Friday 26 October 2007

Toronto After Dark - Cutting Edge Fantasy (Short Films)


One of the things I really enjoyed about last year's initial Toronto After Dark festival (and which continued this year) was the inclusion of short films before each screening. Many were fun or just simply good counterparts to the film about to be shown. As well, it helped local and Canadian filmmakers get a decent audience for their work.

They upped the ante a bit this year though, by including 2 screenings dedicated solely to short films. I wasn't able to make Saturday's Cutting Edge Horror set, but I did manage to make it down for Sunday's Cutting Edge Fantasy showing.

Here were some of my favourites:


Lucid Dream Exploration

This short trailer doesn't really get the effect across, but much of this film was done frame by frame on an etch-a-sketch. Somebody has spent some serious time on that damn thing...





Hairlady

There's something mesmerizing about this film (in its entirety below). The time lapse of hair growth on the man's face is interesting enough, but once Part 3 kicks in and the music builds against the sped up repeating film, I was caught in its spell.





Trionyx (Soft-Shelled Turtle)

Two short clips from this film about a man who has chosen the soft-shelled turtle as the animal he wants to be when attacking Godzilla.






The Un-Gone











Unfortunately no clips on the net of my favourite short of the screening. Simon Bovey's 8 minute film shows us what happens when there's a glitch in a teleporter. Not for what happens to the person reaching the other side, but what's accidentally left behind...Here's the website.

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