These four shorts are long in truth, insight and also offer a unique perspective into release for cash (on both sides of the screen), paradise glimpsed as well as a pair of schoolyard dramas still playing out daily around the globe.
Wham, Bam. mr Pam
Nicolas Kazamia
2014, 23 mins.
The Joy of Porn
For those who have ever wondered just what goes on behind the scenes on a gay porn set and anyone bored out of their tree with their jobs, a look at Kazamia’s short but oh so sweet study of the wold according to Pam is highly recommended.
Knowing that life can be all too brief (having lost her father and younger sister within the span of a year), mr Pam (the film will explain just how the Asian sounding name ended up as the nom de plume for a robust, life-loving Caucasian female) happily ditched a career in the news gathering side of our digital world to eagerly (and very literally) embrace the universe of unabashedly sexual gay pornography.
From selecting her “dick of the day” as first task to ensuring that every splash of juicy goo is fully recorded during the, er, shoot, in a glory hole booth on location in a San Francisco bar (Andrew Fitch and Ashton Webber giving their all with hard-on professionalism that might have some hitting the rewind button—yes, Virginia, fully engorged penises are on display but always very tastefully), Pam’s absolutely infectious love of her vocation gives this production an engaging tone that, somehow, pushes the nudity into the background. (And any film that can work in a bass clarinet as the accompaniment to “difficult to shoot straight guys” displays a depth of inventiveness all too rare in the cinema these days.)
Unlike most porn, viewers will watch to the end credits and come away enriched from the honesty and joie de vivre of doing what comes naturally. JWR
Sebastian
Ricky Bryant
2014, 10 mins.
Take a chance on love
The famously named (cross-reference below) Argentine visitor to Toronto has a smile for the ages and a sudden week-long romance with a white bread Canadian who is largely fluent in Spanish. Exchanging sweet nothings and a vinyl farewell gift in a record shop leads to a very loud bar for a few shots of whisky before Sebastian must head off to the airport on a snowy eve or miss his “this is it” flight. Although, “I could stay…” adds a dramatic possibility to the difficult adieu.
Anyone who has been smitten by a sudden fling, featuring “the best fucking of my life,” will identify with the hometown man’s dilemma. But perhaps he can outrun his conservative nature. Because, as the lyrics say, “I can’t keep crying all of the time…” JWR
Antes de Palavras (Before Words)
Diego Carvalho Sá
2013, 14 mins.
Love amongst the stacks
Sá has most definitely mastered the fine art of showing rather than telling. The young love of bookworm Célio, his wiser-than-her-years girlfriend, Sofia, both come under the influence of “new boy” (well, mostly) Dário whose return to his former school ignites a torrent of emotions and lingering glances.
Sure, sometimes the future is best left a mystery, but only if those putting off the inevitable are doing so out of blissful ignorance rather than purposeful avoidance. Let’s hope a feature from Sá will soon get a green light. JWR
Uitgesproken (Caged)
Lazlo and Dylan Tonk
2013, 14 mins.
Finally on the right track
Just who is in the cage may well be in the eye of the beholder as the friendship of two track and field buddies is faced with a crisis after Niels realizes that he’d rather kiss another boy than his apparent date, Michelle. Hanging out with other insecure but oh-so-macho pals, best bud David is conflicted but—in order to maintain his own sad sense of manliness—doesn’t hesitate to cowardly vandalize Niels’ new beau’s property. David’s girlfriend, Stella—a budding fag hag if there ever was one, has known all along, which only inflames her man’s inner-anger the more: “I’m sure I would have known,” he spits out even before the obvious is confirmed in a courageous kiss for tormented and tormentors alike to witness.
How many more bashings (literal, emotional, or once-removed) could be avoided if the Tonks’ message could find a wider audience than the “community.” JWR