The Smalls Short Film Fest

‘Small films on small screens’, this is what is promised at the Smalls Short Film Fest, a festival now in its sixth year. Not only are the organisers collating short films from around the world but the event features workshops, panel discussions and an award ceremony featuring John Ward whose cinematography can be seen in such films as Sleepy Hollow, The Fifth Element and To Die For.

The set up of the festival is very simple with no need for sleeping bags and wellies. Simply pop along to the Soho Gallery on Charing Cross Road. Therein, you’ll find many an iPad Touch, which have all of the films uploaded. The short films are divided into those that are longer than five minutes and those that finish quicker than an All Saints comeback.

There is a wide range of subject matter amongst the films selected and a diversity in the approaches taken. Amongst the shorter films were snappy dramas, tributes to gay dads and winsome comedies. My particular favourite out of this section was The Money Shot by Graham Rathlin. Similar to Nicholas Ryan’s The Black Hole, it follows the fortunes of a man who gets lucky with a magic camera. Or so he thinks.

Two Ladies & a Hill is an off-beat comedy featuring two elderly ladies taking a stroll in the countryside whilst Wax was rather forced in its attempts to intertwine both allegory and satire. Director Clay Weiner brought a twin bouquet of camp with his two shorts Happy Fathers Gay and Dad’s New Girlfriend. Both were a little too hectic in tone to allow the viewer a proper consideration of the whole situation although the latter did boast a wonderful off-the-wall performance by the actress playing the eponymous stepmother.

In the longer shorts, there was a noticeable switch from the exploration of a single idea to more of a fully formed narrative as the filmmakers took advantage of the extra time available to develop stories and explore characters. In Eighty Eight, the life of Ralph Steele, a man known locally in Truro as ‘the Banjo man’ is portrayed as he uses his busking and his small town notoriety to battle the loneliness felt after the passing of his wife.

The Captivus is more of a Solaris-type movie featuring two astronauts who have spent six years together in space. When news comes through that one is going home, relations start to disintegrate. A mockumentary that does not really work is Arnolds Anonymous, which is all about a boss who quotes excerpts from Arnold Schwarzenegger movies to inspire his colleagues. Although a neat idea, the humour wears thin as the film goes on due to the central character being a charmless buffoon who engenders no empathy.

There are plenty more films beyond those that have been mentioned and the winners will be announced by John Ward and award-winning comedian and author Tim FitzHigham in the evening.

The Smalls Short Film Fest concludes on September 22 at:

The Soho Gallery
125 Charing Cross Road
Soho
WC2H 0EW