Everybody Dies! By Nuotama Frances Bodomo was made as part of a feature film called collective:unconscious. The idea was that four filmmakers would adapt each other’s dreams. While the feature as a whole is interesting and worth watching, Bodomo’s segment stands out as more than just a part of a whole. And much more than just the adaptation of a dream. In some ways, this is probably one of the most underrated short films of the past ten years. It’s something that could have so easily come off as cheesy or dumb or maybe even seem like it was trivializing a very serious topic. But Bodomo knows exactly the tone she’s going for and she nails it perfectly. It’s funny and entertaining while at the same time tragic and deeply disturbing. It’s wholly original while still being completely accessible. It’s impossible to watch it and not feel somewhat shaken up. It’s a film that film channels the rage, frustration, and despair of the #BlackLivesMatter movement into something truly haunting, as Bodomo uses a surreal game show to expose the reality of what’s actually going on: young black people being killed for no reason.

https://vimeo.com/178011614#t=45m36s

After the Oscars last night I felt it only fitting to showcase something from a previous Oscar winner. So here is Barry Jenkins’s very first student film:

https://vimeo.com/7456450

My favorite thing about My Josephine actually is that it is definitely a student film. It feels rough, the subject matter is almost a little beyond his reach, and it’s bristling with the excitement of someone still figuring out their style. The film was written shortly after 9/11 and it still works as a perfect time capsule of that time. Beyond that however, it’s a wonderfully cinematic character study from someone who can’t help but have so much empathy for his characters, in this case two Arab-American laundromat owners. Barry once said that this was his favorite movie he’d directed. I’d have to give the nod to If Beale Street Could Talk myself, but the through line in his work of good people trying to find love and connection in a system designed to suppress and subjugate them was there in the beginning with this one. Here it’s all just hinted at. The film is foggy. Fuzzy. Like a memory. It doesn’t show any another characters. It doesn’t betray any real backstory. It doesn’t even mention 9/11. Its power lies instead in the small little moments. Like an exchange about language. Or the way they handle the flag. It feels elliptical. Conveying the feeling of being an immigrant in a way that feels honest and human, and not manipulative or obvious. It’s a kind of confidence that’s rare in filmmakers already deep in their careers. The fact that Barry pulled it off while he was still in school only makes it that much more special.

First off are two (very) short documentaries from Joe Callander. “Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns” and “Tina Delivers a Goat”. Both have overly descriptive titles that also double as loglines. Both premiered at Sundance in 2014. And both do a great job of mining human comedy out of actual issues (gun ownership for Tim and Susan / colonialism, white guilt, and global inequality for Tina). The straightforward documentary presentation exposes the absurdity of the situation without minimizing or trivializing the topics, and without providing any sort of easy answer or definitive statements.

Tim & Susan: https://vimeo.com/81207357
Tina: https://vimeo.com/54677788