You’ve seen the trailers for the outstanding feature films we we’ve selected for the 2017 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, but if you’ve clicked on my article, perhaps like me, the thing that excites you most about a film festival is the opportunity for a big-screen binge on a cornucopia of unique stories, styles and themes that each clock in at just 3 to 30 minutes. I love a good Shorts Program. And we have one every night! That’s why I will be posting this guide to SALUTE OUR SHORTS.
Here’s Part One of a look at some of the outstanding Official Short Film Selections playing at the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival August 3 – 10 at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3
Music Box Theatre | 7:00PM
Hijo por Hijo (Child for Child)
11 mins | Venezuela & United States | Dir. Juan Avella
2017 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival kicks off on Thursday August, 3 @ 7PM with Juan Avella’s Hijo por Hijo, an intense short crime thriller about a Venezuelan kidnapper who’s last job takes an expected turn. Hijo por Hijo returns to Chicago after winning the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at the Chicago Latino Film Festival earlier this year. Avella and his cast do impressive work to keep the intensity and excitement dialed up to 11 for all 11-minutes despite all the twist-and-turn style action essentially taking place inside a single moving vehicle during a kidnapping.
This film turns the intensity up to 11, folks.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4
Music Box Theatre | 7:00PM
Lenses
5 min | United States | Dir. Becca Roth
Two female camera store employees express concern and confusion about a man who has the audacity to try to buy a camera. A male movie director? How cute. Don’t hurt yourself, bro.
L’Accompagnante (The Accompanying Dancer)
25 min | France | Dir. Karleener
Karleener’s dance film, L’accompagnante, makes its US Premiere at Blue Whiskey and we’re so thrilled to have this gem in the festival. Maryline, an elderly woman, tells the story of a friend who, in her youth, danced to accompany people in their last moments at the end of life. Maryline describes her story in the form of 8 exciting choreographies. Karleener brings together a beautiful original score, creative production design, and a very talented group of dancers to tell this passionate and emotional story of a love triangle from Maryline’s past as a young dancer. You don’t want to miss this.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5
Music Box Theatre | 7:00PM
Neighbor
11 min | United States | Dir. Tony Gaspatione
A homeless man witness a kidnapping, and when he hunts down the perpetrator he uncovers a dirty secret in suburbia. Gaspatione’s film drives awareness about a growing nationwide problem, that’s hiding under our noses in neighborhoods just like yours and mine. Neighbor is both unexpected and unsettling. This is sure to be one that viewers will be talking about. Looking forward to this in-person filmmaker Q&A.
MONDAY, AUGUST 7
Music Box Theatre | 7:00PM
That Party That One Night
15 mins | United States | Dir. Mylissa Fitzsimmons
Mylissa Fitzsimmons’s That Party That One Night wonderfully depicts the beginnings of a potential young romance. It’s the last week of high school and socially and sexually awkward Melissa has just been ditched by her friends at a party and finds herself alone with her crush.
This film is the kind of timeless, genuine, John Hughes-flick type of story that will give you butterflies. Plus we’ve paired this with British rom-com Across the River to pull on your heart-strings a little further. Bring a date and #bluewhiskeyffandchill
THURSDAY, AUGUST 10
Music Box Theatre | 7:00PM
Ya Albi
16 mins | United States | Dir. Christine Chen
Ya Albi (My Heart) is a timely story about Syrian refugee and mother-to-be, Aya, who is resettling in Louisiana and struggles to bring her husband safely into the US. Aya’s tutor and new friend offers to help. Ya Albi is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. While highly relevant to the experiences of refugees and immigrants in the U.S. right now, Chen’s film tells a story that is in many ways apolitical, and focuses on the experience of one family separated by events out of their control and the new friends that try to welcome them.
Chen writes that her film was “inspired by my parent’s journey as immigrants in the US, this film is about what it is like to be a fish out of the water. From the prejudice my parents encountered, the families who they became lifelong friends with, and the strangers who helped them along the way, I wanted to capture those poignant moments through “Ya Albi.”
Find out more about the 2017 Official Selections featured at the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival and purchase tickets at bwiff.com/schedule.
