Short Films
Dec. 28th, 2018 01:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerFirst, a link to a blog post that perfectly captures what’s so great about The Holiday: The Holiday explores all types of relationships, both romantic and unromantic, that remind us that the cliche is true: love is the most important thing about Christmas.
Second, when I heard that “Bao” had been nominated for an Oscar, I realized that after I lost my little notebook, it had fallen off my list of films by women I’ve watched this year, which meant that I was actually up to 99 films already… and then I decided that trying to get an even 100 films for the year was silly, no matter how smooth and pleasing a number one hundred is, and I went on a short film binge, and discovered the work of Isabella Wing-Davey, whom one can only hope will get the chance to direct a figure one of these days.
I particularly liked The Rain Collector, which is about a Victorian maiden of good family who has undertaken to join a scientific study of rainfall in the United Kingdom: she collects the rainfall measurements every day. I’m always a sucker for a good period piece.
But I also liked her very short film Waiting, which is just a snippet of life around the sinks in a women’s bathroom - those little snippets of conversation that you overhear when people are in forced proximity like that.
(I’m considering writing her an email. People like hearing from people who like their work, right?)
And then I read an interview with Wing-Davey, where she mentioned some recent short films that she liked, and which led me to Caroline Bartleet Operator which focuses on a dispatcher for the fire department as she takes a call from a woman whose house is on fire: just stunningly intense for a movie that is only six minutes long and basically features a woman at a desk. But the audio is just so intense! And the dispatcher’s face as she listens! And the way she stays so calm on the line no matter what happens! Super recommend this one.
...Then I googled around a bit to see if Caroline Bartleet has a homepage. She doesn’t seem to, but I did find a website called Short of the Week, which is devoted to collecting and showcasing short films. And they have a tag specifically for female filmmakers! So that should keep me busy for a while.
Second, when I heard that “Bao” had been nominated for an Oscar, I realized that after I lost my little notebook, it had fallen off my list of films by women I’ve watched this year, which meant that I was actually up to 99 films already… and then I decided that trying to get an even 100 films for the year was silly, no matter how smooth and pleasing a number one hundred is, and I went on a short film binge, and discovered the work of Isabella Wing-Davey, whom one can only hope will get the chance to direct a figure one of these days.
I particularly liked The Rain Collector, which is about a Victorian maiden of good family who has undertaken to join a scientific study of rainfall in the United Kingdom: she collects the rainfall measurements every day. I’m always a sucker for a good period piece.
But I also liked her very short film Waiting, which is just a snippet of life around the sinks in a women’s bathroom - those little snippets of conversation that you overhear when people are in forced proximity like that.
(I’m considering writing her an email. People like hearing from people who like their work, right?)
And then I read an interview with Wing-Davey, where she mentioned some recent short films that she liked, and which led me to Caroline Bartleet Operator which focuses on a dispatcher for the fire department as she takes a call from a woman whose house is on fire: just stunningly intense for a movie that is only six minutes long and basically features a woman at a desk. But the audio is just so intense! And the dispatcher’s face as she listens! And the way she stays so calm on the line no matter what happens! Super recommend this one.
...Then I googled around a bit to see if Caroline Bartleet has a homepage. She doesn’t seem to, but I did find a website called Short of the Week, which is devoted to collecting and showcasing short films. And they have a tag specifically for female filmmakers! So that should keep me busy for a while.
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Date: 2018-12-28 06:37 pm (UTC)And I liked Waiting, too. And yes! People love getting messages about their work. Send one.
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Date: 2019-01-01 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-28 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 07:46 pm (UTC)Which IS creepy, good lord. The chairs! The chairs getting weirder and more deformed and also weirdly skeletal as she goes down the row! Gah.
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Date: 2019-01-04 04:41 pm (UTC)I checked out The Rain Collector and although I'm *not* generally a period person, I thought it was really cute! So much personality in such a short time.