads. What actually happened was this kid got his ear ripped off and his parents made him swallow a toad. What. And then the parents went to the kitchen cabinet, which was full of toads, and ate some toads themselves. What. And then some punk-ass kids stormed in and built a giant wall separating two halves of their house, taking over the larger side. What. And then at the end, the toad-eaters crawled down in the sewers to eat all the toads, eventually growing into Godzilla-sized toads themselves, and proceeded to destroy the city and eat each other. What.

Best Short Film I Saw: "COOKED" (United Kingdom)

A walrus, a lobster and a seal all walk into a gym... starts the short film "Cooked" from UK director Jens Blank. The development of a love triangle keeps all the characters aiming to please, leading them to a steamy situation as they move out of the workout area and into the sauna. Centered on personal pride and insecurity, "Cooked" is an exploration of the awkwardness and trials predating relationships of every kind.

The Short Film Corner even had Happy Hour from 5-7, which was nice to stop by and eat some Haribo candy and get some free wine/beer. I also happened to meet several interesting people who were looking to hand out their cards to whoever would take them. I also met some short film producers and at least two aspiring actors. The SFCorner also had a couple of walls of nothing but tiny flyers advertising short films and film festivals around the word. We had to pick up a lot of promotional stuff for Jen's marketing class, so I wound up with handfuls of colorful flyers, some advertising great shorts and some not so much.