Plastic Paper: THE WORLD'S A MESS, IT'S IN MY KISS

THE WORLD'S A MESS, IT'S IN MY KISS:
SHORT FILMS OF LOVE AND LOSS
curated by Kier-La Janisse, Leslie Supnet + Clint Enns

Thursday May 6th, 2010 - 9:00pm
Park Theatre - 698 Osborne
Admission $7

LIFE WITHOUT GABRIELLA FERRI
Priit Parn | Estonia 2008 | 44min.

Life Without Gabriella Ferri is a surreal animation that deals with love, loss, freedom, and neglect. Even within the first few minutes of the film, the filleting of a fish becomes an intensely sexual act between husband and wife while their son - deprived of attention – continually beats his head
against the wall in order to interrupt them. If this seems weird, wait until you meet the neighbours.

Although master Estonian animator Priit Pärn’s graphical style has influenced commercial series such as Rugrats and AAAHH!!! Real Monsters!, his content sets him apart. Pärn paints a miserable, surreal world with fleeting glimpses of happiness. His works are poetic and complex, and often contain personal elements, symbolism and mythology that may be lost on a Western viewer not familiar with Estonian culture. Despite this, his works are quite rewarding and are guaranteed to lead to rich postscreening conversations. (Clint Enns)

HAUNTED HEART
Winona Regan | USA 2009 | 4min.

Winona Regan’s whimsical and blackly humourous Haunted Heart follows two lovers as they escape into their own wild world. In the words of one rhyming reviewer: “electricity fills the room and a man faces his doom!” Traditionally animated and hand painted on cels.

THE SEA DOG'S DEVOTION
Anna Kalus | Germany 2008 | 11min.

A wordless film based loosely on the macabre and subtly necrophilic poem Seemannstreue by Joachim Ringelnatz.

DOJOJI TEMPLE
Kihachiro Kawamoto | Japan 1976 |
19min.

An elderly monk and his young eager acolyte travel along a road crowded with pilgrims toward a famous temple. As evening approaches they find lodging with a young widow; she falls passionately in love with the young man. During a frenzied chase she turns into a giant serpent, the symbol of jealousy, capable of trampling any obstacle. A masterful and aesthetically sophisticated work from 1976.

PALMERSVILLE
Edwin Rostron | UK 2008 | 6min.

She went through the motions of existence and didn’t consider herself unhappy. Until her hands turn into tendrils seeking out the damp darkness of the garbage disposal.