Future Shorts Film Festival 2011 – review

Hackney Picturehouse was host to the UK premiere of the Future Shorts Film Festival this week (Monday 14 November). The festival, produced by Gintare Karalyte,  is the first ever global pop-up festival, showcasing the best short films from around the world.

“The Future Shorts Film festival unites filmmakers and audiences allowing anyone anywhere to host their own screening and share ideas, creativity and stories from around the world,” says Fabien Riggall, founder and director of Future Shorts.

The Festival Team has put together an exciting selection, opening with a humorous reconstruction of a failed bank robbery in Stockholm, witnessed by a pair of film makers in 2006. Director Ruben Östlund’s Incident By A Bank is light-hearted, simple and effective. Shot in one take, this was filmed from a CCTV-like angle, far above the scene, and has a rather amateurish feel to it, accentuated by the relatively low picture quality.

Documenting the plight of a group of Russian men working on a submarine, Ariel Kleiman’s Sundance-winner Deeper Than Yesterday, the longest film at 20 minutes, shows how cabin fever rids the men of their inhibitions, as savage, brutal instincts emerge in this dark, realist film.

From dark realist to a darker surrealism, David O’Reilly’s film The External World is an animated, highly convoluted interpretation of modern society. Centred on a young person practising for a piano rehearsal, this film goes on a seemingly random journey through an imaginary world – the result is almost nightmare-like.

Luminaris, created by Juan Pablo Zaramella. This film – combining pixelation and stop-motion techniques – depicts a Buenos Aires in which light controls the movements of its inhabitants. We  follow the working day of a light bulb-maker who dreams of a grander life. There are some deep sociological themes but there really isn’t enough time to absorb them in the six minutes. On top of these, though, is a sweet, simple story of aspiration and love.

Back into the animated world with The Eagleman Stag, a poignant film which follows the life of a scientist haunted by an obsession with time and the discovery of an extraordinary beetle. Screened entirely in black and white, this film was created by local Hackney director Michael Please and won a BAFTA for Best Short Animation.

Please’s existentialist production has a the troubling storyline, but in spite of this the calm-voiced narration brings reassurance to this nine-minute short.

The final ‘f’ of the festival, set in New York, is Luke Matheny’s Oscar-winning, thought-provoking comedy God of Love. Matheny himself stars as the main character, a jazz singer who, after persistently praying to God, is presented with a way to make the girl of his infatuation fall in love with him.

God of Love is simply an excellent story. It’s not without its depth,  but is easy to follow, the themes digestible and the moral of the story pleasantly predictable and palatable.

All in all, the Future Shorts Festival is plenty of film for thought.

For more information on the full programme go to the Future Shorts Festival.