Slippery Road
12 October 2009
Many kudos to the curator of this fabulous line-up of Canadian shorts. Despite the many great Canadian features I’ve seen (especially at this festival), this program may also convince you that not only do people living in this part of the world make some of the best short films anywhere, it is a very worthy thing to do.
Highlights in this program:
Shi-Shi-Etko: “Can you imagine a community, without children. Can you imagine children without parents?” These words close a film that shows the lead-up to the forced removal of one child from her family by the state. Beautifully shot and another important step toward understanding the unimaginable pain that our genocidal policies inflict.
Big Head: in 10 minutes I laughed and screamed while I was totally convinced…children’s humiliation drives them to extremes and schools only exacerbate this devastating problem.
Carmen: I can’t believe a 6 minute film could reduce me to a sobbing mess. It’s about unconditional love; it deeply touched my heart and proves that there is the odd soul who can keep unconditionally loving beyond their childhood.
Dog = God: a fun and lively ode to woman’s best friend. The music is a perfect compliment to the rest of the program.
Instant: finally, a film that shows the deadly repercussions of driving motorized vehicles. But this is hilarious and smart as hell. The writeup in the guide minimizes the depths that this one dives…it’s brilliant!
Unlocked: I can’t say enough about this 14 minute gem. Bicycles, family dysfunction passed down, and hilarious. My guess is that Alice Miller would approve wholeheartedly and it’s simply worth the price of admission alone as it shows one person’s reactions to constantly finding other bikes locked to his.
