MIFF 2023 Shorts Review - Accelerator Shorts 2
Anu - Pulkit Arora
Pulkit Arora is a very exciting new voice in the film space, and one to look out for. After success at Tribeca with his debut short film Milk Toffee, Arora started work on his wonderfully intimate short film Anu. The film follows a newly widowed woman who has been put into hotel isolation, and must perform a last-rites ritual so that her late partner’s soul may find peace, and in turn, she can say goodbye. It feels so deeply personal, each frame is claustrophobic and minimalistic; Arora has been so meticulous as to what he wants us to see. There is an agonising feeling of loneliness, paired with comedic moments that make it easy to connect with this woman. The narrative highlights a side of the covid pandemic that not all of us experienced - no one in my immediate circle had to endure the isolation of being stuck in a hotel room for weeks on end, and I can only imagine what that would actually be like. This was one of my favourites at MIFF this year, and I implore you to stream it on their website.
Earthlings - Jamie Lawrence
This still, tense and uncomfortable short film is Jamie Lawrence’s addition to this year’s festival. It opens on a teenage girl swaying back and forth on a swing, who then eventually finds what she thinks is a dead body, which suddenly comes to life to reveal a man covered in hair. She cleans him up, and the two do a lot of staring at each other. It’s an impressive performance from our lead and I was on the edge of my seat for the first couple minutes. I was digging the werewolf-esque fantasy that it was giving me, however about halfway through I no longer felt tense, and just very uncomfortable - ultimately I needed more from this film.
Development - Rebecca Metcalf
With a stunning opening, and visually intriguing shots displaying contents of developmental properties -which I don’t think I’ve actually ever really seen in film before, at least not in this way - Metcalf puts forth an eyebrow-raising and squeamish addition to Accelerator Shorts. I think this film does what it set out to do, at least I hope that is the case, because I felt really uncomfortable watching this film. Development is a teen sexual fantasy with violent twisting moments littered throughout. It took me right back to high school, and how the boys couldn’t come to terms with simultaneously looking down on, and being attracted to, girls. High school heterosexual relationships really are something else.
Linda 4 Eva - Sophie Somerville
Linda 4 Eva is a fantastic, magical exploration of theatre, film and stop-motion combined. Somerville takes us on a bizarre joy ride through her imagination, and the deeper we go the more we are transported back to the school holidays, when everyone started to hate their bodies, a drastic culmination of raging sexual hormones and sly comments from mum. Linda 4 Eva has a ton of heart, and behind all the sensationalised theatrics and mythical production design, at its core it is really just one for all the kids who couldn’t put on their swimmers without crying.
Jia - Vee Shi
Jia means ‘home’ in Chinese, Vee told us as he opened his new short film. Everyone in the audience knew they were about to see something big, as the screen widened, we were swept away instantly. Jia is the story of a mother who has lost her son, and a man who has lost his partner. They go on a road trip together to places their loved one had been, as a way of saying goodbye. It’s about the incredible distance between these two people who cannot communicate through words, and struggle to connect morally, but both loved the same person equally and now share the same grief. Easily the most heartbreaking of the collection, watching the mother mourn her loss, and also go about discovering her son in ways she didn’t know him before was devastating. It’s a powerhouse of a debut, and Vee Shi is one to watch.
Generations Of Men - Joanna Joy
Joanna Joy’s Generations Of Men is the big gun in this short collection; it feels like an excerpt from a million dollar feature film, with imposing cinematography, that captures the dry and haunting Australian landscape. It reminded me of High Ground (2021) in its look and tense nature. The short film follows a young family as they travel amid the Australian bush, needing to take a rest stop as the mother is about to give birth, with incredible acting performances, especially from Zalhi Hayden. I think I would’ve loved this as a feature film, allowing for more storytelling and time to connect to the characters, but ultimately in this format I just didn’t feel like I could reach in and touch them.
The Accelerator Shorts 2 Package screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, running in metro cinemas August 3-20 and online August 18-27.
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