37th cleveland international film festival :: April 3 - april 14, 2013
Film Festival Blog
March 31st, 2011 @ 7:30pm

A not-so-short post about short films

I really need to talk about some of the short film directors that I've been meeting, because they're awesome! We usually have a lot of guest filmmakers in attendance at the Festival, and this year there are a huge number of filmmakers from the short film programs. It's really cool!

One of our short filmmakers is actually a lady I've known for a few years now: our own Kailyne Waters. She runs our college outreach program -- which had its first College Day this year, and that went phenomenally -- and is also responsible for the Lights! Camera! Action Steps! flyers you've been picking up in conjunction with many of our films. This year, she's brought a film of her own to the Festival: f my c, which will play in tomorrow night's 10% Shorts Program 2 at 9:20 pm. I've got to say that I'm impressed, because I know how nonstop she's been about recruiting college students around the state, and just how many schools she hit, and how much work went into all of those Action Steps circulars... where did she find the time or energy to make a movie??? Come meet her at the showing, and cheer on our very local heroine!

Then, last night I met Brenda Lee Lau, the director of the short film Deadbeat. Her film, a psychological thriller that explores the unpredictable blendings of American and Chinese culture, is showing in our Midnight Shorts Program 3, which actually starts at 11:15 pm on Friday night. Brenda both directed the film and co-wrote it with Tad Summers. Its cast includes veteran actor François Chau, who many of you will probably recognize from Lost! Brenda and I could only talk for a few minutes, but we discovered that we both have a love of thrillers... so come see hers!

Today I got to spend some time with Doron Kipper, writer/director of Misdirection. His film, which will screen in the Midnight Shorts Program 4 (which starts at 11:30 on Saturday), is an amazing piece that you would never guess is a student film! In fact, Doron's ultimate ambition for it is to make a full-length feature based upon it; this short is, essentially, the opening chapter of a much larger story. Come see the film and you'll find yourself wanting to join his campaign to get the full-length feature made, because it's really riveting. (I think it would actually make an awesome TV show -- there's enough story potential there to last several seasons!) Doron is a delight to talk to, so stick around after the screening and catch up with him! He's doing some fundraising to keep taking the film to festivals and promote it to producers who might help him take it all the way to its full potential, so he's got some cool stuff you can get in exchange for a donation. I scored something pretty magical for myself that way, and I'm very happy that I get to help Doron pursue his dream in the process!

Look for all three of these wonderful people in Tower City Center this weekend, and if you run across them, say hi and ask them about their projects. And when you see anyone wearing a green CIFF lanyard, that's another of our brilliant filmmakers. You won't regret saying hello to them -- I know I haven't!

Posted by Lara Klaber

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