Indy Shorts Fest: Critic's picks
My picks for Heartland's Indy Shorts International Film Festival, which runs July 23-28 and is an official Oscar-qualifying event.
For Indy Shorts showtimes and tickets, please click here.
Not Afraid
This look at an Indigenous teen (JaShaun St. John) dealing with the disappearance of a loved one draws attention to the increased violence they face. The backdrop of a Montana high school is just breathtaking.
Saving Superman
I caught this excellent doc at another festival, and it’s just a fabulous and emotional look at a small-town Indiana man with autism who likes to dress up as Superman. When the whole community comes together to help him, you will tear up.
Bat Boy
Andre, a young Los Angeles man on the spectrum, is obsessed with the bats living under a bridge near his South Central home. He convinces a reluctant biologist to help her bring them back in this heartfelt drama.
The Nun Slayer
Gleefully wicked and funny look at love. Donald (Matthew Cottle) was jailed 30 years ago for killing nuns in Stoke Newington, but it turns out he was just a fraud — this weighs heavily on his bride, Ophelia (Ellie Nunn), who fell in love with him in prison.
The Clogging
A young man at a party goes to use the restroom and the toilet becomes clogged, and he must wrestle with how to take… matters into his own hands. A snack-size slice of hilarity.
Knead
Hilarious and goofy sci-fi comedy set in the 1960s where strange aliens have dropped into Earth and are putting people into a strange fugue state where they realize their true life’s calling. Except for housewife Olive, who just wants to make pastries.
Bike Story
Hoosier filmmaker Rocky Walls (“IMBPREZ,” “More Than Corn”) is back with another smashingly good documentary, this one looking at bicycle shop owner/recycler/social worker Joe Rudy, whose Cicero shop aims to help us rediscover the simple pleasure of riding a bike. Joyous, human, lovely.
Catherine & Michael
In this pitch-black comedy about marital strife, Molly Ringwald and Peter Grosz play a couple traveling to the country to visit friends. They’re deeply miserable and constantly fighting, while the hosts are a model of romantic bliss. So they come up with a strange way to reignite their own spark.
Caught on Tape
Set in the days of VCR, young boys search their dad’s sheds for pornography so they can learn more about girls. Finn, already fixated on a classmate, goes on his own quest with mirthful results. Funny, with some gems of wisdom, too.
La Croix
Strange and erotic horror about a French graphic artist who performs an occult ritual along with a friend at an infamous lighthouse to relight her creative spark, only to find themselves branded with a terrible curse.
Bibi’s Dog is Dead
A humorous portrait of neuroses as Bibi phones her ex, Adam, to tell her the sad news their bulldog, Chopper, has passed on. But she clearly has ulterior motives in mind to use the sad event to get them back together.
Ruthless Blade
Absolute kickass Chinese animation short tells the story (part of an anthology) of Little 11, a heroic feline swordsman fighting evil forces led by a mysterious veiled figure who is his equal (at least) in combat. Imagine Frank Miller made his version of “Puss in Boots.”
Princeton's In The Mix
A truly sharp and wicked look at the efforts by rich elites to get their kids into the best colleges. Teddy wants to use his piano skills to get in through sheer dint of merit, but mom Beth and a few other parents have a… more pointed approach,
I Am What You Imagine
Writer/director Matthew Modine’s rumination on birth, life and transition is intentionally trippy and surreal. It’s also incredibly beautifully shot, and emotionally evocative in a way that is both familiar and unknowable.
Voyager
In this unnerving French horror short, a young woman who works cleaning up after drug-fueled parties discovers strange pills, and after taking some is launched into a surreal world of terror and shaken identity.