Video Fridays: Sundance Film Festival: Short Film Tour & Great Stories

Short films can be like good short stories in that you have to have a good story or engaging characters or hopefully both to pull off something that makes you think without requiring 90- to 180-minutes of your time or attention. And getting a chance to view several award-winning shorts is like the best anthology story telling session. Thus, this year’s Sundance Film Festival: Short Film Tour took seven interesting stories, 6 live-action and one animated short, and pulled it into a captivating 100-minute program. I invited my movie-viewing best friend, Deb, to join me at my favorite local independent theater, The Beverly Theater, to see these shorts not knowing a single thing about any of the shorts.

Here’s a list of the shorts with the blurbs provided on the Sundance website followed by my comments and observations.

Azi / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Montana Mann, Producer: Steven Snyder) — During a weekend vacation with her best friend’s family, 17-year-old Azi gets caught up in an unexpected game with another guest. Cast: Dior Negeen Goodjohn, Breeda Wool, Emma Filley, Dan Thiel. Fiction. My thought: This one is a bit of a psychological thriller between the two non-family members, that leaves you wondering what everyone is really thinking… if anyone is thinking.
Hurikán / Czech Republic (Director and Screenwriter: Jan Saska, Screenwriter: Václav Hašek, Producers: Kamila Dohnalová, Martin Vandas, Alena Vandasová) — Hurikán rushes to save his favorite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he has a crush on. In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst. Cast: Johana Matoušková, Patrik Velek. Animation. My thoughts: What would you do if your favorite beer stand ran out of beer and you think you would be something in the eyes of the cute proprietor if you took her empty keg and got it refilled? This simple act of gallantry goes hilariously sideways… all for a beer and a girl.
We Were The Scenery / U.S.A. (Director: Christopher Radcliff, Producers: Cathy Linh Che, Jess X. Snow) — In 1975, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled from Vietnam by boat and docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras during the filming of Apocalypse Now. Nonfiction. Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction. My thoughts: an amazing “accident of history” telling the story of the real lives of these “background characters”… no one is just a background character in life.
Debaters / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Alex Heller, Producers: Angie Gaffney, Brittani Ward, Amy E. Powell) — In a debate chamber, affluent high schoolers argue a bill on minimum wage in an effort to impress two working-class adult judges. Cast: Sripadh Puligilla, J. Smith-Cameron, Kenneth Lonergan, Bernadette Santos Schwegel. Fiction. My thoughts: There is so much in this short film. It’s a coming of age story, an immigrant story, a gender expectation story… a story about recognition and humanity, all taking place, unknown to the rest of the world or even the rest of the school, in a classroom, long after everyone else has gone for the day.
Such Good Friends / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Bri Klaproth, Screenwriter and Producer: Jon Walkup, Producer: Rachel Rambaldi) — After ending a toxic friendship, a people pleaser finds herself falling into old patterns with her former best friend’s family. Cast: Mindy Sterling, Niamh O’Neill Culhane, Jared Lo Nigro, Rachel Rambaldi. Fiction. My thoughts: Usually comedy and the unexpected death of a friend don’t go together, but by the end you might have a better idea why the protagonist did what she did, which is what got this whole thing going. Enjoy(?).
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites / Cambodia, France (Director and Screenwriter: Chheangkea, Producers: Daniel Mattes, Karen Madar) — During her chaotic family’s Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her Queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman. Cast: Bonrotanak Rith, Saroeun Nay, Sokun Theary Ty, Phalla Im, Chansophorn Buth, Ponleu Chab. Fiction. 2025 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction. My thoughts: Not being familiar with Asian customs regarding honoring the dead, I was a little lost during this one for a moment, but got up to speed enough to know that the protagonist’s departed nana cared about this one grandson who was being pestered by family about his not being married yet…. His not wanting to get married was played off as just enjoying being single and I was unclear about his sexuality until reading the above blurb AFTER watching the short. Boomer here. Doh!
SUSANA / Mexico, U.S.A. (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Gerardo Coello Escalante, Amandine Thomas, Producers: Mariana Tames, Fernanda Preciado, Hannah Swayze) — A middle-aged American tourist finds herself alone in Mexico City. When she encounters a group of young Americans, she jumps at the opportunity for a little adventure. Cast: Bonnie Hellman, Christine Spang, Parth Shah, Keenan MacWilliam, Andrea Raggio, Richard Laite. Fiction. My thoughts: There’s a lot going on here, older American solo-traveling through Mexico City, fanny pack and all, but she does seem to speak Spanish. She’s not quite the “ugly American” but she seems to interact with the culture like this is all one giant amusement park. The locals seem eager to sell her something, but under it they aren’t happy about being little more than part of the scenery, but the younger travelers she encounters are fair worse in their “entitledness.” Ugh.