Always a treat of style and form and long a LIFF favorite, this year's short films are our best bunch yet! Come check them out!
Films screening in Shorts Block #4 are: Everything All At Once, Social Innovators of South Africa, Stag, The Rat Slayer of Hillside, NJ and Helio.
Everything All At Once – dir. Eleanor Wilson In the midst of private turmoil, a young woman takes a suffocating ride to the train station with her Mother, Aunt and Grandmother. They navigate each other's quirks and memories while trying to identify the incessant beep coming from somewhere in the car. A short film about aging, shifting roles and the unbearable need for family. (15m, USA)
Social Innovators of South Africa – dir. Lebogang Rasethaba, Rowan Pybus A documentary short that follows the Indigenous Dance Academy - a self-sustaining organisation that gives township dancers from Tembisa the chance to earn money doing what they love – during a time of transition and group turmoil. (26m, South Africa)
Stag – dir. Kevin Newbury* In the summer of 1963, fifteen-year-old tomboy Francesca investigates the mysterious comings and goings in her father’s basement. In a bold move, she hides out there one Friday night. What she witnesses will change her vision forever. (14m, USA)
The Rat Slayer of Hillside, NJ – dir. Andrew Keogh Ruotolo* The charge: murder. The setting: Hillside, NJ '94. The accused: Frank Balun. The weapon: a broomstick. The victim: a rat?! Combining present day interviews and archival news footage, The Rat Slayer ofHillside NJ tells the dramatic story of Frank Balun and Lee Bernstein and the case that pitted them against each other and would eventually come to define their personal legacies. (17m, USA)
Helio – dir. Teddy Cecil* One worker sparks a revolution when he attempts to break free of his dystopian underworld. (20m, USA)
