Cape Town’s Alliance Française hosted
the inaugural gathering of Future Shorts South Africa last month. The
UK-based short film label was established in 2003 in the interests of
celebrating the form and raising its status. Future Shorts operates in
over 50 cities in 15 countries and channels local material to an
international hub in London where it’s compiled, distributed and
screened elsewhere. As such, the platform treats audiences to
independent work from around the globe while providing home-grown
filmmakers with the potential to reach wider audiences.
The evening’s programme consisted of
eight short films obtained via the Future Shorts network (a showcase
representing the US, the UK and France that consisted of work produced
between 1989 and 2007). Highlights included “City
Paradise” (UK, 2003) by Gaëlle Denis, a whimsical take on London through the eyes of a
foreign resident, as well as Jamie Rafn’s reflection on the
schizophrenic nature of romantic relationships entitled “She Loves Me,
She Loves Me Not” (UK, 2004).
Following a short interval, three South
African productions were screened in collaboration with Shortcut
Wednesday. The work consisted of a stop-frame styled music video by
Terry Westby-Nunn (the Simon van Gend Band’s “Minor Revelation”). This
was followed by the recently completed “Epitaph” by Rowan Pybus, an
instalment in a series of poetic pieces that combine the artwork of
Faith 47 and the music of Inge Beckmann. The screening then closed with
Dave Cotton’s low-fi “Hannibal Goes on Holiday,” a story of friendship,
betrayal, forgiveness, guilt (and zombies) featuring plastic dolls in
the leading roles.
Present at the screening, Cotton
participated in a Q&A that focused on his concern for storytelling
and his mantra that “content is king.” Cotton encouraged budding
filmmakers to simply produce work rather than be hindered by the
trappings of high production, saying that imperfections often provide
the fresh quality absent in works that are over-produced. Cotton stated
that the journey to becoming a filmmaker is an evolutionary process that
starts with scripts being turned into tangible works rather than being
left to gather dust under a bed. Plans are currently underway for Future
Shorts South Africa’s second instalment.
