An often overlooked aspect of the Vancouver International Film Festival is the must-see Short Films series, programmed by the estimable Sandy Gow.
In 2018, as per usual, there are five programmes within the ALT Short Film series, curated by Sandy Gow, with input and assistance from a volunteer screening team consisting of Andree Faucher, Josh Hamm, Ray Lai, and Lori Strong, who throughout the year screen up to 750 films, before Sandy makes the final cut, creating five programmes of six to nine films …
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Close Quarters. Eight True North Short Films ranging in length from six to thirty-four minutes, featuring creative ‘young’ Canadian filmmakers, exploring subject matter, including: an adult with autism spectrum disorder, an increasingly isolated city woman who takes refuge in her apartment, to a surreal, romantic tragicomedy about a man who merges with his war plane and can no longer connect with his wife, each punch in the gut short film spanning the depth and breadth of human experience;
- The Curtain Calls. Seven more astounding, must-see True North Short Films that will leave you breathless, from Québec-based directors Emilie Mannering and Carmine Pierre-Dufour’s, Mahalia Melts in the Rain (12 minutes), the story of a a timid nine-year-old black girl (middle right, in the graphic above), to Encore (13 minutes), the story of a young piano player (see picture below) who tries to help his mother cope with the death of her husband the only way he knows how — through music.
- Escape Routes. Québec and B.C.-based new directors, exploring “getting away from it all”, in whatever form that takes, freight train or bus travel, or taking a much-needed break from the prosaic demands of one’s life;
- Matters of Grave Importance. Sandy comes up with the names of each short films programme, so from the series name you can pretty much guess the subject matter of the eight films in this shorts programme: confronting the consequences of an irreversible decision, keeping quiet about a friend’s indiscretion, a young girl attempting to save a grievously wounded rabbit, and coming to terms with Mother Nature.
- Various Positions. Reflections on life would appear to be the theme of this nine short films programme (we’d meant to talk with Sandy before writing today’s column, but just as he predicted, we didn’t get around to it), with subject matter ranging from three young women searching for ways to kill time as they await the arrival of a church organ player, a young woman’s summer cycle through Toronto, to a mesmerizing look at the tranquil countryside found on the Isle of Coll, Scotland.
Thirty-eight all Canadian films in total in the ALT series five short film programmes, each film life-changing, each film transporting and transcendently lovely and meaningful, and each film very much worthy of your time.
Note. Short Films series programmer Sandy Gow wishes to emphasize that all of the films curated in the Short Films series this year are Canadian! Below, we write about the Reel Youth Film Festival; Sandy Gow and his team are not involved in programming VIFF’S annual youth film festival.
There is one more series in the short film programme, to which school districts find the funds each year to transport students to Cineplex International Village Cinema, to take in the 22-film Reel Youth Film Festival.
The most compelling collection of short films from across the globe, all made by youth, and chosen by a youth selection panel from over 1500 submissions, this cogent, powerful, gripping, enthralling, captivating and irresistible collection of short films allows those in attendance at the upcoming screenings — on Tuesday, October 2nd at 11:15am, and Wednesday, October 10th at 6:30pm — to catch a spellbinding glimpse of the world through the eyes of an emerging group of gifted filmmakers.
