We’ve reached the final day of the 22nd Annual HollyShorts Film Festival! It’s been a wonderful journey through this year’s entries, and while we’ve reached the end of the road, we still have one more day’s worth of screenings to show off. These are all incredible films, and it’s exciting to be able to highlight the talented filmmakers from this year’s festivals one more time before we call it for the year. Please make sure to check BitPix after today’s screenings for today’s films, as they should be up some time after they’ve screened.
Midnight Madness
Mantis Stream! Like And Subscribe – Lincoln Robisch and Sarah Maerten deliver a frenetic, incredible film that feels like a fever dream, if a fever dream were actually just the nightmares of the internet. Starring themselves, this film focuses on Craig (Robisch) and Mandy (Maerten) as they do a live stream where Mandy is dressed as a mantis. Craig proposes, she says yes and feeds him a mantis egg(?), which he subsequently chokes on. What follows is a surreal and overstimulating mix of chronically online behavior and intense digital video art that is layered on top of each other until it visually resembles the overwhelming weight of all of the internet available all at once. It’s frankly terrifying in a way that is stunning and totally insane to watch. Which is a significant compliment.
Saturday Matinee
A Pocket Guide To Pigeon Watching – Based on Rosemary Mosco’s book of the same name, this Adam Elliot film takes a look at one of the most dense populations in New York City: the pigeon. Denigrated as “flying rats”, birds that carry disease and all sorts of disrespect, this film takes a different perspective, celebrating the unofficial mascot of the city through words from residents themselves. It’s a great way to really bring the pigeon into focus in a way that isn’t negative.
TV And Web Series
Why Do You Hate Me? – Chelsea Garcia Collazo’s comedy series is an absurd and hilarious lookinto a delusional woman who will do anything she needs to do to reach her goals, other than, you know, the actual thing. Chelsea (Garcia) wants to be a rich and famous model. So instead of trying to find an agent, booking sessions and putting the work in, she decides to just meet a rich, older man that will spoil her and help her get what she wants. It’s a wonderfully silly film, really highlighting Garcia’s comedy chops and ability to play up the ridiculousness.
Saturday Spotlight
This Conversation Has Been Removed – Written by Mark Hennigan and directed by Andrew Nolan, this film takes the idea of an online argument to a new level as Jill (Stevie Martin) and Peter (Simon Ashe-Browne), a couple who live together, find themselves unknowingly engaged in an online war of words, each not aware that the other is their adversary. As things escalate, the back and forth gets more intense and insulting, really bringing the point home about the aspect of anonymity online and saying things online that you’d never say in person.
Horror
Never Tonight – Leo Kim, alongside Evan Kim, star as brothers who are suddenly trapped in the purgatory of a karaoke bar after some drugs seemingly do them in. What happens after is that the Angel Egress (Sif Saga) demands that the two of them must reveal their deepest sins to one another, unburdening themselves for the last spot in heaven, knowing that not both of them will wind up there. It’s a dark, funny film that really shows a new perspective on the competitive sibling bond, but also the way that despite constant clashing, how much siblings love and will sacrifice for one another.
We were also given the opportunity to talk to This Conversation Has Been Removed filmmaker Andrew Nolan about this film and history in the medium. Thanks to Andrew for spending some time with us!
What inspired you to make films?
I directed my first short over a decade ago with a number of other struggling actor friends, mainly to carve out opportunities for ourselves. The film was okay, and landed us some great festivals. Making your own stuff felt like it was the path of least resistance versus the helplessness you can feel as an actor. I moved onto some smaller television projects and made a huge amount of online comedy. Gradually the projects themselves became the reason, making films and sketches to tell specific stories or make people laugh rather than cynically targeting any career outcomes.
What message were you trying to communicate with this film?
Mark Hennigan’s script for ‘This Conversation Has Been Removed’ was sent to me by the eventual lead actor Simon Ashe-Browne. I loved it immediately. It was just so clear-headed, efficient and funny. Most excitingly, it felt right of the current moment. We’re living in incredibly divided times, and the vicious mechanisms of online engagement are pushing us further apart. Technology has given us so much to be thankful for, but social media has been encouraging us to cram our most vital, emotive opinions into negligible space and time. Throw a veil of anonymity on top of that and you have the recipe for war.
It’s a heavy topic, but what I love about Mark’s script is the neat mechanism by which he puts our characters’ real world affection for each other up against their online fury. It almost feels like a Twilight Zone episode in how neatly constructed it is, while also being full of wit and resonance.
What kind of challenges did you face when making this film?
The biggest challenge came from the piece being a ‘silent’ film, or at least a film where the characters are on their phones so much they don’t ever talk. All the information is conveyed through the long, escalating passages the characters type. This means it’s a film with very little physical action, zero dialogue and deliberately paced to allow audiences time to read the information. As someone who has made a lot of comedy, these aren’t the kinds of restrictions I’m used to. I still wanted the film to feel sharp and fast-paced so built the concept with the help of a great team, including cinematographer Patick Jordan ISC who helped me develop a visual grammar and sense of movement to keep the piece alive and the sound design and composing team (James Tebbitt, David Anthony Curley and Dylan Lynch) whose playful, percussive work interacts with the messages as they appear to propel the film along and patch back in some comedic timing. My two actors, Simon Ashe-Browne and comedian Stevie Martin (Taskmaster) beautifully plotted out the detailed journeys of their characters without a single word to say.
How does it feel to be a part of this year’s HollyShorts?
Getting into HollyShorts with our relatively small film has been such a joy. The festival has a reputation for presenting some of the best short form work on the planet. We won’t make it over until the final three days of the festival but I’ve already been watching so many incredible films online via BitPix. I had an absolute blast with Crisis Actor (Lily Platt) and Scissors (Hannah Alline/Hannah Aslesen). And then found both Sweetwater (Michael Keaton/Sean Douglas) and Pigeons (Amos Sussigan) to be really elegant and thought-provoking. I’m dying to get over there and immerse myself in so much more at the historic TCL Chinese Theater right in the heartland of modern cinema. I’ve loved watching our film jump to life in front of audiences. American audiences in particular are so open and unreserved which is ideal for comedy. We were very lucky to take home the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at Stony Brook Film Festival last month, so I’m chomping at the bit to share our film further.
What’s next for you?
I’ve already shot my next short, more of an out and out comedy. Unlike this short, which very much stands alone, this next one has the potential to expand into a series. I’m lucky to have collected some regular collaborators who I think are among the most talented comedians working today. I recently directed a stand up special for Larry Dean (SNL UK) which has just been sold to Sky. My wife, Janine Harouni, and I are in pre-production on a short adapted from her award-winning stand up show. I’ve been making online sketches with Red Richardson which we’re developing into a series. And, Screen Time, a sketch pilot I made two years ago with Stevie Martin has been greenlit by Hat Trick to shoot later in the year. It feels like an incredibly exciting time, a world away from the helpless feeling of being a struggling actor. Making your own projects and opportunities is the way, which makes the work of festivals like HollyShorts so essential.
And that’ll wrap things up for this year’s HollyShorts! A big thanks to everyone who made it possible, from the staff to the filmmakers and everyone in between. Be on the lookout for more information about awards winners and news coming out of the festival, and a big thanks to anyone reading this and keeping up with our coverage of this year’s festivities. It was such a wonderful time, and we look forward to seeing everyone back next year!
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