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100 Words on Jo Southwell's Deirdre (2016)
In her Cannes-bound short film, Deirdre (2016), writer-director Jo Southwell provides a glimpse into her gestating feature-length adaptation of an Irish folktale. Within a crisp 15-minute runtime, Southwell introduces the titular heroine (India Mullen), her fanatically-religious mother (Elaine Fox), and her absent, mysterious father (Zeb Moore). In addition to its mythological roots, the short makes some intriguing allusions to classic genre films; the violent mother locking her “sinful” daughter in a closet, as well as a disturbing bath scene, call to mind DePalma’s Carrie (1976). The film ends with a tantalizing cliffhanger, leaving much room for exploration in the feature.
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100 Words on Patricia Chica's Morning After (2017)
Patricia Chica’s 2017 Cannes short, Morning After, unflinchingly charts the evaporating notion of concrete gender dichotomies. Returning to Montreal from a trip abroad, Michael (Thomas Vallieres) finds himself redefining his sexuality over the course of an increasingly-erotic welcome home party. Other than some off-the-cuff philosophical observations (if the universe is constantly changing, why shouldn’t humans?), Kristian Hodko’s script is light on its feet; the actors, both male and female, inhabit their characters with a laid-back ease. Dop Martin Bouchard’s cinematography, reminiscent of Aguirresarobe’s work in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, bathes both the characters and their home city in a sensual glow.
By Thomas Puhr
