Calf
Jamie O'Rourke
15 mins.
For the love of a handbrake…
In only a quarter of an hour, unexpected justice is meted out just as a newborn calf is brought to life in, hopefully, a much happier world.
There’s an eerie tension in O’Rourke’s (who also wrote the script) production as a routine farm birth inadvertently (but oh so deservedly) morphs into a fitting triumph for the downtrodden.
Isabelle Connolly is wonderfully understated as a young woman, Cáit, who purposely holds back more than she dare tell (likely as well in countless other scenes not described here). Mother Aine is rendered in a most believably stoic fashion by Kate Nic Chonaonaigh. And as the purveyor of misery past and present, Stephen Hogan near wordlessly reveals everything that thoughtful viewers will realize before the final curtain. JWR
Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen?
Eisha Marjara
25 mins., NFB, DOC NYC
The near-deadly allure of skinny jeans
Here’s a courageous biopic that ought to become required viewing for anyone not satisfied with the body in which they were born.
Eisha and slightly younger sister Seema (from India, living in Trois Rivières) opt to go on a “twin” diet in order to effortlessly slip into the clothing of their fashion magazine dreams. Meanwhile, Mom (unable to get a job as a teacher due to her accent) passes the day by cooking up caloric feasts that will, hopefully, remind her of home and sooth some of their disappointments.
Shamelessly, boldly Eisha allows archived footage of her skeletal body (eventually requiring hospitalization) on the screen. This may be hard to look at for some (still not as horrifying as those starving to death in Gaza, Sudan…), but gives the film’s potent message an undeniable truth.
Someone you know withering away? Send them a link to this important film. JWR
Hairy Legs
Andrea Dorfman
17, mins., NFB, DOC NYC
When Hairy Met Animé
Here’s a wonderfully inventive film (not unrelated to a cocoon becoming a butterfly, above) that women and girls of all ages (and their true admirers) will find helpful, original and satisfying.
How we look to the rest of the world has been a topic of life since Adam and Eve. Changing our bodies to suit their expectations (and sometimes our own) can lead to calamitous results. Being honestly ourselves, likewise, more often takes inner courage than easy acceptance (on both sides of the human ledger).
See for yourself and then, perhaps, revisit the need to “lather up” for mere cosmetic reasons.
And a special shout-out to Daniel Ledwell’s original score (notably the piano and stand-up bass interventions) that are at one with Dorfman’s expertly crafted animations—even in the credits! JWR
A Good Day Will Come
Amir Zargara
26, mins.
Wrestling with the world
Zarash (done up convincingly by Sia Alipour) is both a rising wrestling superstar and an activist with a conscience in Iran. But not even his skills on the mat can save him from an oppressive regime that, like so many dictators elsewhere, is more intent upon putting down their oppressors than lifting them up to some semblance of humanity.
Thank goodness those days are over… JWR
paSSive poWer
JB Gohman
11, mins.
Truly an installation of self
What to say about a man in a white-lined body suit, surrounded, at times, by thoughts and words, happily dancing, boldly outlined, encouraging all comers to “say the words” and breathe slowly.
Nothing to say, it is to experience.
Hmm, on another level, SSW = sick sad world?
It is to discover for yourselves. JWR