These short films screened before separate feature-length films in the theatrical presentation of the festival, but were collected into this program for the streaming encore
Femme Rage, dir. Sarah Taborga & Aïma Paule, 2023, USA, 3 min. 💖
Fish Boy (魚仔), dir. Christopher Yip (葉穎輝), 2023, Canada, 11 min., in English and Cantonese with English subtitles 👏
I Can See the Sun but I Can’t Feel It Yet, dir. Joseph Wilson, 2023, UK, 18 min. 💖 • 🌎 North American première
Le roi qui contemplait la mer (A King, Gazing at the Sea), dir. Jean-Sébastien Chauvin, 2022, France, 24 min., in Greek, English, and French 😐
Knowing Me, Knowing You, dir. Fernando Andrés, Jacob Roberts, & Tyler Rugh, 2023, USA, 15 min. 👎
Some Day All This Will Be Yours, dir. Cricket Arrison, 2023, USA, 11 min. 💩 • 🌐 World première
Sob influência (Under the Influence), dir. Ricardo Branco, 2022, Portugal, 20 min., in Portuguese with subtitles 💩 • 🌎 North American première
Femme Rage, dir. Sarah Taborga & Aïma Paule, 2023, USA, 3 min., fully open captioned, with Audio Description available 💖
screened with Clashing Differences (not reviewed)
part of “Homegrown: The Sun Tarot” shorts program
• 🌐 World première at QWOCMAP23
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| Femme Rage |
A group of QTBIPOC Femmes, across the gender spectrum, rally to unleash their rage about living, surviving, and thriving within a cishetero-capitalist-white supremacist patriarchy. It’s a powerful expression of anger and resolve, definitely a MUST SEE.
Fish Boy (魚仔), dir. Christopher Yip (葉穎輝), 2023, Canada, 11 min., in English and Cantonese with English subtitles 👏
screened with Golden Delicious
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| Fish Boy |
Patrick (Ian Chen of Fresh Off the Boat, pictured) is a 16-year-old Asian Canadian boy, an avid swimmer, struggling with his love for God and the messages he often hears from church and society. As he explores questions of faith, love, and polyamory, something changes in his skin.
It’s a well-made short, definitely highly recommended.
I Can See the Sun but I Can’t Feel It Yet, dir. Joseph Wilson, 2023, UK, 18 min. 💖
screened with Anhell69 (not reviewed)
• 🌎 North American première
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| I Can See the Sun but I Can’t Feel It Yet |
The shocking reality is that in the United Kingdom, as of June 2023, a bill to ban conversion therapy is still working its way through Parliament, five years after the Tory government announced that it would “work towards” a total ban on conversion therapy, including in religious settings. The ban has the backing of the Church of England, as well as the NHS.
I Can See the Sun but I Can’t Feel It Yet is a powerful statement of the limitless pain caused by conversion therapy and the indomitable spirit of queerness that will not be quashed. MUST SEE.
• IMDb page • Official website • trailer (n/a) •
Le roi qui contemplait la mer (A King, Gazing at the Sea), dir. Jean-Sébastien Chauvin, 2022, France, 24 min., in Greek, English, and French 😐
screened with Fogo Fátuo (Will-o’-the-Wisp)
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| Le roi qui contemplait la mer |
Paul (Loic Djani, pictured) is on holiday at the seaside in Greece. He sees a man who becomes his erotic obsession. He watches him from afar, returning the same time the next day to watch him again. He has dinner with a friend and tells him about this man he’s been watching. It really didn’t seem like enough to fill 24 minutes. Not particularly recommended, although you could certainly do worse.
Knowing Me, Knowing You, dir. Fernando Andrés, Jacob Roberts, & Tyler Rugh, 2023, USA, 15 min. 👎
screened with Rotting in the Sun
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| Knowing You |
Daniel is unemployed and recently single, leaving him with lots of time on his hands. His flatmate, a therapist, is working from home temporarily, so Daniel occupies himself with eavesdropping on her sessions with clients, and one in particular. He finally decides to contrive to meet the client and strike up a relationship with him, but of course the plan ultimately comes crashing down. From the team that brought you Three Headed Beast (Frameline46, not reviewed).
It’s a pretty creepy, cringe-inducing plotline, without enough humor to redeem it. Not recommended.
Some Day All This Will Be Yours, dir. Cricket Arrison, 2023, USA, 11 min. 💩
screened with birth/rebirth (not reviewed)
• 🌐 World première
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| Some Day All This… |
A pregnant woman makes a video for her unborn child, showing them the places in the house where she has cried, the place where the dog used to flop out halfway up the stairs, and sundry weird stuff in a crumbling house that doesn’t seem to have seen much life in the last half century. It’s billed as “a queer autofiction comedy/horror,” but it’s just creepy and pointless. Quite possibly the worst film in this year’s festival. Do yourself a favor and AVOID this film.
• IMDb page • Official website • trailer • Twitter: @CricketArrison • Instagram: @CricketCricketCricket •
Sob influência (Under the Influence), dir. Ricardo Branco, 2022, Portugal, 20 min., in Portuguese with subtitles 💩
screened with Playland
• 🌎 North American première
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| Sob influência |
Three people go to a house in rural Portugal for a wild weekend of psychedelic drugs, swimming in the pool, and playing video games, but a mysterious figure in the woods at night brings a darker edge to the excursion. Creepy and pointless. The closing credits have a strobing effect that is at best super annoying and very well might be a problem for photosensitive viewers. Enthusiastically NOT RECOMMENDED.
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