The Visual Poetry of Short Film
I love short films. I like the freedom they offer, the opportunity to write yourself a juicy role, or to literally Call the Shots in how you want to tell the story. You can challenge yourself. You assemble your crew, the actors, the editors and post-production team. You get to take whatever risks you want. You are beholden to no one but yourself and the story you want to tell. I grew up writing short fiction, so I appreciate how a short film is neat and uncluttered. If a feature film is a 600,000-word novel, a short film is a poem. Going to a Short Film Festival is a place to celebrate these visual “poems.” In one 90- minute session, instead of seeing one feature film, you get to see 8+ short films, and each one will take you on 10 different journeys. If comedy is your thing, there is a screening “block” for that. There are blocks for horror, drama, animation, documentaries, sci-fi, you name it.
Another thing I love about short films is that they can break the rules of traditional filmmaking. They aren’t forced to tell a by-the-book story. A short can be a concentrated moment: a bright burst of laughter, a jolt of fear, a visual meditation, or a heartfelt or grim discovery.
At the McMinnville Short Film Festival in Oregon, Nancy Morrow, Dan Morrow and the rest of Nancy’s team assemble a cinematic feast of shorts films from all over the globe. Full Disclosure: My short film Incurable had its world premiere at the festival and it came very close to ruining all other film festivals for me. Certainly it set a very high bar in terms of seeing high quality films, meeting other creative people, and having a flat-out good time.
For three days we got to hobnob with other filmmakers, actors, and writers. Over delicious bottles of wine (thank you local wineries!), we shared stories of fun and frustrating challenges that go into filmmaking. We saw the town, explored the stores, and went to parties at McMenamins- I dare you to say “McMenamins in McMinnville” ten times fast after a few drinks. And in those three days, I saw more wonderful films that I thought would be possible, and came away with new friends and associates with whom I hope to work with in the near future.
Even better, the festival has a large movie-going audience who flock to see the films. They are a smart audience and their questions and comments are invaluable. Mixing with them at the breaks and parties in the evening was a treat, and they certainly kept us on our toes with their questions and comments.
And if you stay an extra day, you can explore the Oregon’s coastline Gorge (say hi to Herman the Sturgeon for me*).
A quick Google search will tell you all the about the business, industry and pragmatic reasons to make a short film, but especially after the last year+ we’ve had, don’t you want to go to a theatre to see your work on the screen with other people? To get immediate feedback from the audience and filmmakers? To make new friends and contacts, to collaborate and stretch your creative muscles?
McMinnville Short Film Festival is the perfect place to do all of that.
Josephine Cashman is an actress, writer and filmmaker. Her film Incurable was chosen as a 2020 McMinnville Short Film Festival Official Selection. For more information about Josephine, visit https://www.josephinecashman.com/ or find her on Twitter: @JosephineActs
*Be sure to ask Nancy about Herman the Sturgeon when you join us for #MSFF2022 next February. 😉
