We’re onto Day 3 here at the 21st Annual HollyShorts Film Festival, and while the festival has gotten off to an incredible start, that doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near done just yet. Another fantastic day of short films has arrived, with categories such as SAGIndie, Sports, The Alliance Of Women Directors, Primetime and Comedy to enjoy for today. The recaps below are just a few of these incredible films, with all of the others available to stream after today’s screenings on BitPix. For those available to attend in person, tickets for future days of the festival will be available here. And be sure not to miss our interview with today’s highlighted filmmaker, Angela Cohen!
SAGIndie
L’avance – Djiby Kebe collaborates with Ahmadou Bamba Thiam to co-write this film that was also directed by Kebe. A French film, it focuses on Aliou (Saabo Balde), a young French painter who has made the decision to sell a very personal painting of his mother to a collector, a choice that causes strife among his family and fellow artists. It’s a tale about the cost of decisions like this; selling something meaningful for either personal gain or to help the very people who might not approve of the decision, leaving Aliou stuck at a crossroads between expression and a version of success. It also leaves ambiguous, but still apparent, the commodification of black art specifically. The film does not saying outright that the white collector buying Aliou’s piece is doing so because it is a piece by a black artist of his family, but does leave hints through other instances of the film that this might be a pattern, leaving an ominous and uncomfortable truth just beneath the surface.
SPORTS
Hoops, Hopes and Dreams – A film by Glenn Kaino and Michael Latt, this documentary is a fascinating look at the correlation between leadership and sports, with a focus on the love of basketball shared by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama. Told through stories by those who knew them, the thread of basketball, of team sports, and the ability to lead is present throughout, showing that these two passions are not mutually exclusive, and so much so that by applying skills learned on the court, these two leaders were able to translate them to the streets, to political office, and to civil rights. The way that Kaino and Latt tell this story is simply breathtaking, mixing interview with animated renditions of the stories being told and adding in archival footage where available to bring it all together into a bold, passionate story.
THE ALLIANCE OF WOMEN DIRECTORS
No Good Calls Come In The Middle Of The Night – Written and directed by Angela Cohen, this films is a great piece of short horror, as Lilly (Cohen) is out near the ocean at night looking for the last pieces of a resurrection ritual with her father. Joined by partner Adam (Brent Bailey), the nighttime beach walk turns sinister when Lilly begins to get visions of her father and more supernatural events begin to unfold around her. It’s a very fun and tense piece, blending thriller and horror well, bringing in that supernatural edge in a really effective way.
PRIMETIME
Highway To The Moon – Written and directed by Letitia Wright, this emotional and breathtaking film is one that speaks volumes. Micah (Kenyah Sandy) stars as Micah, a young man whose life was cut short, and finds himself in the barren dunes of a place only known as “The Inbetween”, a realm between life and death where he and other young men whose lives were also lost go to pass over into Eternity. Micah and the other young Black men form a brotherhood, focusing on coming together, finding your self-worth and resilience and relying on your brothers to lift you up instead of knocking each other down. The environments are beautiful, the message, inspired by the violent knife attacks in London is one that so many young people, and young black man especially can find hope in, and the acting is incredible, with Sandy leading the charge. This film is emotionally devastating in the best way, and should be a standout hit at this year’s festivities.
COMEDY
Fire At Will – Scott Cohen and Amy Stiller star in this Morgan Gruer film that tells the story of a set of parents, looking to gather their four children to solidify their will before an out-of-country vacation, trying to get it notarized the night before they fly out on a trip to Africa. Seated around the dinner table, the four children, all of whom are legal adults, bicker and fight and make assumptions, their own selfish and self-absorbed needs taking precedence over the task at hand. It’s chaotic, funny and a bit all over the place, with the ensemble cast really bringing the realism to this kind of family dynamic.
And here’s the wonderful interview with today’s highlighted filmmaker, Angela Cohen, who was gracious enough to give us some of their time!
What inspired you to make films? I want to make people feel less alone in the world and I feel media has the largest reach in order to do that. I actively create on film what I’m trying to process in life and I think audiences can live vicariously through the things artists are willing to process for them.
What message were you trying to communicate with this film? We often repeat and project our childhood relationships onto our partners in adulthood. That can rear its head in some scary ways and unveil traumas we thought we dealt with. “No Good Calls Come In The Middle Of The Night” is a gripping exploration of grief, trauma, and self-discovery, blending horror with deeply personal storytelling. Inspired by the the sudden death of my estranged father, this film is both a tribute and a reckoning. It confronts the complex question: why do we grieve those who hurt us? The body remembers what the mind tries to forget, and this film asks: what happens when those memories resurface? Some secrets are better left buried.
What kind of challenges did you face when making this film? Our drone team bailed in the middle of the shoot due to inclement weather, so we missed a lot of the shots over the ocean I had planned, thus had to build our own technocrane over a pool the following night to try to match it in post. We did the best we could and I think we got some incredible results. I’d love to see what you think when you watch it.
How does it feel to be a part of this year’s HollyShorts? I love the team that puts on Hollyshorts. Daniel and Theo have been incredibly supportive of my work since my film Without Grace premiered on opening night in 2017. Having their support behind our LA Premier is a wonderful coming home feeling. I actually don’t apply to the other LA fests before them as I want to be loyal to them for my LA Premiere. This fest is truly the LA Best.
What’s next for you? This short is the proof of concept for my debut feature as a Director. It’s the result of my Rising Director fellowship through the Alliance of Women Directors where I was mentored by Craig Zobel (Mare of Eastown, The Penguin) last year. My team is financing the feature to be filmed in Ireland next year, where I’m a dual citizen. Any interested investors can contact my production team at Charleybearproductions@gmail.com or Dylan@tilt9.com.
That’ll do it for Day 3, we hope to see you over the course of the next week to see more incredible films, interview and information about the 21st Annual HollyShorts Film Festival!
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