Indy Shorts 2020: In a Bind

The Indy Shorts International Film Festival, presented by Heartland Film, is a unique festival that both showcases short films and offers cash prizes to many of its winning films. This year, the festival expanded its prize-winning categories to include Comedy, Student Films, Directorial Debut, and Heartland Horror. With 128 films across 18 programs, Indy Shorts is proud to announce that half of this year's lineup was either directed or co-directed by women, and that the winners of the Narrative and Documentary grand prizes will qualify for the 2021 Academy Awards (as long as they meet all other requirements).

The festival will be held in a hybrid format using both the Eventive Virtual Fest and four nights of screenings at Indianapolis's Tibbs Drive-In. The festival's full lineup and info can be found at https://indyshortsfilmfestival20.eventive.org/films

Automatic

Based on real events in Greece, "Automatic" makes a real statement about perception vs. reality, one that in today's climate is as important as ever.

Two young women on their way to the airport stop to take a picture of a dog. In their photo, they spot an automatic weapon perched near a motorcycle. Soon, their paranoia leads them to believe they're being followed, causing them to cancel their plans and call a friend whose husband is a police officer.

As with many other shorts, this film creates a brisk, brief narrative focused on the importance of awareness and not allowing your fears and prejudices to cloud your judgment. The women in this film are not specifically speaking about race, but the people that make them nervous all share a specific trait. The "explosive" climax of the film is equal parts relief, comedy, and prescient. --Joe Shearer

The Priest

Writer/director Mike Vukadinovich’s “The Priest” is a nifty little short. Patton Oswalt stars as Father Shauna, a Catholic Priest who’s considering suicide. Shauna feels as if he hasn’t lived the life to the fullest and has used the church as a shelter for his cowardice. He makes a rash decision that has severe consequences. This leads to a series of strange events and a revelation.

I’ve always been a fan of Oswalt’s acting whether he was playing opposite Charlize Theron in Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult” or as Constable Bob on “Justified.” He’s good as ever here and likely mined into his own real-life pain over the loss of his wife, Michelle McNamara, for the role.

Vukadinovich, a writer and producer on Jim Carrey’s recently cancelled Showtime series “Kidding” and a screenwriter on the upcoming “Beetlejuice 2,” is a talent to watch. Equal parts heartrending and hilarious (a confessional between Father Shauna and a young parishioner must be heard to be believed), “The Priest” is well worth a watch. --Alec Toombs