International Shorts 2: Lost and Found'

Title: Dear Fatty
Runtime: 7 mins
Directed by: Hsin-I Tseng<
Synopsis: In this stop-motion animation,a little girl is writing a letter to her runaway hamster "Fatty" and wondering about its experiences in the outside world.
My thoughts as I saw this & afterwards was largely envy. Children have a certain innocence that is enviable. The animation was fitting, but what grasped me was the voice-over of a child. It made the film come to life. Wondering about thins that realistically would be far more harsh. I found it touching.
You can see 30 seconds of it here:

Title: The Back Room
Runtime: 17 mins
Directed by: Greg Ivan Smith
Synopsis: Two utter strangers uncover astonishing connections as they search for a mysterious Renaissance painting.
A man trying to close up a book store 10 minutes earlier than closing time was somebody you were sympathetic to. Enter the conflict, the big hefty guy that 'may' be a problem. The common ground they find was believable. The fairy-tale ending they go for not-so-much. It ruined it a little for me. Had they simply left together, this would have been okay.

Title: For You My People
Runtime: 5 mins
Directed by: Jose Pablo Gonzalez
Synopsis: An animated short film that tells the compelling story of a senator who must confront his secret deeds of corruption.
I think the message here was Corrupt Politician pays for this that & the other being covered up, and parallel to this greets all the victims of such as equal individuals publicly. Either that or I missed the plot. Interesting use of animation though. Would be interesting to see what else this guy has done.

Title: Radu and Ana
Runtime: 8 mins
Directed by: Paul Negoescu
Synopsis: Radu is the unluckiest guy on earth. Things might change. Or not.
The pick of the lot for being the stand-out comedic one. The escalation of things that went wrong for the poor guy, really were rather amusing as well as making him a character you wanted things to go better for. When a motion of events that look like its looking up for him finally, I did find myself wanting that for him. Does it happen? Well Yes & No. Definitely worth checking out f you see it screening anywhere.

Title: Amma (Mother)
Runtime: 5 mins
Directed by: Aparna Kapur
Synopsis: After receiving a ball of yarn at her grandmother's deathbed, Mia diligently begins to knit a weave that will eventually reunite the two of them.
The use of animation showing progression of one life to the next, how generations & legacies evolve (if I interpreted that right), has been done a number of times, but the music really had be involved in this one. It was pretty amazing. Another person I'll be keeping my eye open for. I've been listing to the Maa (Mother) song from Taare Zameen Par on repeat since I saw this yesterday.

Title: Girl in Red Sarong
Runtime: 13 mins
Directed by: Jeremy Sing
Synopsis: A spoof of a Singapore national icon, told through a day-in-the-life tale of Leng, a waitress who is simply, trying to survive.
The maker of this one had flown in from Singapore & I kinda felt bad for him, for I didn't understand the film. I saw him around later, but didn't mention the film. I feel kinda bad now, I probably should have pressed him for an explanation of some sort, but I think that it was quite a cultural thing. A woman struggling to pay her rent manages to find work by her traditional garments or something?! It was well-shot, at least I can say that

Thoughts Overall: This has been the best set of shorts I've seen yet. Either that or my attention span is getting worse & worse. Though I wouldn't say I liked them all, I do feel I took away more from these than I did prior screenings. All of them had something for me.