The June 2021 edition of the Calgary Independent Film Festival is held in Calgary, Alberta. Many awards have been given out to the talented filmmakers in various categories for the June 2021 season. Here are some award winners and semi-finalist films worth watching from the Calgary Independent Film Festival April 2021 season.
#MYCORONA – Category: Best Romance (Long Feature Film)
Director: Phil Gorn, United States
#MyCorona is a romantic comedy that takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic and a stay-at-home order has been issued. The story is about isolated residents in an apartment who are looking for something to do and eventually decided to meet other residents in the same apartment building. What’s hilarious about this situation is that they learn a little too much of each other.
INVISIBLE HAND – Category: Best Experimental Feature
Director: Matthew Taylor, United States
This experimental feature is shot in a film-style letter-box in black-and-white and is about a girl who lives a mundane routine until was given a gift from a man. This gift caused her to snap out of her routine and to face a past traumatic experience to help relieve of a dark cloud that was looming over her. Dialogue is minimal as the memories show the moving pictures in her head throughout this short film, ‘Invisible Hand’.
HONOUR (METOOMETOO) – Category: Best Student Feature
Director: Tamás Bori, Hungary
The #MeToo movement was a major shift in the film and theatre industry, where this film focuses on a middle-aged theatre director who abuses his power to sexually abuse his cast members and hides behind the fact that he is doing things to bring the best performance out of his actors. This film also focuses on the struggles with his wife who feels unhappy with her relationship with the theatre director and also challenges the inappropriate things he does with his students. It is a film that is much needed to bring awareness to the #MeToo movement.
RABBIT AND BEAR – Category: Best Short Animation
Director: Congbo Zhao, China
The 3D animation short of ‘Rabbit and Bear’, has demonstrated what a one-man crew can do. This is a children’s educational short focusing on life, health, and the relationship between the parent and child of a rabbit and a bear. This is an incredibly well-done 3D animation and the colors used is a nice touch to give appealing visuals to keep children engaged in watching this short. It is catered to Mandarin-speaking children, and certainly one can learn a lot from this film.
GRACE – Category: Best War (Short Film)
Director: Brian Patto, Australia
A loving father is doing everything to protect his daughter Grace from the war happening in Iraq. He does everything he can in his power to prevent Grace’s exposure to what is happening out in the streets, and plays games like hide-and-seek to keep her entertained and pretend that nothing violent is happening around them. This is a beautiful short film showcasing how much a father has to go through to do anything to protect the innocence of his young daughter.
MAN ALONE – Category: Best Science Fiction (Short Film)
Director: Brandon Normon, Canada
Imagine a world with no oxygen. Only one man living in a suit with an oxygen tank is set out to find air so he can restore the human civilization. This interesting sci-fi film has minimal dialogue, but the silent on camera actions speak for the situation going on in this short film. Some nice special and visual effects have been used throughout the movie, giving the feeling of a post-apocalyptic era and also the feelings of distress and claustrophobia during the man’s mission.
NICKY – Category: Best Student Short
Director: Eb Mensah, Canada
‘Nicky’ is a man who has and alcohol and drug addiction and is struggling to deal with which path he wants to take to either get help, or take a darker path. The director Eb Mensah is also the lead role in this short and is his very first short film project he submitted to the film festival.