by Billie Anderson, Staff Writer

This past month, I had the opportunity to cover the Toronto After Dark Film Festival - a horror and science-fiction film festival that promises five nights of local and international content for thousands of horror fans every year. In this list, I’ll cover the Canadian shorts I had the opportunity to see. They played a Canadian short before each of the feature films, but the ones I’ve listed here had their own screening. Enjoy! 

Bird Hostage 
Directed by Lauren Andrews 

Jay Burachel voices a decrepit gray parrot named Reggie in this buddy-comedy about escaping a Toronto apartment with a housesitter. Featuring incredible puppetry work, Bird Hostage is undoubtedly one of the quirkiest entries in this year’s line-up. Highlighting an outlandish story full of comedic overtones, the short is delivered with an abundant sincerity that certainly exacerbates this element considerably. Additionally, with a stunning performance from director/main protagonist Lauren Andrews the film is a short yet audacious production that I was disappointed to see conclude so soon. This is one of those moments where I wish I had written and directed the film I’m watching, so it always feels special to be so connected to a silly little story. 

Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie
Directed by Nicole Bazuin

In one of the best representations of disability I have ever seen, Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie is a colorfully vivid and darkly comedic introspection of the life of Kitoko Mai and her struggle to come to terms with her dissociative identity disorder. Bazuin provides a sincere insight into the experiences of day-to-day life with the disability. Kitoko certainly holds nothing back, going into exquisite detail about her experience with how they came to suffer with the disorder, the general symptoms that plague their everyday existence, and how they come to terms with their alters. All the while, the short provides astoundingly spunky and stylish visual representations that make you want to crawl into the world and just rest for a while. There’s something very cozy about portraying dissociative identity as a little club of people working together, so I’m glad we’re getting that kind of story with input from someone who has first hand experience with DID.

Blood Line 
Directed by Richard Rotter

Dealing with the struggles of addiction and the damage caused to those around, Blood Line uses the heavy metaphorization of vampirism to relay this all-consuming dependency. With slick visuals and solid performances, the short’s themes of horror are certainly outweighed by the melodramatic father-daughter bond barely holding on by a thread. That isn’t to say that there are hardly any elements of horror, implementing incredibly realistic blood effects at points—however, it is certainly not at the forefront of its story. A sad, unique, and tragic take on a vampire story. Also some unreal body horror packed into 14 minutes. 

Demon Box 
Directed by Sean Wainsteim 

Director Sean Wainsteim asks through his short Demon Box "How would I not mess [my child] up the way I was messed up? Or is that just inevitable?" After being rejected from countless film festivals, Wainsteim took his short film about his grandfather’s experience of the Holocaust and how the stories terrified him as a child and narrated over it to explain the thought processes and why he believes this story was important to tell. The narration was more commentary than anything (very The Emperor's New Groove-esque)and made really touching visuals both hilarious and all the more tragic. An affecting, deeply personal reflection on hereditary trauma, all the stronger for its unique style of storytelling - with a little dry humor for breathing room. Not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like it, and certain it will stick with me. Grateful to the filmmaker for making and sharing this.

Forgotten Lake 
Directed by Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy

With an unmistakable 80s charm, Forgotten Lake is an indisputable love letter to the slasher genres from this bygone era. Blueberry Boy is an endearing and loveable Goonies style practical-effects villain with a silly backstory that’s hard to not giggle at. With a completely unexpected twist ending – the whole short being an advertisement for a real blueberry beer from a real brewery in Ontario – the short certainly leads the audience in a distinct direction only to pull a complete 180 at the most unexpected of times with hilarious execution. I texted my partner when this one was finished and said “we have to find some blueberry ale” so I guess the marketing devil won (I have yet to try the blueberry beer).

Night Drives: Campfires in the Sky 
Directed by Jonathan M.B. Hunter

The perfect three minute short. Campfires in the Sky is an animated short of a conversation between coworkers about camping. If I write anymore than that, I’ll have explained the whole short. I was giggling the whole time - the animation is very uncanny valley which adds to the humor of the conversation, and gives you something to look at in this talking-heads style short. Really enjoyable and very worth your three minutes. 

Your Money’s No Good Here
Directed by Jakob Skrzypa

What if you took the phrase “Your Money’s No Good Here,” literally? That is the premise for the short film of the same name. The audience at my screening of Your Money’s No Good Here couldn’t get enough of it - they talked about it for the rest of the weekend. I kept hearing conversations in lines, in the bathroom, in other screenings about people’s love of this short. To me, it felt a little too close to an I Think You Should Leave sketch. Obviously, inspiration is a normal part of filmmaking, but this one felt a little too close to content that Tim Robinson has already created. For a nine minute short, three minutes could have been cut off for the perfect little nod to the obnoxious, over-the-top, and silly style that Robinson does so well, but with those extra minutes it just feels a little too much.