Glasgow Short Film Festival

The Glasgow Short Film Festival was scheduled this year for 13-16 February. Sadly, I heard about it a bit too late, so I was only able to attend the awards ceremony, where the 4 winning short films were also projected. 

The venue was the fantastic Centre for Contemporary Arts, a place with a very 'Bohemian' atmosphere. The contrast between the visible iron girders (which made it look like an artist's studio) and the colorful light bulbs hanging from end to end of the bar downstairs (which I just found out is called 'Saramago Café') gave it a look in between youthful charm and slight cheesiness.

The first 'short film' we saw was a conversion of popular film Top Gun into a short film (they took out the key scenes and you got the 'plot' perfectly well), this made us laugh a lot and got us in the mood for some more! You can see their official account of the prizes and winners here. I'll make a list of prizes and winners and I'll tell you what I thought about them:

• The Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film 2014: 
• Winner: 'The Questioning' by Zhu Rikun

It can easily be understood why this piece won the prize. Besides the political implications about the regime in China and its easily transferable points about authorities around the world and pointless ritual bureaucracy, this film deserved the price for the very palpable tension it created. The angle at which the camera recorded the movements of the real policemen also added to this. However, its being a recording of a real-life event (even though the filmmaker was put at risk by doing this), undermines the artistic effort the other filmmakers put into their creations, especially since the runner-up ('How to Abandon Ship' by Robin McKay) was an animation film.  

• International Audience Award
• Winner: 'Yak Butter Lamp' by Hu Wei

This piece dealt with the clashing of traditions and industrialisation. Both funny and touching, it also made a point about ephemeral human relationships (in this case, those of Tibetan nomads with a passing photographer and his assistant). An uncomplicated beauty. You can watch a short clip from it here:

http://vimeo.com/77272938

• Scottish Short Film Award 2014
• Winner: 'Getting On' by Ewan Stewart

This was a perfect example of Scottish sense of humour. The first part of the short deals with a working class woman as she deals with little housewife tasks such as making breakfast for her family as they wake up one by one. After that, she goes to the shops and buys some groceries which she takes to her mother's. Up until this point, the film seems to be about how hard and unfulfilling her life is. While not denying this point, the film takes a sudden humorous turn that makes it a brilliant piece of work. The broad Scots accent present throughout is also a plus. Here's a short clip from it:

http://vimeo.com/34625642

• Scottish Audience Award 
• Winner: 'Exchange & Mart' by Cara Connolly and Martin Clark

A very pretty tale about growing up in the Highlands in the 1980's, based on real events. This piece revolves around the life of a girl boarder as she deals with the rather universal problems of teenage years. Told with sensitivity and kindness, it offers an unique insight into a small private world and the little moments that shape one's life. Really enjoyable. 

It was a very good night, the organisers were lovely and friendly, and the shorts were really good! It's a shame I didn't get to see more of them (especially the runner-ups they mentioned, they sounded very interesting!). I'm really looking forward to the (long) Film Festival this week! =)