BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM previews six short films from the Sundance Film Festival.

SHORT FILMS are an exceedingly difficult medium to do well. Not that I’m saying short stories are easy to write (on the contrary), but short stories can capture wider issues and themes a lot easier than a short film. So to see this art-form done well is certainly pleasurable. Perhaps there is also an added element that few filmmakers once they’ve started making features, return back to the short form – consequently, it’s frequently young and vibrant filmmakers out to make a point who utilise the shorter form. And that seems to be the general trend here with this enjoyable collection of short films.

The programme starts off with a Romanian film, The Tube With a Hat. Romania is making some shithot films at the moment, and this short film identifies Radu Jude as an interesting observer with a compelling style. The story involves a young boy and his father setting out to fix a television in town. It’s more of an ordeal than you’d expect – the weather, transportation etc. all seem to conspire against them. The story does feel a little too slight, but it does capture an interesting dynamic between the father and the son. It’s like a less angry version of The Bicycle Thieves.

I’m going to deal with the trio of American films at once because there seem to be some stylistic similarities and quirkiness involved in all three. A frequent flaw with short films is that style can frequently become a little too forced, in order to grab attention within that short space of time. Thankfully, these three films manage to, for the most part, maintain an endearing charm. If anything, the best way to describe them is via music references. Death to the Tinman is like a demented Decemberists album, while Bitch feels like Riot Grrl on screen, and The Oates’ Valor has the weirdness of a Devendra Barnhart album. In other words, indieness in full blare on screen.

Death to the Tinman (Ray Tintori) was my favourite out of all the films – part Tetsuo, part The Wizard of Oz, as the “Tin Man” seeks to regain his love and his life back after he loses his limbs when his father places a curse on him. It’s gloriously stylish, with an excellent soundtrack, and was very, very enjoyable.

Bitch (Lilah Vandenburgh) was also very fun. It looks at the title character Bitch, who tackles anyone who’s a poseur, a douche or a bastard, and the unlikely romantic attraction she has with a guy called Fucker. It’s certainly not particularly politically correct (there’s a glorious moment at the end involving an anti-abortion protestor, and the revelatory scene is magnificent). Great stuff.

The third American short was The Oates’ Valor. The story of the relationship between a fourth chair trombonist and his father felt a little too forced in its offbeatness. The oddball natures and the seemingly poignant family dynamics never really gelled, but stylistically, the film does establish Tim Thaddeus Cahill as very promising visual filmmaker.

Family Reunion (Ísold Uggadóttir) was an Icelandic film about a young lesbian journeying back to conservative Iceland (from New York where she normally lives). Her mother is pressuring her to find a guy, her ex-boyfriend has bought an apartment and in need of company, and she has her grandfather’s birthday to go to. She hasn’t come out to her family yet, but as the film progresses you wonder if she’s actually got a choice as to when she comes out. This vaguely soap-like narrative does feel a bit Shortland Street-y, but the film is complemented (like the other films), with visual intelligence and is particularly well edited.

The German film, Motodrom (Jörg Wagner), was the least like the others. It looks at hell riders at a fairground, rendering them in poetic and highly stylised visuals. It’s certainly a visual feast, blurring the line between man, machine, and the environment. It may go on for a little too long – the visuals become a little too repetitive, but it is a fitting tribute to the aging daredevils.