Encounters - International Panorama 7

First screening of the day - an international panorama of short films from New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, America and the Ukraine. The most depressing and pointless of which is, predictably, from the former soviet block. It involves doctors nonchalantly telling a patient that she has aids, as well as her baby. I almost laughed. Until someone suffocates the baby with a pillow. Utterly grim and pointless. Still haven't seen an Ardennes brother film, and this actually, for the first time, made me want to watch one, to see how this kind of drama can be done well and made worthwhile. 

The selection of films were all in contention for an audience award. There was an excellent american animation called Pigeon: Impossible, about a troublesome pigeon that hassles a secret agent and his briefcase. World War 3 nearly erupts. The director, Lucas Martell must surely be on his way to Pixar studios as we speak. Despite how funny the film was, my vote went to a short I really loved, a New Zealand film called Mokopuna. It reminded me of a Raymond Carver short story played on children's worries. A girl is curious about an unpopular boy who's Maori, which she is on her dad's side. One of the women I was with who saw the film thought it could have been pushed further to make more of an impact, and the more I consider it, I think she's right. I would hate to see the films subtlety disrupted, but I think if the story was restructured there could be a more complex layering of emotions on both the characters. In saying that, I thought it was a lovely film, that i'd have loved to have made myself. 

A good encounter so far, but will my next encounter with short films be as stimulating? Its 4Mations Emerging Talent 2 next, at half 8.