SWMF Shorts Program || short films review

The “Stranger With My Face” International Film Festival presented its “SWMF Shorts Program” this month in the Salamanca Arts Centre’s Peacock Theatre. The eight-part event showcased a wide range of female-directed short films in the horror/thriller genre, “Hi Stranger” directed by Kirsten Lepore; “Doll” directed by Jia He; “Mouse” directed by Celine Held and Logan George; “What Happened to Her” directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan; “Pendulum” directed by Lauren Cooney; “Gardening at Night” directed by Shayna Connelly; “Slapper” directed by Luci Schroder; and “The Man Who Caught a Mermaid” directed by Kaitlin Tinker, who spoke at the event. The night featured Tasmanian, Australian and even world premieres that made witnessing this female-driven horror genre experience all the more surreal.

The program’s first short film “Hi Stranger” premiered in the United States in 2016 and was made for the “Late Night Work Club” Anthology. Directed by Kirsten Lepore, the film is 2 minutes in length and had its Tasmanian premiere at the “Stranger With My Face” International Film Festival. The psychological thriller is centred on a Claymation figure that stares directly at the audience the entire time, only speaking in second person compliments. Despite the bombardment of positive messages the experience is very unnerving because of the strange character’s tone, body language and all white environment.

The second short film “Doll” was released in Australia in 2017 and directed by Jia He, who is a student at the Sydney University of Technology. The film is 5 minutes long and had its world premiere at the SWMF International Film Festival. The supernatural horror focuses on a young university student who is renting a new apartment and while settling into the new space she discovers a mysterious doll in the closet. Strange occurrences take place throughout the story as the doll seems to appear in different places. Just as the protagonist the audience feels trapped in a claustrophobic apartment anxiously trying to escape the clutches of an evil nesting doll that captures souls and the violent monster it personifies.

The program’s third short film “Mouse” debuted in 2016 at the SXSW film festival in the United States and is directed by Celine Held and Logan George. 11 minutes long, the film’s Australian premiere was hosted by the SWMF International Film Festival. Despite it being a comedy the film centres on a horrific story that is sure to make anyone’s skin crawl or stomach roil. Vanessa and Danny are two struggling drug addicts willing to take any chance in order to get their next hit, suddenly an opportunity comes their way in the form of a food can. When Danny attempts to eat some baked beans, he is struck with the sight of a dead rodent inside, almost losing what little lunch he had already consumed. However, Vanessa only sees this as a way of gaining compensation from the bean company and thinks the lawsuit would be more believable if she ate some of the rodent itself. Odd hilarity ensues as the two begin to bicker over who should eat the rat; the one who opened the can or the one who thought of the idea.

The fourth short film “What Happened to Her” was released in the United States in 2016 and directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan. The short feature is a documentary about the female corpses of film and television and runs for 15 minutes. Premiering in Tasmanian at the SWMF International Film Festival the film gives shocking recollections of female body doubles in popular shows such as CSI.

The program’s fifth short film “Pendulum” is a 19-minute-long apocalyptic thriller that debuted worldwide at the SWMF International Film Festival. Directed by Lauren Cooney and made in the United Kingdom in 2017, the feature stars two friends who travel to India to achieve spiritual enlightenment before the inevitable collapse of the galaxy. The film is existential and allows the audience to question their own interpretation of life and what is truly important.

The sixth short film “Gardening at Night” is a psychological thriller initially released in the United States in 2016 and directed by Shayna Connelly. The 12-minute-long supernatural piece premiered in Australia at the SWMF International Film Festival. The story centred around Samantha, a woman who is powerless to help her dying friend Anne and struggles to cope with the loss on the eve of her death. The film is an insightful interpretation of what it would be like to lose a friend, and to feel their fear and anger.

The program’s seventh short film “Slapper” debuted in Australia in 2017 and was directed by Luci Schroder. The film premiered in Tasmania at the SWMF International Film Festival and is 15 minutes in length. The realistic horror story deals with Taylah, a young girl who has to quickly come up with enough money to buy the morning after pill. The film is a more of a socially realistic horror than the stereotypical blood and gore.

The program’s eighth and final film “The Man Who Caught a Mermaid” is a Swinburne University Production that was initially released in Australia in 2017 and directed by Kaitlin Tinker. The horror film is 16 minutes in length and premiered in Tasmania at the SWMF International Film Festival. It focuses on a seasoned fisherman who is fixated on capturing a mermaid in a world that doesn’t believe they exist. The story is jarring and disturbing as it is revealed to the audience what actually happens when the fisherman succeeds.

Kaitlin Tinker actually spoke during the event, answering audience questions and thoughtfully reflecting on the ideas and challenges of shooting her short film “The Man Who Caught a Mermaid”. She expressed that the script a filmmaker writes ends up completely different to what they eventually film and revealed that her short film actually has an alternative ending but refused to share it, stating that it would be “doing the piece a disservice by revealing it." Tinker says that having female directors and filmmakers on set are in some ways more beneficial than their male counterparts as the majority are more intuitive to their cast’s feelings. Her own experiences with filmmaking are relatable and encouraging to other women who aspire to work in the industry, her final anecdote being when she had accidently drowned her film school’s expensive camera while on set but nevertheless passed with flying colours.

Although the Stranger With My Face Festival is officially over for this year it was a wonderful program and I thoroughly recommend people to grab up tickets when it comes around again next year.