First, the Recap:
Isn’t it about time we all take a break and actually just CHILL?? In a time where negativity, overt suffering, self-centered attitudes, and societal unrest seems to have become a new “norm”, it is that much more imperative we seek out means to see fences mended and experience the seemingly impossible, elusive elements we need to re-enter our lives–joy and understanding. Perhaps we see it through the process of stumbling through the precise words to say to someone in order for our feelings to be known, having the wonderfully discombobulating realization the morning following a night of partying that things are NOT as they should be, or even being willing to entertain the actuality of the supernatural to glean new lessons about ourselves and how we need to progress in life. Let’s not forget that having the freedom of an “open” relationship may NOT be everything we thought when it comes to the “social” calendars in play, sacrificing everything we treasure for a greater good though pining for what we’ve left behind to do so, sitting back and taking in that fun, quirky song that makes us smile, or beating frustration into submission and reconnecting on a new level with someone we love. Ultimately, it’s all to arrive at “D@#*, I…FEEL…GOOD!!
Next, my Mind:
What I adored and admired most about the combination of films making up the 7-project “B*#@$ I Feel Good!” shorts block at the 2021 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival was the ability showcased by the filmmakers to take even circumstances that might normally be harbingers of absolute emotional chaos or heartbreaking woe and formulating them into often hilariously entertaining narratives that definitively befit the block’s foundational title, making the entire set of efforts wholly fun and noteworthy, both tickling the funny bone while also fully tugging on one’s heartstrings in a myriad of ways. I think it simply illustrates our basic need currently to be ABLE to laugh and, well, feel good even WHEN our situations aren’t always ideal, not to negate or invalidate the pain we might be enduring, but to more so acknowledge that sometimes, life IS life, things happen, and even though it can hurt, we have to realize everything DOES move forward if we’re open to it.
An immediate example was writer/director Clair Dub’s wonderfully fanciful and highly witty “Clark!” where we see Nell (Mia Jessup) having a devil of a time (riotously so, mind you!) trying to create the perfectly worded ode to her existing relationship with beau Clark (Marc Phillipe Eskenazi) to celebrate an anniversary. However, by the time her frustration finally leads to revelation and Clark makes his appearance, it’s a deliciously unexpected twist we are provided, very clever and well-written. Then we venture into the realms of what it is to NOT remain in control during a hard night of partying when the following dawn brings quite a wake-up call in writer/director Cameron Tharma’s exquisitely uproarious “French Picnic” that finds couple Chloe (Kendra Walkuski) and Will (Giovani Sandoval) discovering not only decidedly unanticipated, “The Hangover”-style issues but also a multitude of baggage they’re both carrying when it comes to their own relationship. Parisian fantasies and homo-erotic insecurities anyone? Matthieu Descamps and Jordan Goetz support in pivotal roles.
Ghost stories take a turn for the more dramatic, but also comedic and life-lesson-centric through director/producer Nat Swyer’s ultimately moving project “Greenshields”, where an unemployed NYC playwright (Cosmo Sweeney) travels to his family’s summer home in Martha’s Vineyard to close it up for the season and try to enjoy some much needed solace and alone time. However, this might work better if it wasn’t for the appearance of his great uncle Melville’s (Gabriel Gaston) spirit that turns into a perhaps even more required exercise in facing loneliness, our regrets, finding the beauty in the present, and moving forward. Open relationships and the ever-present realities of remembering to schedule things via Google Calendars take center stage in director/producer Eddie Shieh’s magnificently tongue-firmly-in-cheek poke at this style of partnership via his film “In Sync” where a young couple, Jen (Josephine Huang) and Ben (Vin Kridakorn) run into an–awkward–conflict and breaking of an established rule (amidst a LOT of rules! Quite hysterical!), leading to both argument and a mutually shared disdain for others involved by the film’s whimsically entertaining finale. Supporting turns arrive from Kira McCarthy and Jude Severin.
Venture into the outer reaches of the universe while also delving into what it is to feel both selfless and haunted by a decision that could spell the continuation or utter destruction of Earth in “Odyssey” from director Christopher Phelps and writer Joe Swiggy. When an astronaut (Marisa Roper) chooses to make a critical mission her primary goal, it brings up a wealth of recollection, contemplation, and possible life-altering regret when said choice to take it all on causes her to leave behind her love (Alina Carson). It soon spells an awakening, then realization that could be mended, or lost forever. The atmosphere takes on a slightly different and beautifully nuanced tone thanks to director Lea Zalinskis’ music video-based “Seashells”, which sees its life created through the use of stop motion animation and all the hand-cut paper cut-outs that make up the imagery witnessed, tying into the film’s namesake song from San Francisco singer/songwriter Rachel Garlin. Honestly, it’s an eccentric yet so magically enjoyable and relaxing mix of song and art that, for me, actually summarizes so much of what indie cinema is about.
Finally, everything wrapped up with a fantastically stirring dramatic film from writer/director Maisa Chiang titled “Song & Grace” that sees a touching portrait of language, cultural, familial, and even technological barriers getting shattered by newfound patience, perseverance, and shared love via a Chinese grandmother named Song (Wai Ching Ho) attempting to connect with her American granddaughter Grace (Sakura Lin) for the celebration of Song’s 75th birthday while not having the normal translator present to interpret their conversations. How this narrative progresses is so poignantly relevant and necessary I felt, and made for a totally apropos cap to this series of films shown. So, in total, the “B*#@$ I Feel Good!” short film block presented its central theme not through ALL overtly “positive” notions necessarily, but rather through the lens of real life, its ups and downs, its absurdities and absolutions, triumphs and tumult, and completely grounded humanity so that we might embrace and think upon that which makes our world and the relationships therein work, maybe then taking away the means to see our own exploits and adventures improve, evolve, and allow us to just feel GOOD.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
