Programmers’ Picks: our favorite short films from SDAFF 2014

Posted October 30th, 2014 by Brian in Blog

Short films often have the biggest heart. They’re also the hardest to sort through since they don’t come with the reviews and accolades of the features. So to help you navigate this year’s shorts programs, here are some favorites from members of our programming team.

Thomas Gentil

GRAND CANAL
The melancholic and sad tone creates an honest and painful story. What touched me most was how the filmmaker re-constructed the story from his father’s point of view in a beautiful yet heartbreaking way.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED
Playful with color, mis-en-scene, animation, and sound, it goes beyond cuteness to make something comic and unconventional.
Plays in STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED

Eric Lallana

MILKY BOY
An insightful animation on a thirty-something advertising assistant’s journey to shake off the baggage of being a well-known childhood star of commercials from long ago.
Plays in CHILD ST★R

RATTLEFLY
From start to finish a taut and intense film about a down-and-out rural teenager.
Plays in GRAVITY BURNS

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED
A very funny and witty film that peers into the emotions of when it’s time to let go and move on in a world of imaginary friends.
Plays in CHILD ST★R

Erwin Mendoza

HYPEBEASTS
An update to Do The Right Thing for the sneakerhead generation, campouts and all.
Plays in GRAVITY BURNS

MILKBOY
Refreshing animation that reflects more real-life than fantasy.
Plays in CHILD ST★R

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED
Growing up is hard to do. Try it without an imaginary best friend.
Plays in STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED

James Paguyo

THE BUSY YOUNG PSYCHIC
With one of the strongest acting performances in the entire festival, this heartfelt story of a young girl balancing life with the remaining years of her youth speaks to audiences of all ages.
Plays in CHILD ST★R

HYPEBEASTS
In-your-face and particularly relevant given recent events, this look at racial tension stands out by utilizing modern day youth culture to frame these important conversations.
Plays in GRAVITY BURNS

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF FENFEN
This engrossing, borderline-invasive documentary explores one woman’s personal video diaries, while all of China watches along with you.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART

IT’S NOT A PRISON IF YOU NEVER TRY THE DOOR
Godzilla like you’ve never seen him before. Experimental in all the best ways and makes it impossible to take your eyes (or ears) off the screen.
Plays in STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED

Christina Ree

TRANSFORMERS THE PREMAKE
This game-changing short is composed entirely of Transformers-related fan videos found online and Kevin B. Lee’s own clicking, linking, sleuthing as he probes how fandom pushes against Hollywood’s online marketing police. The short delivers the curiosities of Optimus Prime in the middle of Chicago, the menace of cease and desist emails, and the strangely simultaneous immediacy and remove of the computer screen as our portal.
Plays in THERE WILL BE A STORM

THE QUESTIONING
What could be more gripping than turning on a hidden video camera during a routine police house visit in China? What unfolds reveals deep power dynamics in the most mundane of interactions as police and filmmaker entangle below the surface — all without a break or change in camera angle.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART

GRAND CANAL
Oh epic wonderful piece of greatness. Tonal cocktail, hardboiled romanticism, diaristic serenade, libertory fantasy — this story of a filmmaker’s quest delivers it all while focused on the broken face and mona lisa smile of its unforgettable lead.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART

Wilda Wong

WHAT A DAY
Perfectly captures a middle-schooler’s frame of mind. Or maybe just my middle school frame of mind.
Plays in CHILD ST★R

GRAND CANAL
The final revelation is like a punch to the gut.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART

SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED
What’s not to like about an imaginary friend who throws ninja stars made of PB & J sandwiches??
Plays in STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED

MOUNT SONG
Haunting and beautiful. Compelling use of old movie footage omitting all dialogue and characters, leaving behind an empty martian landscape of purple fog and artificial mist.
Plays in MOONLIGHT REPRESENTS MY HEART