However, before the main feature they had a number of shorts which were very good. They were, “Babysitting Andy,” Pat Mills, 2007, Canada, 11 min, “The Bond,” Michael Connell, 2007, USA, 6 min, “Just Me?” Amy Neil, 2007, USA, 22 min and “Shafted” Allegra & April Hirschman, 2009, USA, 9 min (the producer was there and afterward she answered questions about the movie).
I did like the short “The Bond” this is the write-up from the film festival…
"How could you raise a transsexual child and not know it?" In this honest and compassionate documentary, the father of a transsexual child shares his family's story - what it was like when his child came out, how their relationship has changed, and how their bond continues to get stronger. Made by a father for transsexual and transgender individuals and their parents, this film offers hopeful answers to the hard questions parents face when a child - of any age - comes out.I liked it so much that I looked up where I could buy it and the distributor sells it for $50!!! Come on folks, it is only 6 minutes long that is over $8 a minute! I can buy the movie Mamma Mia for $20 and that is over a 100 minutes long. Michael Connell produced the movie as a class project with fellow students in five weeks.
The other “short” that I liked was “Just Me?” that was about a lesbian researching her family tree to find out if her great-grandmother was a lesbian. The movie was very nicely done
I liked "Just Me?" a lot as well - a really compelling story and so interesting to see all the old photos.
ReplyDeleteI was not really a fan of "The Bond" - it was nice to see an accepting parent, but there were way too many macho "before" shots (military, sports, wedding) and just a few things that Dad said (that he was still grieving, that he would never really stop, or something like that) made me think he was still dealing with it all and was less than fully undertanding. Left me a little uneasy.
It's OK to be that way, but not sure I want to see a short film about it.
And yeah, these short films are usually of such limited distribution and small production numbers that the cost is high - No Dumb Questions, when it first came out was close to $100 I think. Mostly I think these things are purchased by schools, groups, and libraries not by individuals.
I think I paid $75 for "No Dumb Questions" but it was licensed for groups. However, "The Bond" was licensed for home use only.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I liked it was because I thought it would be good for outreach.