First Look Shorts I

Program of shorts premiering at the 2019 First Look festival.

Approximate running time: 70 mins

That Time in Hawai’i (Dir. Jeff Reichert. USA. 2018, 3 mins.) A Hawaiian snorkeling trip makes for a disjunctive cine-poem, contrasting a lush pastel undersea-scape with sounds of breathing and swimming, and creating a delicate tension between consciousness and immersion. World premiere.

Norman Norman (Dir. Sophy Romvari. Canada. 2018, 7 mins.) A young woman grapples with the declining health of her beloved dog in this film about mortality, cloning, and Barbra Streisand. New York premiere.

Grandma (Dir. Sophy Romvari. Canada. 2019, 2 mins.) Upon traveling to Budapest to meet her extended family for the first time, filmmaker Sophy Romvari attempts to document her late grandmother’s apartment through images of the past and present. World premiere.

Three Forgivable Failures of an Incorrigible Dreamer (Dir. Joe Callander. 2019. 12 mins.) Somewhere deep in the frozen blue light of a Vermont winter, an incorrigible dreamer ruminates on three things that just didn’t turn out quite right. World premiere.

Nai Nai (奶 奶) (Dir. Wyatt Wu. 2018. 22 mins.) Nai Nai follows the story of a Chinese immigrant grandmother, Chu-Ming Wu. Known as “Nai Nai,” Chu-Ming has always been a woman of control. But her grasp of reality and the control of her own mind is slipping away. Told through the lens of her grandson, the film focuses on her pain and struggles in the last chapters of her life. New York premiere.

Practice (Dir. Iyabo Kwayana. China/USA. 2017, 10 mins. In Mandarin with English subtitles.) How does an individual become a part of a larger group of human beings and learn to move in unison? Filmed near a Shaolin temple in Henan, China, Practice captures and amplifies mesmerizing visual choreography where hundreds of people dance like one. New York premiere.

Lasting Marks (Dir. Charlie Lyne. United Kingdom. 2018, 14 mins.) Sixteen men were put on trial for sadomasochism in the dying days of Thatcher’s Britain, ignorantly scapegoated and shamed by those wishing to score points off the acts of consenting adults. First Look veteran Charlie Lyne crafts a potent corrective by pairing slides of archival documents with a candid audio interview with one of the condemned men reflecting upon these events and their consequences. North American premiere. 

Tickets: $15 (Free for members at the Film Lover level and MoMI Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)