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- Kickin' It
As much as a pun about the big game between England and Spain, the title of this week’s newsletter is aspirational—Summer is coming to an end and it should be a time for lazy relaxation. Yeah, right. Maybe soon, but with a fun project getting announced next week I’m still on the grind. If I can slow down I’m definitely heading to the theater to catch one or two of the amazing films being released by S/W feature filmmakers this week and next though.
📅 This Week on Short of the Week
Change, and the different ways we confront it, is the subject of the first two films of the week as Gabriel Gabriel Garble depicts a boy in the aftermath of tragedy who is coaxed back into communion with the world, whereas Aella Jordan-Edge mines her personal biography to evoke how personal growth can often lead us away from those we love. I marveled at the fresh animation style and gentle rhythms of Garble’s work, while Céline commended the intimacy Jordan-Edge achieved via the unity of cinematography, writing, and performances.
Christian Nolan Jones then made a long-awaited debut on the site. We accepted this film directly after completion in 2021 but a stellar festival run that saw it pick up awards at Atlanta FF, Black Star, and SXSW, plus a planned feature adaptation held our coverage up. I wrote about it for its triumphant online premiere, but watch it soon—there is a chance it will go offline in the future.
Lastly, Céline introduces the latest effort from Dylan Boom, a class production about two people from different worlds who come together late one night. Featuring strong performances and a naturalist script, the film is able to tackle aspects of class, race, and gender in a non-melodramatic way that our team appreciated.
🪐 Shortverse Collections
The Women’s World Cup Final is Sunday and I’ll be awake and bleary-eyed in the early morning to watch. Tying one’s programming to a big external event is uninventive curation and Soccer Shorts is an uninspiring name for a collection, BUT! these shorts centered around Soccer/Football are terrific. Personal highlights include one of my all-time favorite films, Joy in People, a brand new high-profile brand film about the Afghan women’s team after the Taliban takeover, and a sneak peek at The Goose, one of my (and my son’s) favorite animations currently playing at festivals.
Go deeper into the world of shorts by joining our Discord community! Share your work, get advice, ask support questions, and hang out with talented creatives from around the world.
🎞 Coming to Cinemas
Today kicks off a pretty amazing stretch of theatrical releases from Short of the Week alums and other notable figures from the world of shorts. Hard to remember a stretch that matches in pure volume, so let’s celebrate that! Apologies for the US-centrism, but if you’re outside of the major limited release cities let this guide your future at-home movie nights when these films hit VOD.
Aug. 18th
If I was in LA instead of New York I’d be at the special 1-night only screening of #ChadGetsTheAxe at the celebrated Laemmle Royal in West Hollywood. We gave the short version one of our annual awards in 2020 and I’ve eagerly tracked the project’s development since then. Congrats to Travis
However, Laura Moss is a Short Award winner too, and Birth/Rebirth, a collaborative release between IFC Films and Shudder, is getting excellent reviews.
Spoilt for choice, we also have the latest from Dustin Guy Defa, one of our strongest American indie filmmakers, a status recently validated by Criterion as they gave him a spotlight collection on their streaming service earlier this month.
Aug. 25th
Carpet Cowboys - Emily MacKenzie + Noah Collier
For the second year in a row, an emerging S/W alum from the UK named Charlotte has crafted a father/daughter drama that might be one of the best films of the year. Last year it was Charlotte Wells with Aftersun, but this year we have Charlotte Regan who has her Sundance jury-winner Scrapper opening in the US and UK. Super excited about this one.
Emma Seligman turned a lot of heads with her short-to-feature, Shiva Baby, and now has her second feature, Bottoms, hitting theaters after its SXSW premiere this year. Neill Blomkamp might not fit our usual profile of “emerging talent” but the list of filmmakers who have featured more time on S/W is very very short, so go see Gran Turismo, the only wide-release on this list.
Then Guy Nattiv, who won a short film Oscar with the controversial Skin, presents a biopic of the famous Israeli leader, Golda Meir, and lastly, MEMORY, the enigmatic distributor that has been a strong friend to short films and short filmmakers, is releasing Carpet Cowboys - a documentary about…a carpet factory? Ok, I'm intrigued!
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That’s not it for the end of summer either—S/W alums Jennifer Reeder, Eddie Alcazar, Jordan Firstman all have projects hitting screens in the near future.
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