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| Callbacks |
The first short to screen at this year’s Ottawa
International Film Festival was Encore (Dir. Jonathan Kischel, 9
min.). Encore played on opening night
before the feature presentation Thirteen
Downs. The short was one of several entries in this year’s 72-hour video
challenge put on by OIFF to help engage and inspire local filmmakers. Encore offers a touching story about
fathers and sons through its multigenerational approach to art. Like the tools
that the vagabond artist uses to create his lovely works, artistic inspiration
might best be achieved through the words “Reduce, reuse, and recycle.” (Watch
the film here.)
Also screening on Day 1 was the short One Drink (Dir. ?, 7
min.), which preceded the feature Undercurrent.
One Drink, like Undercurrent, is a stylish and violent genre film. However, while Undercurrent works quite well and offers
something new with the genre, I’m sorry to say that this entry into the world
of torture porn didn’t quite work for me.
A better toast with Canadian Club (a sponsor and key prop in
the 72-hour Challenge films) comes in Invention (Dir. Adam Kirkley, 6
min.). This wildly inventive film sees a night of drinking go awry when an oversized
Lego man wreaks havoc on a group of partiers and turns them into little block
pieces. Very funny and truly original, Invention
is an impressive short, especially since it was made under such tight
constraints! (Watch the film here.)
Screening with Invention
in the shorts package on Day 2 of the festival was The Hold-up (Dir. Martin
Forcier, 29 min), which arrived at OIFF shortly after screening at the
Hollyshorts festival in Hollywood. Congrats to Martin Forcier (who directed the
OIFF feature Undercurrent) and his
cast of Rachelle Casseus, Matthew Stefiuk, Charlie Ebbs (who also wrote the
short), Henry Kwok et all for representing Ottawa abroad! The Hold-up is a humorous slapstick comedy about a quartet of
hyphenated Canadians (one Turkish-Canadian, one Scottish-Canadian, one
Trinidadian-Canadian, and one sort-of-French-Canadian). The pals, like many
Canucks, are struggling to make ends meet. They’re short on cash and need a
plan to get rich quick. Since they can’t seem to make money the legitimate way,
Kiara, the Trinidadian-Canadian (played by a very funny Rachelle Casseus, who
appeared in last year’s drama The Righteous Tithe), suggests that they do a series of small crimes to make
some cash. Small risks equal small jail time, she explains.
Kiara’s proposes that the quartet knock-off the local
Chinese restaurant. The tavern is their local hangout, so the friends have
spent ample time loitering over bowls of noodles and observed the ins-and-outs
of the operation. Additionally, the owner wears a mink coat, so he must be
hoarding a big stock of cash. The ensuing heist is pure sketch comedy
tomfoolery. Thanks in part to some zany action, muddled accents, and timely
humour, The Hold-up is a hilarious
send-up of Canadian multiculturalism.
The best short of the fest, however, is the comedy Callbacks
(Dir. Nicholaus Hillier, 11 min.). The film gets its title from the stressful
trials and auditions an actor must face in search of a career. The actor in
this case is Davis (played by Andy Hull). Davis is in his mid-thirties and
still searching for a break after odd jobs advertising boner pills. He finds
himself at an audition, eager and confident that he is the perfect man for the
part. His bubble is burst, though, when the producer and director inform him
that he isn’t the right fit for the part.
Size matters in the world of acting, it seems. It turns out
the cast agents thought that Davis was a little person. The revelation brings
out all sorts of silly debates and scrutiny, not to mention some hilarious
material by local sketch comedy artists. Callbacks
has a brazen penchant for totally un-PC humour, but the whacky tone and
go-for-broke approach of the actors make it work rather cleverly. Callbacks is the pilot for a new series
and if this short is any indication of what’s in store, there is a sharp comedy
series in the making.
