BIFF Shorts: Time Stands Still
Virtual Screening
October 7-11, 2021
BIFF Shorts: Time Stands Still
A series of shorts making sense of the last year. 116 minutes.
Time Time Ki Baat (A Matter Of Time)
Abhiiruchi Lovel Risshi (Dir), 18 minutes, India, US Premiere
On the anniversary of her husband’s death Neeta (Supriya Pathak) goes in search of a mechanic for his well worn wrist watch, what she finds is the original watchmaker.
Chokablok
Cameron Carver (Dir), 19 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
Playful, neurotic, and existential; Chokablok is a surreal exploration of our obsession with achievement and the perpetual anxiety of trying to keep up, as seen through the eyes of a Chase (David Coomber) who always feels like he’s falling behind.
Faith
Carol Butrón (Dir), 19 minutes, Spain, WNY Premiere
Haunted by the memory of a missing childhood friend, Teresa (writer/director Carol Butrón) searches in an alternative dimension for him.
Disappearing Pathways
Michael Covello & Elizabeth Schneider (Dir), 13 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere
Narrated by Ian Ross, this evocative animated drama explores the emotional baggage inherited through family, genetics and upbringing as we collectively strive to maintain traditions while embracing individuality.
Lilies
Joni Renee Whitworth (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
In quarantine, the personal and the political collide and comingle, forcing one woman to interrogate birth, becoming, class, femme health, and gay sufficiency against a backdrop of farm simulator games, archival agricultural footage, intimate b-roll, domestic scenes, and psychedelic abstractions.
What If?
Katia Shannon (Dir), 15 minutes, UK, NY Premiere
At each step, Elena’s (Izabella Malewska) agoraphobia reinforces her sense of mortality but, as anxiety spreads around her like wildfire, she finally sees a way out in this compelling and mysterious drama.
Ships in the Night
Katherine Bourne Taylor (Dir), 12 minutes, USA, NY Premiere
To combat her growing isolation in the time of COVID and her strained relationship with her sister, Christan (writer/director Katherine Bourne Taylor) turns to an online fandom community and begins writing fanfiction about the characters she is fixated on.
Tornado Lake
Tiffany Deater (Dir), 11 minutes, USA, World Premiere
This video essay merges the philosophical and scientific through its exploration of our relationship to insects and “undesirable” animals.
