With the HollyShorts Film Festial now in full swing, it’s time to begin day three of one of the biggest celebrations of short films in the world! Today’s showings are full of incredible films, all of whom you can watch in person at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Los Angeles (tickets available here) or online at BitPix after the screening. The categories for this third day of the festival are a bit more locally focused, with the SAGindie block, as well as Locals Only, the Alliance of Women Directors, Primetime and a wonderful comedy selection. All of the films in these blocks are worth a watch, and the following that have been given a bit of a spotlight are just a few of the incredible selections from the 22nd Annual HollyShorts Film Festival. With that, let’s get on with today’s highlights!
SAGindie Presents
Please Return Your Cart – Written and directed by Kendra Jo, the film stars Russell Horsby as Benson, a military veteran who now works maintaining carts for a grocery chain, content to life a life of isolation and solitude. It’s not until a brand consultant named Nona (Kimrie Lewis) comes to town to help give the chain a makeover that Benson finds himself ready to take another chance at love. The film also stars Jabari Banks and Latoya Banks as failed lothario Woods and Benson’s manager Crystal, respectively. It’s a great film about not being closed off, even when things seem bleak, and how there’s always a reason to be optimistic and exactly who you are, because there’s someone out there who’s into it.
Locals Only
It’s All Fine – Brendan Beachman delivers a wild film that stars Brian Villalobos and Serra Naiman and focuses on a parent-teacher conference that goes about off the rails as it can go. Mark (Villalobos) is a stressed and hungover dad having a meeting with Avery (Naiman) about the behaviors of his son. Only Mark simply cannot focus on Avery’s words, instead mostly hearing the derogatory and angry voices in his head, rambling about the state of the world and his own failures. This gets progressively worse and worse, leading to an ending that feels both inevitable but also surprising. Villalobos is excellent as the fully unhinged Mark, delivering on both anxiety and anger in equal measure. Naiman is the perfect foil as well, her calm, helpful teacher’s demeanor wonderfully adding the juxtaposition needed to show just how far gone Mark is.
Alliance Of Women Directors
#stopasiankate – Written by and starring Mirai (and directed by Marieve Herington), this film puts a real focus on the way actors of color are put into boxes, those who produce film, television and theater unable to find the correct middle ground between casting people of color for roles for people of color and ONLY casting them in those roles. Mirai plays Sunny Watanabe, a local theater actress who’s only dream is playing the role of Kate Monster in Avenue Q. The problem for those putting on the production is that she’s Asian, and there’s already a role for an Asian actress in Christmas Eve, so that’s the role she always gets despite never auditioning for it and only wanting the Kate Monster role. Finally getting fed up with only being considered for one role because of her race, Sunny enacts a plan to make it so she’s the only one auditioning for the role she wants, which opens up its own can of worms. The film is funny and ridiculous, highlighting the important issue at hand whole remaining hilarious. The end credits, which feature multiple Asian actresses sharing their own stories of struggle was also an incredible addition, adding even more to the message.
Primetime
Kink – Kaia Gerber makes her second appearance this festival in this film by Carissa Gallo, starring as Kaitlyn, a woman who has been best friends with Tyler for most of her life. After setting him up with Cole, a man she also finds attractive, the dynamic begins to shift, with Kaitlyn asking her best friend to let her listen in while Tyler and Cole have sex, knowing that Cole is gay. It creates an interesting look at the way bonds form and how desire can morph and change, with Kaitlyn finding her own kind of satisfaction in the way things are playing out and affecting her bond with Tyler, for better or worse.
Comedy
The Late In Life Guide To Modern Day Lesbianism – This is a very fun film that stars writer Ashley Gianni, and is directed by the team of Emelie Claxton and Molly Rangel. Gianni plays the host and narrator of an 80’s-era instructional video about coming out as a lesbian later in life. It features a lot of tropes presented in cheeky and hilarious ways, with Gianni running the gamut of these stereotypes while also delivering genuinely good messages for lesbian women. Promoting a spirit of ‘it doesn’t matter when you come out, just that you do’, the film leans into some of the more ridiculous tropes (however true they can be) while remaining genuine and helpful, with Gianni really looking like a powerhouse of an actress in this role.
That’s it for day 3! We’ll be back again for day 4 of our 22nd Annual HollyShorts Film Festival coverage. And to cap off the day, we got the chance to talk to It’s All Fine filmmaker Brendan Beachman! A big thanks to Brendan for taking the time out to talk to us!
What inspired you to make films?
When I was in 5th grade, my friends and I used a bulky VHS camera to make a horror film spoof. If I watched that today, it’d probably make me cringe out of my own skin, but it sparked a fire in me that burns to this day. It’s a passion that has never died, rather it has only grown in scale to become an all-consuming lifelong obsession. The role filmmaking plays in my life has shifted from goofin’ on camera (although I still do that) to a tool to synthesize and contextualize this world and life in all its beautiful absurdity. I love it to death.
What message were you trying to communicate with this film?
I wanted to dramatize this existential cloud that has been hanging over our collective heads for the past 6-10 years. I don’t remember a time in my life where I have felt more anxious about the world and the future for us and our children than I do now. I also haven’t been as angry with the powers that be than I am now. It has manifested in some unhealthy habits. So, I’m basically basically poking fun at myself, portraying the main character during a major anxiety attack, at the worst possible time; during a preschool parent-teacher conference. I want to communicate that his anger, while justified, is an impotent form of rage with no productive outlet to change things for the better. The teacher character becomes the hero of the film as she is actually actively changing young lives for the better. I’m trying to remind myself to not get completely lost in the big problems, as seemingly small kind gestures ripple into something much bigger and much more important than we realize.
What kind of challenges did you face when making this film?
I had a very minimal budget for this, so I purposely wrote it to be very simple–two people in a room. We shot everything in my son’s actual preschool classroom, which made everything super convenient and saved a lot on art direction costs. The main character did have some pretty edgy, dark dialog, and there is a moment where he is screaming at the top of his lungs, which made me nervous as there was a church youth group in the room next to us… luckily there were no complaints (that I am aware of). I suppose the biggest challenge occurred after the cast and crew were wrapped for the day. My cinematographer and I stuck around until 3 in the morning shooting shots of a matching miniature model scene with our characters in a dollhouse using a probe lens. We had artsy-fartsy dreams of intercutting these shots in the climax while our character totally unravels… but they just didn’t quite make sense in the edit, so it was all for naught. Other than that, this film has been thankfully very smooth!
How does it feel to be a part of this year’s HollyShorts?
It is an immense honor! I missed the deadline with my last short film, so I am absolutely over-the-moon to be included this year. I can tell that I am in amazing company. The trailers and stills that I have seen of the other shorts look fantastic. I can’t wait to experience as much as possible and create many new connections and collaborators.
What’s next for you?
I have several feature film projects in varying stages of development, so I am looking to ideally shoot at least one of them within the next 12 months. I also have another dark comedy feature script that I am super excited about, so I will be pitching that around town once it is in a more polished place. I definitely plan on continuing to direct commercials, but I am really concentrating my efforts into kickstarting my narrative filmmaking career. It has been my obsession and my passion for decades and I cannot imagine doing anything else for a living.
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