MIFF 2007 Experimental & Conceptual Shorts Programme

When you walk into this programme, you know you’re going to witness some pretty abstract and crazy things. This was no exception. From strobing dots to 20 minutes of naked stop frame animation, to random lost film footage, to sped up and reversed footage of wheels rolling down hills – this collection had it all. I won’t describe each film individually, because everything all kind of melted into one horrible nightmare. There was some great stuff in there. I really loved the concept of having multiple layers of paper, and as each layer is ripped off, a different image is revealed. I also loved some of the stop frame animation techniques. However, most of the films had sequences which were incredibly repetitive, and a sound track that made you go a little bit loopy. Everything was very random and obviously had no real purpose or story. There was a lot of storing, but that was bearable compared to the horrible loud sounds coming from some of the films. Most of the films went for too long. You could easily hear the audience getting more and more frustrated and impatient as some of the films just didn’t know when to stop. Seventeen minutes of repeating footage of scary clowns, and other swaying items is really enough to make you sick. It’s worth watching this programme, if only to take away a couple of technical ideas and concepts – but I never (and I really mean never!), want to see any of these films again.