Being surrounded by people in floods of tears doesn't suggest an enjoyable evening. On this occasion, it was in response to a deeply moving film,
When Mom is Gone, at the Edinburgh Short Film Festival. Zeynep Kecelier's film was the clear highlight of an evening of films at the Voodoo Rooms under the banner of 'The Ties that Bind Us'. Beautifully shot in Afghanistan, this short documentary told the tale of a single father, dealing with his wife's death and looking after his young family.
When Mom is Gone did not romanticise but instead dwelt on the daily exertions that the family went through just to keep going. From the early morning starts (the young child grumpy about being woken and wandering about in a zombified state was a wonderfully resonant section) to the milking of the goats to the long days, cleaning and mending. All the time trying to keep warm and keep together in this harsh, mountainous zone. The fate of 'mom' was rarely mentioned but clearly shaped every aspect of the family's attempts to remain bound together. The audience were transfixed throughout and very quiet at the end, their emotions having been thoroughly shaken.
The recent closure of the Filmhouse hung over the evening. It dominated the pre-show chatter, with several ex-Filmhouse employees present. As the audience arrived, sheltering from the cold and damp outside, the 'awful news' was still clearly being absorbed. The Edinburgh International Film Festival will also close due to the collapse of the Filmhouse's parent company, the Centre for the Moving Image. This news has been percolating through Scotland's cultural cognoscenti over the last few weeks.
Should the building be lost, some argue that Edinburgh's international cultural reputation would be at risk. Prior to the showing, an employee of the Filmhouse briefly spoke, urging those present to support the Save the Filmhouse campaign. Their initial focus was to get some redundancy pay to those who had only been working at the cinema for less than three years. This background emphasised the importance of events such as the Short Film Festival in promoting the continuing value of film and cinema.
There was a real intensity to the evening, with little time to pause and reflect. An intermission might have helped. As it turned out, a technical issue halted the fifth film,
Drink my Life, allowing a 10-minute break while it was sorted out backstage. The groans of frustration from the director as their film abruptly froze after a minute, and then continued to freeze, were very audible. Perhaps, watching the first half a second time will have helped the audience absorb this darkly comic piece on alcoholism. The magical realist aspects of the film were perhaps more difficult to grasp than the humorous, farcical parts.
The Italian short film,
Inchei, successfully created a stifling atmosphere. The lengthy shots of the actors smoking (cigarettes and weed) ratcheted up the intensity. The film was perhaps more effective as a tonal work than a coherent narrative. The muddied character of the storyline perhaps represented the stoned consciousness of the characters; youngsters lacking purpose and clarity. The film brought out well the way that teenagers often behave so differently among their peers than when confronted by situations (such as relationships) which require more genuine communication, without the protective 'shield' of banter. That is, it depicted teenage confusion well.
A highly topical opening film,
Go Home, focused on the lengthy process of claiming asylum in the UK. It depicted the psychological difficulties faced by the applicants. It also examined the dilemmas of those conducting the tortuous interviews, pressured by those above them to 'reduce the numbers'. In truth, the political aspects of the film lacked subtlety. The 'Take Back Control' posters on the side of the centre made the political points a bit obvious. I don't think the audience needed such prodding; the perspective of the film was not difficult to work out.
Recipes for Baking Bread made for a nice change of pace and style after the heartache of the Afghan film. Stylish and engaging, Sara Nesteruk's work was a collage of sound and archival image, focusing on Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933. The focus on Ukraine emphasises that country's important role as a food producer, as well as long-running tensions with Russia.
The final film,
All My Mom's Phone Calls, brought the intensity up to a final peak. The stop motion film depicted the way that phone calls can be invasive and all consuming. It showed the mother trapped in her kitchen, fielding calls all day long, expected to be perpetually available. It connected directly to the core themes of the evening, the ties of family and friendship, and the difficulties inherent to these relationships. It illustrated that constantly talking deprives you of much needed time to pause and reflect.
A short moment of peace literally and figuratively erased the clutter surrounding the woman and gave her space in which to find calmness. As sounds of the harsh ring of the phone restarted, the kitchen filled up, as if the home of the most extreme hoarder. Due to its sheer intensity, it was a relief when the piece ended. This illustrated the skill of the film-making involved.
Soon after, the audience filtered out into the cold. They were given much to think about by the films. 'Ties that Bind Us' demonstrated the value of short films as an art form with great potential to stimulate and move an audience. Tears of laughter and emotion were present on the night. Apart from this evening at the Voodoo Rooms, Summerhall is the main home of the festival which has a mission to bring 'some of the world's best short films to Edinburgh'. Certainly, the sheer range of styles and the variety of emotions engendered helped create a richly stimulating evening. The evening also reaffirmed the deeply immersive character of watching on the big screen.
Charlie Ellis is a researcher and EFL teacher who writes on culture, education and politics
