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SHORT AND SWEET RIFF's film finalists present wide range of styles

September 18, 2008 12:16 am

After hours of viewing, judges for the Rappahannock Independent Film Festival narrowed down the field to three finalists for each of the three categories in the festival's film-short competition.

Winners will be announced Sunday at 1 p.m. at The Third Floor.

Here are the finalists, as seen by one of the judges:

BEST STUDENT FILM

"419: The Nigerian Scam"

(Directed by Sorin Mihalovichi; run time: 20 mins.)

This narrative about a young professional who finds himself sucked into the world of the so-called Nigerian Scam is slightly cheesy when it comes to the actual acting, but nothing near the atrocity of health-class videos from the 1980s.

The premise comes from an actual elaborate hoax, usually originating with tantalizing e-mails that promise top-dollar rewards for assistance with money transfers.

"419" isn't your typical artsy indie film--it is conventionally shot and produced in a way easily identifiable by the average moviegoer as well done.

Showing: tonight, 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 2 p.m.

"The Lost Game"

(Directed by Asad and Shefa Moten; run time: 6 mins.)

Short but potent, "The Lost Game" is surely one of the festival highlights.

This narrative is told not only through the subtle actions and movements of its characters, but through the soccer game heard over a radio throughout. For the most part, it forgoes dialogue to preserve the tense atmosphere.

Showing: tonight, 11 p.m., and Saturday, 2:25 p.m.

"Star Bourn"

(Directed by Robert Gregson; run time: 14 mins.)

A perfectly ordinary set of parents are quite together in their normality, until a car wreck sends their daughter into extremely disturbing reclusive patterns. Though she does not seem to be causing any harm to herself or anyone else, she develops a fixation on collecting and cultivating a miniature forest of potted plants in her bedroom.

While the viewer still will not quite "get it" at the conclusion of the film, "Star Bourn" certainly is food for thought. Slightly avant-garde in presentation--and concept, for that matter--it is one of the most innovative films in the festival.

Showing: tonight, 10:40 p.m., and Saturday, 2:40 p.m.

Best Use of Theme ('Portraits')

"Who Am I?"

(Directed by Ien Chi; run time: 5 mins.)

The Rappahannock Independent Film Festival truly went international when Chi, of South Korea, submitted his entry. This short film clearly and directly addresses the theme. It seeks to define the filmmaker in multiple ways as it documents his wanderings around metropolitan South Korea.

Likened to a "jeans commercial" by preliminary judges, "Who Am I?" takes all the well-shot staying power of a Gap advertisement and meshes it with substance deeper than consumerism.

Showing: tomorrow, 5:50 p.m., and Saturday, 3:20 p.m.

"Keith"

(Directed by Evan Stroum; run time: 8 mins.)

Stroum's documentary suffers from only one thing: a lack of length. The viewer understands this cut-off, though, because of the sheer rawness in the footage that does exist.

The filmmaker followed Keith, a homeless man, around his city, asking him about his plans and thoughts on his situation. It does not paint a pretty picture, nor does it over-dramatize for cinematic effect.

"Keith" is about a real individual--a man whom one yearns to see in full color after this well-executed but vague silhouette.

Showing: tonight, 11:15 p.m., and Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

"Reverie"

(Directed by Paula Wood; run time: 7 mins.)

Warning: This short narrative is a tear-jerker. Framing the worldview of Margaret, a young girl with an abusive father and a traumatic past, it is somewhat disheartening with respect to humanity.

Fortunately, it is brilliantly well done, with sharp imagery and poignant acting, matched with great editing and camera work. Though it is a work of fiction, the story is made to feel all too real.

Showing: tonight, 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 3:45 p.m.

BEST OF SHOW

"Trailer Trash"

(Directed by Don Diego Ramirez; run time: 53 mins.)

This film journal, created as a "home video," begins in a trailer park, but expands into a conglomeration of interviews, media clips and in-the-moment filmmaking as the family crumbles and unfolds. A too-outlandish-to-believe, too-intricate-to-make-up, very real series of events strikes the Ramirez family, pulling them into a string of death, murder, trial and jail time.

A goal of the film is to present the title for the irony that it holds. "Trailer Trash" ensures that the viewer will never again use the derogatory term to explain the condition and social patterns of those who live in mobile-home parks. Each member of the Ramirez family has infinite depth, and a story to create and retell, proving that no one is ever "trash."

Showing: tomorrow, 6 p.m., and Saturday, 7 p.m.

"Hot Flash"

(Directed by Sarah Knight; run time: 40 mins.)

Saffire--The Uppity Blues Women got its start right here in Fredericksburg. Yet many in the younger set are not familiar with the trio's ample talent. Their rise from the making-ends-meet lifestyle of single motherhood to Saffire's current stature as record-selling, traveling blues musicians is impressive on its own--but Knight's documentary details things even further.

The music is, as expected, extremely well put-together, with Saffire tracks in the background and performed live in the film. Music-based documentaries can often be tedious for the non-fan. But the group's in-your-face feminism and often raunchy lyrics are powerful enough to captivate even chauvinists and close-minded music snobs.

Showing: tonight, 6 p.m., and Saturday, 8 p.m.

"Vieques: Diary of a Struggle"

(Directed by Marika Suval; run time: 35 mins.)

The "struggle" referred to in the title is one invisible to most American history books--after all, a country doesn't often write negatively about its actions in recent years.

Vieques, an island of the United States territory of Puerto Rico, was, until 2003, a naval base, used for bomb-dropping tests. Such actions were taken without consideration for the health and welfare of the island's inhabitants and, therefore, sparked a string of protests.

Suval's film documents this injustice, as it is seen from the eyes of the people--particularly a grandmother who has watched her descendants succumb to cancer and her beloved island squashed into a mere fraction of itself.

In addition to the achievement of bringing such a concern to a larger American audience (albeit after the Navy abandoned the site), the film deserves credit for its remarkable direction and presentation.

Showing: tomorrow, 10 p.m., and Saturday, 8:45 p.m.

--Brinkley Sharpe