Hollyshorts 2023: Stories from Women and From The Heart
The Hollyshorts festival has completed their 2023 run of showcasing short films and it’s been another year of stories that leave a deep impression on the heart days after the last line of the credit roll scrolls away.
For the past 19 years, Hollyshort has grown into a annual festival that has curated short stories told through various short film mediums which range from the narrative to the abstract. Shorts can run from seven to thirty minutes long. The festival provides will organize these works into themed genre blocks such as animation, romance, action, and more. It’s a wonder way to experience so much diverse talent all at once.
It’s always a delight to be a part of festival that has continually premiered amazing work from new to veteran filmmakers. This years selection from the festival continues that with works that clearly came from the heart. Many of the ideas for the shorts generated from the years of COVID lockdown where people dived deep into their personal stories to share with the world.
These were just a few of the stories being told.
FAT GIRL
Director: Makez Rikweda
Country: United Kingdom
During the lockdown, the world was dependent on the social media for their only connection to the outside. From entertainment to food delivery, everyone was glued to their smartphones. More than likely, many of those hours were spent scrolling through social media reels and entertainers. For most people, it’s just mindless scrolling, a brief window of amusement before moving on to the next one. To the impressionable young, these digital creators became their only source of trends and influences. It can create some pretty cringe-worthy moments but it also has the potential to do some deep damage.
The focus of the short FAT GIRL begins with an ongoing footage of a typical social media influencer. These influencers tend to be young, good looking, and armed with superficial charm while hawking questionable wares. To the very young and those who known no other source of advice, these influences become their friend and guide through life despite never having a single sincere connection.
So what happens when viewer suffering from loneliness is bombarded by constant visions of a certain lifestyle and promises of being part of something? Especially when that takes a step into a dark place? Other questions also arise, how much of it is the influencers responsibility for their actions? No one is forcing anyone to watch their videos or buy their sponsoered product. Where is the line drawn?
The short is a snippet of his exploration of the relationship between influencer and viewer. The loneliness of the viewer is heartbreakingly felt as all she could do is watch and absorb from everything around her. Even when there’s a chance to interact with her own peers in reality, she is felt unwelcome in their presence and remains watching.
ZITA SEMPRI
Director: Stefania Spampinato
Country: Italy (Sicily)
Is it possible to tell a story of a generation of women without getting teary-eyed at some point? I highly doubt that, nor should that ever happen. Stories of women enduring down generations is a zinger for squeezing the heartstrings and ZITA SEMPRI proudly does that.
It is a short that centers around a daughter looking back to her past. As she’s now grown and living her dream, she looks back to the efforts of her mother raising her in Sicily. As the letters she writes to her mother continue, questions of being a woman and what it took to keep moving forward rise up.
Just like the BARBIE movie, ZITA SEMPRI will resonate deeply with women. Especially for daughters who were raised by women that sacrificed their own dreams to be a parent. The short does not aim to guilt or scold viewers in remembering the effort that their mothers had provided. It is story of love and appreciation for the past and how it has affected the future. It highlights the joy and happiness of being raised by a loving mother and to look back upon those memories lovingly.
The short has no dialogue but the memories and stories are told through letters read aloud by the narrator. Director, Stefania Spampinato (actress known for her role GREY’S ANATOMY) also shared that the voice of the narrator is by her sister who had recently passed away. As the short is inspired by her mother who had also passed away, the short is not just a work but sweet memoriam to share the love of these women to the world.
Discussions of racial inequality and mistreatment has been a burning topic due to multiple events and transgression. It is a topic that can stir a lot of discussion and passion among people. Yet this conversation of race is not a new topic, it has been going on for decades and decades.
MONOCHROMATIC is told through the eyes of a very young black girl. The story is set in 1977 after Enoch Powell’s River of Blood speech. This speech was unfamiliar but there is a youtube video that highlights the major portions of this racially divisive speech that can be viewed here. In short, it was a speech that encourage phobia and racial hatred towards immigrants, a sentiment that still echoes violently today.
For the little girl in MONOCHROMATIC, she is initially innocent from such hate and fear. All she cares about is to chase butterflies and frolic among the playground. Very quickly, the girl notices the screaming adults directing their anger and hatred to her and the fear in her mothers eyes. Without words, we see the shift when she begins to understand that the color of her skin has made her a target. The most profound and unsettling moment of the short is delivered with the final question as she raises her eyes to the church ceiling, “why did you make me black?”.
As the time fades from young woman to older matron, we see that the sadness and deep resignation that nothing has really changed in the sentiment to skin color. The question that the little girl asks is a very simple but powerful question that opens up many conversation topics. One is how can a society be happy with a little child questioning their own skin color? One they had no choice in nor cared about until others saw them differently? It is one of many questions that will hit audiences viscerally in multitudes of ways.
The festival may have concluded their in-person screenings, but there is still a chance to watch the shorts online. Select films will be available for viewing on bitpixtv.com through August 27, 2023.
Follow the films and their filmmakers for future screening opportunities at your local film festival
About HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) #HSFF2023
The annual Academy Awards®Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival will celebrate its 19th year in August 2023. HollyShorts (HSFF) brings together top creators, industry leaders, and companies and has launched many filmmakers into the next stages of their careers. HollyShorts, regular on MovieMaker Magazine’s “Top 50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee list”, also engages its community and spotlights short films year-round through monthly screenings, panels, and networking events. HollyShorts Film Festival will take place in-person between August 10-20th, 2023 at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, with the annual Awards Gala set to take place on August 20th, 2023. The festival directors are Theo Dumont and Daniel Sol.
