AFFD2017: Student Short Films

Asian Film Festival 2017: Student Shorts
I know it’s my first time here but I actually enjoyed some of the greatest, most emotional shorts ever in my experience for Asian Film traditions. I seen most of the student shorts but I can’t think which names for the short films I been tracking. Here are some of them I can remember I just watched.

· Ocean Waves: a documentary short about an Asian immigrant talks about his past of boating to the island, then to America, which was Dallas, TX.

· After Taste: a short about an Asian girl who has relationship problems and issues with her boyfriend in five different taste (salty, sweet, spicy, bitter, and sour).

· The Return: A short about an ambitious artistic, violin-playing girl who seeks passion of been a great artistic through the abilities of drawing.

· Not Johnny: A short about a girl who was concern about her brother Johnny, which turn out to be imposter.

· The Red Eye: A short about a girl crushing a red gumball with a hammer.

· No Point: A short about a circle who’s was bullied by sharp shapes (such as triangle) but finds a non-sharp shape friend: oval.

· Fast Hands: A western short about a man looking for a wanted criminal.

· Not Made Up: A documentary short about girls talking about how make-up affects many occasions.

· Fish Cakes: A short about an insane man who believes the pills and water are “fish cakes.”

· The Other Brother: A short about a boy taking a test to get a perfect score in order to be accepted to a four-year institution.

· Grab a sip, Grab a sin: A short about two girls taking a drink while playing with the toy cars before passing out.

· The Fall: A short a girl developing sense of sight, hearing, and “hell.”

· Harper: A short about a teenage girl who tries to tell the truth and makes amends to her female friend who had not been in speaking terms with her ever since.

· The Classic: A documentary short about teachers sharing their favorite book or classical novel to discuss about the books’ masterpieces.

These short films, including the ones I listed, are outstanding with some good discovering elements to know about based on reality. They put some good classical music on the background and the storytelling seems emotional, especially for those people who are in a relationship with friends and families. One short film, The Return, was favorite one as it was based on my life as a violinist but also a film student and film critic.
However, I have trouble with some shorts because some parts of the short are shocking and disturbing as some of them contain bloody images and mild strong language. Seems irrational, but a little too much on the PG-Rating or No-Rating films. I didn’t like the writing on few shorts with negative contents. Also, some short films don’t center on “Asian people” literally as they’re little more shorts have different people, but it was meant to be a showcase for cultural film festivals.

Overall, these short films are amazing as these produce from any schools, such as SMU, Garland High School, and other. They put all the hard work together in film classes and video editing sessions. One thing about this is to be careful about the warning on the short films with negative contents. These could be heard in several occasions whenever the characters talk in a non-happy mood. Nevertheless, all of them are amazing under one screening.

Grade: A
(Review by Henry Pham)