by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which just ended, received more than 6,000 short film entries that were whittled down to 46 selections from 20 countries. Shorts curator Sharon Badal, who programs with her colleague, Ben Thompson, chatted with MovieJawn about this year’s short film selections. 

MovieJawn: What observations do you have about this year’s crop of shorts?  

Sharon Badal: We spent a lot of time thinking about the festival this year, in particular about our audience and the fact that we were going to screen in person. We really considered what people were missing, and that became the basis for the programs. For example, the “Art and Soul” program (the music documentary shorts) was anchored by the short, Blondie: Vivir En La Habana. We saw other films that made us think about a program specifically about music and dance and art—that was something the audience was missing. 

When we put together the international program, we were thinking about spanning the globe; that everyone was missing travelling. That’s why we called it “Let’s Fly Away.” As we are watching, this year, in particular, was very challenging because it was very lonely. We didn’t have meetings with our associate programmers. Ben and I didn’t sit face to face until February or March. Programming on the phone, or on zoom, or not having in-depth discussions, made us feel—as we were watching all these films—there were way too many stories about COVID. New York went into lockdown first, and it was horrible here. People are finally getting out. They don’t want to see a movie about COVID. It was impossible to avoid because there were so many films about COVID, but we had to think about them in a way to not have them overwhelm the selections. But there has to be a presence because that is the zeitgeist, so we went lighter, intentionally. I’m not saying “lighter” as in “funny ha-ha,” I’m saying “lighter” as in it can be a really strong drama but there is a note of hope at the end. We wanted optimism. This year, we leaned away from devastating; we’re devastated enough. Our programs reflect the hopeful optimism. We got a wacky comedy program, “Straight Up with a Twist.” 

MJ: Two films I saw that specifically referenced COVID. The narrative drama, Leylak, and the animated short, There are Bunnies on Fire in the Forest. What are your thoughts about the COVID-themed shorts this year? 

SB: How to Fall in Love in a Pandemic is about two people who meet—a woman goes to visit a man in Ireland—and they have lockdown. They don’t even know each other and are suddenly locked down together. The guy is a filmmaker, and he says, “I have to start recording this. It is such a bizarre situation.” Bunnies is just funny, and to have a funny take on COVID. Too soon? No, not too soon! This might be someone’s first time they are seeing a shorts program, but it may also be the first film they go to see a film because it’s screening outside and they feel safe. Leylak really captured so much of the heartbreak of March and April [2020] here. It’s impossible to avoid—nor should we avoid it—but it’s got to be handled delicately, and in a way that makes sense within the programs. 

MJ: I noticed a theme of cultural appropriation in Liza Anonymous, but I also thought about cross-cultural appreciation in Esther in Wonderland. What observations do you have about these two New York New York entries? They played well against each other. 

SB: Esther in Wonderland is really great because it is set in a specific time period in New York. It is authentic to that character’s grappling with her culture, and identity, and friendships that develop in a very different way. Liza Anonymous is one of those films that is just a fun ride. I wondered as I was watching it: how were they going to end it? I thought they did it in a very clever way. Essentially, it’s about finding your tribe. That tribe doesn’t have to look like you or sound like you. And we’re always looking for comedies—you need to laugh. I think the animated program may be the strongest we’ve had. There are some really beautiful films in that program.

MJ: Rounding out that New York shorts program, I saw No Longer Suitable for Use, which is a film I am going to chew on for a while. It features some topical social issue messages but without giving too much away, lets viewers continue the story after it’s over. This is a really interesting short. How do you want viewers to process it? I love its ambiguity.  

SB: I think it’s about a specific situation that occurred here—it is based on a true story—and I think, at its root, the story is about what would you do for your family? How far do you go, and what do you do to protect your family? In a way, that’s what Leylak is about, too. Even though No Longer Suitable for Use has a different storyline, at its root, it is about someone who cares deeply for his family and has to make a moral and ethical decision. I love films that pose ethical dilemmas and makes the audience think: What would I have done in that circumstance?
MJ: You brought back another favorite program, the music documentary shorts, this year called “Art and Soul.” There is an inspiring short Resist: The Resistance Revival Chorus and Blondie: Vivir En La Habana which is a fun chronicle of the seminal band’s visit to Cuba. What can you say about the appeal of these shorts? 

SB: If you see the program as a whole, every piece has a different style to it. You’re getting this mixtape. You have choral music (Resist), and then Thirsty, which is a fun music video. You have 19 Seventy Free: Part 1, which echoes the contemporary racial issues in a retro Earth, Wind, and Fire-y vibe of music. You have Unspoken, from Denmark, which has an extraordinary male ballet dancer. The subject of the film lost his father during COVID and wanted to create a dance for him as a homage and this what he did. It makes you cry, but not in a bad way. Silence which is from the UK, has ballet and rap music in it. It is about a young man who wants to dance ballet. The “ride” of that program—the energy of each piece individually and collectively—will make people feel so happy and upbeat at the end.

MJ: I found the two sports shorts I saw from documentary shorts program, “Go Big,” to be quite inspiring. Nando, which you mentioned, is charming, and arguably too short. Joe Buffalo was affecting and a short that wasn’t about what it was about. The film profiles an indigenous skateboarder, but it is really a rallying call against the Residential schools that harmed indigenous people.

SB: Nando has an extraordinary situation of young boy in a favela looking at the stadium he never gets to go to. It’s a wonderful story about humanity, and the documentary filmmaker did not just shoot it, but he helped create the optimistic ending. And that is what is intentionally reflected in our selections this year. There are a lot of dramas, but we stayed away from depressing. 

I think Joe Buffalo is a real character profile and that’s what I describe the program as: risk, reward, and redemption. Learning to Drown in that program is, to me, extraordinary. It starts out as a snowboard-y profile piece but, boy, it has a punch to it, and some resilience to it. We look for different stories that our audiences have probably not seen before. That’s why Joe Buffalo is so great for this program. A story about an [Indigenous] skateboarder who grew up in residential schools is something I’m guessing a lot of our audience doesn’t know what it is. And I love when docs expose you to a world that you would not be privy to. 

MJ: That’s why I pick the films I do to watch!

SB: There’s one that’s in our virtual festival that is only going to play online. It’s called Desert Dogs and it’s from Switzerland but it’s about skateboarders from Morocco. One of the kids in the film says, “We’re telling a story about Morocco that you’ve never seen”—and it’s true. We have tunnel vision of what we imagine when we hear “Morocco,” and these kids are great. And it’s beautifully shot, too. Sport shorts are very popular. But if you can look at them as not just about the sport that the subject but what is the story of the person, and how different that is, and what does that tell you about them? It’s not about just the sport.

MJ: Coded was a terrific documentary short about advertising illustrator J. C. Leyendecker, a man I didn’t know about, and the film tied his life to Jari Jones, a contemporary black trans model. In contrast, Magnolia Bloom was an engaging narrative short about racism, set in the 1950s, that lets viewers draw their own parallels to today. I am curious about your thoughts on these kinds of storytelling strategies.

SB: It’s easier to do in a doc than in a narrative. Magnolia Bloom is based on a true story. I’ve seen a lot of docs that address past and present together. There are quite a few films in this program that do that—Radical Love is one of them. There are different aspects where you’re looking behind and looking around and that is a very effective way to do a documentary, because a filmmaker has the historical material that has come before, and they can put it in a context that addresses the contemporary issues as well. It’s more difficult with narrative shorts. Magnolia Bloom is a student film, and she is a filmmaker to watch. 

MJ: Enjoy tackled a significant topic, depression, but in a way that leaves viewers feeling hopeful as you mentioned earlier. What is the magic of this short?   

SB: It was just a different take on a story we’ve seen many times. Thinking about programming this festival during COVID, who wasn’t depressed? There was a sense of connection in that way. You’re rooting for the guy and the kid in this short and that’s what made it different to me.