It’s the penultimate day of the festival, and though we’re nearing the end, that doesn’t mean we’ve finished yet. With another set of screenings airing today, there are still dozens of films left to share with everyone in attendance and online. If you’re looking to check out the festival’s final day, you can go here for tickets to the screenings at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. If not, you can check out the films on BitPix shortly after the screening. Let’s get on with today’s entries!
Student
Gender Studies – Written and directed by Jamie Keirnan O’Brien and starring Jake Junkins, this heartbreaking film follows Maisie (Junkins), a trans student who finds herself emulating one of the popular girls. Idolizing her, Maisie attempts to emulate the girl, going as far as sleeping with the same older teacher’s assistant in an attempt to be just like her. Social status and trying to fit in can be tough enough when you’re young, and adding trying to fit into your gender makes it even more complex. While this kind of behavior isn’t uncommon, it speaks to the lack of support young people can get when trying to figure themselves out, and the lengths they’ll go to try to find their place. It’s excellently done, even with how tough of a watch it can be. Junkins is terrific in this, really bringing the emotional weight to the film. She’s a terrific actress who could really be just beginning to build her profile with films like this.
UK Spotlight
Peter –Starring Paul Kaye and Lee Braithwaite, this Hannah van der Westhuysen film focuses on Peter, a trans man who cares for his father. Suffering from alcohol induced dementia, Elliot only has the internal sense of his son, with moments where he forgets Peter is now Peter and not who he used to be before transition. This grants a bit of reprieve and affirmation for Peter, who can be seen as the man he is without the baggage of the transition and the weight it’s placed on their relationship. The ways parents and their children interact is complicated, and adding in both gender transition and illness will only makes this much more complex. Kaye’s ability to express both the sadness and the relief of being seen for who he is by his father but also forgotten as his child is a tough line to walk, but one he does excellently. A really challenging but fulfilling project by van der Westhuysen.
Coming Of Age
Kit – Lottie Amor’s heartbreaking but ultimately optimistic film is one that focuses on a group of people that don’t get as much attention or credit for their struggles. Kit (Paddy Holden) is a teenager suffering from dwarfism, a condition that affects his life in so many ways. One of the main ways, however, is how his mother treats his condition, and him by proxy. Ashamed of his dwarfism, Nina (Kierston Wareing) hides Kit away when people come to visit, not wanting people to see her physically afflicted son. Despite his fears and panic when doing so, Nina keeps him locked away, with Kit only having his love of drawing to keep him company. The art becomes his escape, allowing him to forget about the struggles of his life and focus on something he loves. Holden is terrific, bringing all the pathos and emotional weight of having to deal with something so traumatic at such a young age.
Thriller
I Think About Killing You – Tiana Le and Bridget Reagan star in this tense, fascinating film by Ran Ran Wang. It focuses on a women’s rowing team with an abusive and demanding coach that berates her team in order to get them to push themselves to be the best. Dani (Le), is the only one to push back and stand up to her coach, leading to more punishment for her and her teammates until things are pushed too far. The way this film move between fantasy and reality is fascinating, Dani’s imagined violence cutting back to the real abuse from her coach until those lines are so blurred that it’s hard to tell which is which. This is a thrilling, powerful and terrifying psychological thriller that is sure to really resonate with audiences.
A Touch Of Romance
Tu Viens D’ou –Lola Glaudini’s film stars Jimmy Jean-Louis and Glaudini is a beautiful story of love, no matter the distance. The couple find themselves in different parts of the world, but their love never fades as they talk about their days, their love story, and the way they can’t wait to reunite in person. Through their phones, the couple keeps the flame of love alive, and it’s an incredible sight to see. Joyous in its depiction of love across distance, the way hunger for the one you love can build when not within reach and how it can all be worth it with the right person, this film is sure to leave viewers walking out feeling full of hope and adoration, just as this couple does.
We’ve also got a special treat for today. It’s a pleasure to announce that we were able to sit down with Ran Ran Wang, whose film I Think About Killing You was a favorite from this year. Big thanks to Ran Ran for their time!
What message were you trying to communicate with this film?
Definitely tackling some big ideas in this short but I primarily wanted to explore what it means to be a woman in sport. I feel that there are really complicated ties between “what it takes to be great” and what it means to be “easy to train.” What all great athletes have in common is that they’re very adherent to the directions of their coaches. Eat this many grams of protein, train this hard and this long with these exercises, weigh exactly this much, sleep this many hours, etc. etc. When you’re a woman, this relationship between greatness and obedience can be especially muddled. This is a degree of nuance to the conversation about striving for greatness that I think is underexplored, and what I wanted to highlight in this short film.
What kind of challenges did you face when making this film?
A lot of people say making a film is akin to a miracle, but I always feel like when I’ve finished a film that I’ve gotten away with some kind of hairbrained Ocean’s 11 heist that never should have worked. That was especially true on this film. My DoP Zoë and I are very ambitious with our schedules. Because we were striving for an edit that would have quick cuts and lots of energy, we ended up with a shot list that had about 75 camera set ups for 2 days. Truly unreasonable! The only way we were able to make this happen was by bringing on a second unit DoP to double up on shots. We were warned by our producer Annie and other more experienced filmmakers that just because you have a second unit does not mean that you save any time. But Konstantine was a total ace. He had no camera team, was a one man band, and was always set as soon as the first unit was done. Since we were working with another camera body and we only had one set of lenses, there was a lot of jenga happening and the three of us reformulated parts of our shot list and placements so that we could have two different cameras running at the same time, on different lens lengths, without seeing the other camera in shot. Though it was an insane challenge, it’s one of my favorite collaborative experiences I’ve ever had, and it’s a testament to the talents of Zoë and Konstantine that we were able to pull it off.
How does it feel to be a part of this year’s HollyShorts?
It’s so special to be able to bring this film home to LA! We shot at the Long Beach Rowing Association which is on the site where LA will be hosting the rowing events for the upcoming Olympics. We’ve had the wonderful opportunity to show the film in many different places across the US, but this is our first homecoming. Hollyshorts is an incredible festival with so much history, and we’re really lucky we get to share this with our community through these means. Thank you for having us Hollyshorts!
What’s next for you?
This is a kind question, thank you for asking Russ. Very excited to share that there’s a larger world and more to see of these characters. I THINK ABOUT KILLING YOU is a short proof of concept for a longer feature version by the same name. I’ve written a lot of drafts of the feature and I’m preparing with my team to go out with it soon! I’m also shooting a special short narrative project for the Apple Vision Pro this weekend. I’ll literally roll out of the Hollyshorts screening and tomorrow will be on set for this new project. It’s been a big learning curve figuring out how to shoot in 180 degrees with new tech, but it’s been a ball and I’m always so grateful to have the opportunity to shoot something. Thank you for taking the time to interview me, Russ!
That’ll do it for day 9! Join us tomorrow for the final day of coverage for this year’s festival!
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