The unforgettable characters and subjects in these seven startling films demonstrate the need to maintain hope in the face of daunting challenges, and anything else that stymies our efforts to write our own stories.
Short Cuts Programme 02
Playing as part of this programme:
Aniksha
In the wake of her arranged marriage, a young woman in Mauritius begins a job at a call centre. Her first steps toward independence have repercussions no one could have expected, in this visually gorgeous and remarkably sophisticated drama by Montreal-based director Vincent Toi. JA
Point and Line to Plane
Working again with her regular collaborator Deragh Campbell (who also appears in this year’s Short Cuts selection Succor), Toronto’s Sofia Bohdanowicz explores themes of loss, remembrance, and perception in a film that is remarkable for its intelligence and elegance. JA
Mountain Cat
Set in contemporary Mongolia, Mountain Cat is a uniquely layered and bold debut coming-of-age drama about an ill teenager who unleashes a fiercely spirited side while on a healing journey. LH
Pilar
Two young people’s daily fight for survival in a ravaged post-apocalyptic city takes an unexpected direction in this chilling and riveting animation by the team of Yngwie Boley, Diana van Houten, and J.J. Epping. JASON ANDERSON
Loose Fish
In this richly detailed and humane hybrid of documentary and drama by the Argentinian directing collective Pantera, a boy growing up in a port town in Morocco dreams of escaping into a different life than the one in store for him. JA
The Game
A welcome tonic for these sports-deprived times, Roman Hodel’s incredibly dynamic and wryly humorous documentary presents a high-tension soccer match from the perspective of an ever-vigilant referee. JA
Black Bodies
A beautifully poetic and extremely timely account of what it means to be Black in 2020, Kelly Fyffe-Marshall’s powerful Black Bodies is essential viewing. LISA HALLER