After delving into the rich program of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, our contributor Claire has rounded up a selection of 3 short films by and about minorities worth watching at this year’s SXSW Online.
The SXSW Film Festival is in full swing! As part of the festival’s program, we have explored the short films presented at this year’s edition. Film Fest Report’s contributor Claire Lim decided to flag three short films worth watching, made by and about minorities and the issue of their representation. Discover those three powerful shorts below.
Play It Safe (Dir. Mitch Kalisa, Narrative Shorts Competition, World Premiere)
Jonathan is the only black man attending his drama school. One day, each student has to incarnate an animal. Either if it was planned by his classmates or random, he picked out of the hat, the monkey. With close shot, muffled voices, moving camera and rhythmic editing, director Mitch Kalisa succeeds to set up a tense and awkward atmosphere.
The great performance of actor Jonathan Ajayi is unsettling, as his thoughts express beyond the screen. He has the choice to challenge prejudice or Play It Safe. The scene reminded me of the scene from The Square (Ruben Östlund, 2017) where the artist performed a monkey-man during eleven minutes, to disturb the attendees that were rather privileged and rich. In The Square, it was not a question of race but a question of class privilege, Östlund highlighted their hypocrisy. In this short film, Jonathan puts himself as a statement piece, he wants to invite his white classmates to question themselves.
Watch Play It Safe’s trailer here.
Femme (Dirs. Ng Choon Ping, Sam H. Freeman, Narrative Shorts Competition, World Premiere)
A group of friends are going to the club, dressed as rebelling against gender norms. The main character, Jordan, is encouraged by his friend to get some recreational drugs. He meets a white male drug dealer, and gets into his car. The night gets more and more dangerous.
Tough and strong, the first appearance of the drug dealer corresponds to the drug dealer stereotype. Flirtatious with Jordan, he seems not totally comfortable with his attraction to a man. Both protagonists go into the house where the drug dealer lives, the place is depicted as a toxic and dark environment. Troubled by Jordan, the other drugs dealers seem less open to different people and minorities. They are an allegory of toxic masculinity and narrow-minded thinking. Spoiler Alert: As the situation is going down, distressed Jordan kills the drug dealers. This gruesome act is not a calling for vengeance, but represents the idea of taking down patriarchy and toxic masculinity.
Beyond The Model (Dir. Jessica Lin, Texas High School Shorts Competition, World Premiere)
Director Jessica Lin is making research online on her computer and uses the “desktop film” format (meaning that actions take place on a computer screen) to show her thinking process. She uses the Youtube platform to highlight the testimonies of three Asian-American activists. This choice of format makes sense in this pandemic mindset, we live more and more through screens. The fast pace of the editing makes the research quite oppressing, translating a distress sentiment of frustration and anger.
From Chinese descendant and living in France, I have experienced racism in my country. I have felt that my discourse was invisibilized and discredited, the reason is that racism against Asian people is one of the most “accepted” racism among the French. People and mainstream media do not talk about oppression against Asian people. Even though oppression of Asian people is different in France and in the USA, I am glad that Jessica Lin took the opportunity to raise her voice and awareness about this topic. I deeply hope that today marks the beginning of new stories, diverse and better representation of the community, and minorities.
Feel free to catch Play It Safe, Femme and Beyond The Model at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, running online on March 16-20, 2021.
