It's not often that I devote a blog entry to a short film - not an entirely sensible attitude when you think about it, but there you have it - but I felt that since (as I've mentioned briefly before) I've now seen Colm Quinn's NO REGRETS IN THE WEST at three different festivals it merits a post all of its own. Well, that and the fact that it's really good.
I spoke to one friend who was at the screening (it was shown before FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU) who didn't like it. He just didn't get it. And you know what? That's fair enough. The film, after all, is clearly a very personal one and any film that is so personal in nature is of course not going to reach out to everyone. I got it, he didn't. Perfectly understandable.
What can't be denied however is that the film is impeccably made. Considering that it must have been made (I am assuming) on a shoestring budget, the craft with which the film is shot, lit, scored, edited, etc. is wonderful. There were other films in the festival with six, seven, eight-figure budgets that did not look as good as this short.
It's far from unique however. This is just one example of the quality of output in short film at present (I can really only speak for the ones I've seen at various Irish festivals, though I'm given to believe that the regular events such as those held at Filmhouse display an equally promising outlook) and yet they're restricted to festivals, occasional short film events and obscure slots on TV when nobody's watching.
Surely there is no better time to set up a regular stage for short films? Start with the festivals - it's nice that there are short film showcases, and even nicer that some of them get to support features (thus ensuring they're watched even by people who don't attend short-specific events). So how about more of this? Get people used to it. Then, who knows, maybe we could actually start showing them regularly in front of plain old regular cinema releases?
I spoke to one friend who was at the screening (it was shown before FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU) who didn't like it. He just didn't get it. And you know what? That's fair enough. The film, after all, is clearly a very personal one and any film that is so personal in nature is of course not going to reach out to everyone. I got it, he didn't. Perfectly understandable.
What can't be denied however is that the film is impeccably made. Considering that it must have been made (I am assuming) on a shoestring budget, the craft with which the film is shot, lit, scored, edited, etc. is wonderful. There were other films in the festival with six, seven, eight-figure budgets that did not look as good as this short.
It's far from unique however. This is just one example of the quality of output in short film at present (I can really only speak for the ones I've seen at various Irish festivals, though I'm given to believe that the regular events such as those held at Filmhouse display an equally promising outlook) and yet they're restricted to festivals, occasional short film events and obscure slots on TV when nobody's watching.
Surely there is no better time to set up a regular stage for short films? Start with the festivals - it's nice that there are short film showcases, and even nicer that some of them get to support features (thus ensuring they're watched even by people who don't attend short-specific events). So how about more of this? Get people used to it. Then, who knows, maybe we could actually start showing them regularly in front of plain old regular cinema releases?
It's not that crazy an idea, apart from the fact that the beancounters who run cinemas and distribute films are currently laughing at me from behind their cash registers. Nope, it used to be done regularly in the olden days after all. And what about those guys from Pixar? Every film that they release gets a short film in front of it - do people walk out in disgust or complain that the movie hasn't started yet? No, they don't - they sit there and enjoy the bloody thing because it's usually (a) very good and (b) perfectly suited to the tastes of those who are here to enjoy whatever the main feature might be. Is there any reason why this can't work on a wider scale?
I think not. Even now, it's happening, albeit on a very small scale. If you've been to the cinema much recently, you may have noticed that there's a short film airing in front of some of the features, the hilarious NEIGHBOR (yeah, that's not how I'd spell it either). Sure, it's dressed up as an advert for Mini, but I think corporate sponsorship is a fair price to pay for getting some guy's well-made short out in the cinema in front of a paying audience. I was certainly happy to see it, though disappointed to notice it's not becoming much of a trend - especially since for the most part the audience enjoyed the short too.
Am I really asking too much? Surely not. I've even seen a couple of shorts getting rewarded with just such a similar prize in Ireland, being paired up with limited releases of certain films. I've not heard anything about Irish cinema box office figures plummeting as a result. Come on, someone give it a chance. Surely it's preferable to the annoyingly patronising anti-piracy adverts that everybody just laughs at anyway?
The campaign for widespread showcasing of short films starts here! (Well, okay, it probably doesn't, I suspect that aspiring filmmakers and people more knowledgable than me have probably been asking for this for ages - but I'll add my voice to it all the same.)
In the meantime I guess I'll just have to keep dipping into them myself and spreading the good word... which reminds me, I'd better go and book some tickets for Galway, my next festival.
Apologies if you came here looking for my opinion on NO REGRETS IN THE WEST, as I appear to have just hijacked this post for a lengthy rant about short films. To return to my original point: it's very good.
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