First, the Recap:
To drink. Imbibe. Soak up. Indulge. Immerse. If one might take these terms to their literal, first-thought-of meaning, it sounds like we’re in for one wild night of partying and the drunkenness that will most likely follow. Yet, let’s look beyond that more common train of thought to another aspect of said words that lean towards being descriptors of the ways by which we as humans take in our surroundings, circumstances, and the subsequent affects. It might be through basic imagery flashing before us that signals our own internal chaos amidst a year of everyone else experiencing it. Or, it could be the pitfalls of one of the most prolific forms of “news” and communication in existence today. Might it take the form of trying to overcome our fears that we see ourselves facing and absorbing? Perhaps it’s the straightforward realities of what a certain pandemic did to our own self and life assessments while in forced seclusion. Is it a picture of who someone is and their struggle for recognition, respect, and redemption via one of the likewise most common elements we trod upon daily? Then, it could be the beauty of childhood during a celebrated holiday that needed the reminder of uncomplicated innocense. Life. Reality. Drink it in, people, then contemplate.
Next, my Mind:
Given the cornerstone title of this 6-film short block that screened at the 2021 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, it would be far too easy, yet fully understandable, that you would believe all the projects associated with it had something to do with drinking and its often erratic aftermaths, ending in a usually not-so-graceful return to our places of residence to sleep it off. However, and yet one more time, thanks to the indie film genre and the more creative, dare I say original artists behind it, we instead were entreated more to the metaphorical than the literal, embarking in an adventure that chooses to showcase both national and individual issues, opinions, and actualities through wholly expressive, imaginative, inspired, and sometimes experimental efforts that make us as the viewer sit back and both consume and then digest what we’ve seen and how it all applies so relevantly to the societal conditions we currently reside within. Whether only a few minutes or twenty-plus in length, these films made a highly memorable impact.
Director Tom Bessoir takes us on a journey told solely through constantly strobing lights and equally surreal musical accompiament (courtesy of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore) in “2020”, one of the more blatantly experimental projects that aimed to display said colorful visuals as an emblematic, “flicker film” depiction of a year that saw us a people face one of the most disrupted 12 months we’ve ever known, cementing it in our minds as one year we were thankful to see vamoose, yet will also never forget. In “Triggered” from writer/director/producer/choreographer Ariyan Johnson, the visual display of how a deeply rooted facet of our everyday lives–social media–impacts us is smartly conceived and astutely executed through both music and dance to illustrate how we’re fed, destroyed, then revived again by all we’re bombarded with (for good or ill) thanks to its influence, only to then remind us just how out of touch and more IN touch we should be with that which is immediately around us and that holds far more significance. The film featured Janelah Villanueva, Cierra Torres, Naomi Sagen, Violeta Lemoh, Eleanor Simmons, Emily James, Anna Medina, Kendal Curtis, and Kyla Chaney.
The not often seen art of miming and the amazingly potent emotional power it can convey is put on display through writer/director/cinematographer Drake Woodall’s short “Gestura” that sees a mime performer named Marion (Carmen Julia) facing her inner demons associated with stage fright in a unexpectedly impactful performance that is highlighted by the most feared distractions, sense of overwhelming pressure, and weight of being almost “smothered” in self-doubt an actor might face and the means by which they may attempt to cope with it. We then returned to COVID-19 and the still harsh remnants of what it was to be made to quarantine in director Jessie Brown’s “Riddle Passageways” that follows a young woman named Jessie who always longs to be present for her family’s Easter tradition–a riddle-centric Easter egg hunt–but has to self-isolate for 14 days at home, causing an inward state of reflection both harried and revealing amidst the sheer frustration to have an end to her separation. Then it becomes a question if “rejoining” the world outside is actually any different than when alone, while also making a wonderfully touching statement about childhood vs. adulthood–freedom vs. reality.
Tackling the fully present and certainly hotbed topics of police brutality and sense of identity that’s under attack in the Black community remains no less than a daunting but utterly necessary task in this time of social upheaval. Writer/director/producer Helanius J. Wilkins and director/producer Roma Flowers dive wholeheartedly, candidly, and with bluntly skillful finesse into this entire plight via their effort “Dirt”. Another project utilizing the mediums of imagery, movement, and music in tandem, we are given a look at these struggles via intelligently produced pictures using the sediment the effort’s title indicates as an allegorical tool depicting the community’s hardships while also promoting through it all growth, roots, stronger foundations, and a people rediscovering the means to branch out and thrive. Finally, the block ended with the most ultimately heartwarming film of the group, writer/director Daniel James McCabe and producer Emma Ishta’s sweetly powerful testament to the wonder and perseverance of childhood in “Quarantween” that sees a spacesuit-clad boy navigating Halloween and trick-or-treating in NYC during lockdown, the initial discouragement, and the final triumphant, stirring moments that touch the heart.
The project featured Javier Molina, Delissa Reynolds, and Torin James McCabe. So, in total, the “America Drinks and Goes Home” short block was a that exercise in reminding us just how dynamically the elements and events around us can compel, sway, pressure, control, and drastically effect our existence yet still allow us to make the choices that lead to those much needed places of encouragement, hope, and realization that if we’re willing to accept and truly WORK for it TOGETHER, things WILL get better. Proceed to take a NICE, LARGE swig of that sought after emotional liquid and let it sink in for further scrutiny. Whether you do this at home or not, well, we’ll leave that up to you.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
