Two short film festivals in two days, what a great time to be a film fan in Belfast! Having to decide between this and Joe Lindsay’s “Shower of Cults” film night across town at the Hudson Bar showing Grind House Star Wars was a tough choice. So, having promised myself I’d go to the last few “Film Devour Short Film Festival” and not quite making it I finally made it to number 8. As I arrived at the Black Box I noticed a huge crowd gathered before the doors, this is always a good sign. Soon we filed in paid our £4 and were ready to see some of Northern Ireland’s finest short films.
With 20 films in all covering many genres – Horror, Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Sci-Fi…I could go on-it’s safe to say there was something for every one. We started off with a film I’d heard a lot about but never seen “Looking for Al” essentially a documentary about 4 lads from Northern Ireland travelling down to Dublin trying to meet Al Pacino at the premiere of his latest film. An absolute geg with much banter included it’s a great way to kick off the fast and a welcome opening 15 mins it’s worth saying at this point that these films area lot longer short films than the ones shown last night. Where the longest film shown there was 3 mins 30secs these films range from 5 mins to 15.
“The Beach” is a wonderfully shot black and white horror film about a man finding himself on a lonely island where he encounters a not so friendly apparition. The Portrush backdrop makes this a beautiful film to watch and the black and white adds a touch of gravitas. We have a few technical difficulties as intermission is called after 7 films but after we’re all refuelled we’re back for the long haul with the last 13.
McKeever and Jones have 2 films shown here tonight, both filled with classic Belfast humour and the 2 extremely likeable characters. The shorter of the 2 was my favourite “McKeever and Jones Dreams Come True” filmed outside Victoria Square in the Cornmarket it features a chucklesome almost dance sequence about a man whose every wish comes true as he walks by the world, from nicking a chicken burger to swooping in for a snog with his dream girl and with a fun ending that had everyone creasing with laughter.
Other notable mentions would be “Nuts and Robbers” by Aiden Gault and Marty Stalker. A very black comedy about bungling robbers that’s worth a watch. Special effects mention of the night goes to Chris Thompsons “Skyhawk”. With SFX that would look at home in any Hollywood Blockbuster it’s really surprising what the guys working in their bedrooms can come up with. “Spiderland” ended off the night with an unusual ode to the muppets via the festive imagination of Paul Currie. A tale of spides in Belfast and their camp Rottweiler this was a dark slice of twisted comedy that finished off the night perfectly.
The main thing I noticed was the quality of all the films shown and the sell out crowd that came to pay in, while the Olympics are on, on a sunny day, to come and support these films. As I left the Black Box having been in there for over 4 hours I did quip that it was the longest Short film festival I’d ever been too, but long may it continue. Viva la Film Devour!
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