Hello and welcome to the first installment of my Seattle Shorts Film Festival "Preview Reviews" which I will be releasing over the next couple weeks leading up to the actual film festival weekend. Each installment of this review series will feature a few of the short films that I have selected as my "TwoOhSix Picks" which can be seen by clicking HERE. The reviews you are about to read have been typed out immediately after watching each film so you are getting an honest and immediate reaction.
First up is an animated short film called Midnight Tourist which was created locally here in Washington by director Koray Kocaturk. A simple animation style and look is utilized in this film to evoke memories of reading a classic children's storybook or watching cartoons from an era long past. The story is pretty straightforward as we see a young boy in the city of Seattle being swept away on an overnight adventure and taking in all of the local sights and sounds. With a running time of right around five minutes, this a very short and sweet tale that captures the imagination and could almost be used to give real life tourists an idea of what to do and where to go while visiting this magical place we fondly refer to as the Emerald City.
The Mobile Stripper was written and directed by Shirlyn Wong and features the acting talents of Rich Hinz and Sydney Boyd. This is a fun, quirky tale about a man who works security at an abandoned mall and a young woman who works out of her pink RV as a "mobile stripper". While there isn't a ton of time spent on getting to know who these people are, Wong gives us just enough of their personalities so we, as an audience, can at least get an idea of who they are. There is a lot going on in the story about perception and misconceptions which does a great job at taking our natural assumptions and turning them all upside down.
Okay, so this nine minute short film, directed by Adam Stern and starring Adam Reid and Jennifer Spence, is a a beautifully shot and bad ass piece of film making. The Adept tells the story of Ben and Maddy, two scientists who also have a passion for simple magic tricks as a sort of hobby or passing entertainment. One evening, as the couple are hashing out ideas for a project they are working on, Ben takes a break to show Maddy his latest trick although what he ends up achieving defies any logical or scientific explanation. This film could easily be the opening scene of a horror, science fiction, or super hero story, or it could be a combination of all of them and leaves you desperately wanting to know what happens next. I would love to see this turned into a full length feature although I suppose one of the things that makes it so good is the mystery behind the magic and the unknown adventure that awaits.
Stay tuned for the next installment of my Seattle Shorts Film Festival "Preview Reviews" coming real soon! The Seattle Shorts Film Festival will be held at the SIFF Film Center in Seattle Washington on November 14th and 15th.
CLICK HERE to see Part 2 of my "Preview Reviews."
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