I hardly do event summaries these days, but then, I hardly do a lot of articles these days. Especially since there’s 5 other writers on here contributing. Only one of them is local and attended another event over the weekend (DGC, IYKYK) to find next month’s article subjects. To get more variety, I decided to attend this new film festival I hadn’t heard of before to see what it was like. Remarkably, I got in for free even without a media pass, but more interesting was how Nancy Naghavi (one of the organizers) instantly recognized me as someone who is associated with Nathan Slattery. Well, there’s always an increase of traffic on here when an article mentions that guy, so I just gave him a shoutout. Okay, back to the Festival. There’s a Vancouver International Film Festival, a Vancouver Short Film Festival, a Vancouver Queer Film Festival, a Vancouver Chinese Film Festival, a Vancouver Asian Film Festival, and two other festivals with subjects on Youth and Mountains. But what’s one more? Vancouver Indie Film Festival is dedicated to both short and feature films, and they take certain selections and screen them. As you may have discovered, they only started recently, and are therefore usually a day long featuring some unseen/local content, much like some other local events I’ve covered. But I like where the festival is going, and with a little luck, it will most likely expand. It might have some involvement with Belleville Festival, according to the url of the site. Okay, you’re probably wondering how the festival went since I’m taking my time here with this elaborate opening, but that’s only because the festival itself took some time to start up as well. It started kind of late, and the person sitting next to me suggested that weed gummies be dispensed among the viewers for a more pleasurable experience. Interesting suggestion since a lot of the bigger events seem to offer free booze, like I would always mention in the past. Eventually, the festival started as Nancy finished a quick but impressive speech. Here’s what screened at the festival:
Luteal – Two women, Abby and Kar are in a relationship together. But it gets rocky when Abby starts experiencing uncomfortable feelings that she doesn’t know how to describe. Relationships are pretty difficult and this is an interesting way to describe both relationships and certain feelings in a very artistic and creative way. I found the film quite interesting as it found a way to discuss subject matter without getting overly dramatic. There was more creative and artistic content that came right after this one.
Who Am I – Huh boy, I ask myself that question every day, because even I don’t know myself too well. Deep inside the head of a man, is his consciousness throwing fits in a zone of red lighting. It distracts him from his work. Add some wilderness shots and Joker-esque soundtrack to add to the creepy feel. Audio was a bit too much in my opinion, but still a chilling film with creative visuals. It reminds me of another film making its way through the festival circuit, but that’s an interview for another day. Later this week, folks…
A Night at Malibuz – Filmed years ago, and finally put together recently, the film focuses on happenings at a bar in the 90s, what things were like back then. We see employees such as bouncers, waitresses, the bartender, and the coatcheck girl witness the things going on and share stories about what they witnessed. Typical club vibes as a waitress gets hit on by a creep, a jealous man named Vinny catches his date dancing with a shy man and a fight breaks out. Maybe if Vinny didn’t arrive so late after preparing himself like the egomaniac he is. This film was brutal and freaky. I am so glad I was too young for that period of time back then, but things like that do still happen. The last celebration of life I attended was at a bar, and one patron got so violent he was apprehended by what seemed like the entire police force. I needed something gentle after this film, and that’s what I got.
Wild Sleepover – In fictional content, sleepovers are often depicted as boys telling ghost stories about two-headed snakes or furry one-eyed wolfbears if not looking at Japanese cartoon content, while girls are playing flash-card guessing games, giving each other makeovers, and listening to top hit albums of Avril Lavigne or Missy Elliot. In this short animated film, it’s a boy-girl party of young children in onesies as they have a pillow fight in the woods, which leads to finding treasure in an undersea shipwreck, and somehow teleporting to space. That alone sounds like an intro to a classic kid’s TV show. But the sweetness of the simplicity gives an overall vibe of cuteness, the majority of dialogue in small noises like I often make with responding, and the feeling of nostalgia with 2D animation and smooth transitions in feel to the soundtrack made the film a nice breath of easygoing positivity that can relax the soul. The most wholesome and soothing of sleepover content one could ever experience.
Time Hoppers: The Silk Road – Yes, I’m aware this is a feature, but we got about 18 minutes of this one for the Indie Fest. Taking place in the 3D fictional future, Habib and his daughter Layla have just escaped from a stealthy pack of Ninja burglars working for Zoola Inc who are out to snatch his latest invention. Together they move to Vancouver, where opportunity is thriving. Hey, we all know that, don’t we? Layla is afraid she won’t fit in, but already she finds herself among friends and her brainiac cousin. The four of them take a tour of Layla’s new school on hoverboards and are then chosen to be part of her dad’s new time travel project sending drones back in time to do research. Unexpectedly, Abdullah, the troop’s troublemaker uses the device on top of the drone to teleport himself back to the year 825 in Baghdad and the other kids must rescue him, and at the same time rescue the inventor of math. They also come across a villain named Fasid who then gets the evil idea to start a time travel quest of his own erasing all of science as we know it. Well, this summary and that 18 minutes would be enough to encourage someone to watch the whole thing, I think. Found this one to be slightly flawed, but it’s good for kids. (sighs) I really have to get Phoenix to start contributing again.
It’s You and It’s Me – Last but certainly not least, a short film about a man named Nick who’s trying to write a story but can’t. As his wife and daughter take a trip for a few days, Nick (not me, okay?) continues to cope with his writer’s block until he’s visited by an unwelcome and unexpected guest: His past self. Was that done through time travel? It’s not clear. But what is clear is that these two are in for some exciting party time together. Nick soon tries to figure out inspiration to take his story further. This one was funny and creative. I certainly don’t consult my younger self from 10 years ago for inspiration, but then I’ve hardly changed. Every other younger version of me beyond 15-16 was a braindead nobody only able to shine for a few golden minutes, then go back to staring at a wall.
Conclusion – Everything wrapped up with the simplest most minimal Q&A I’ve seen since the screening of a film I was in. Still, there were great inner details into how the films were made, and I hope to see more films at this event in future years, where the festival will be sure to be longer.