As part of one of the many film festivals sponsored by WILDsound, the Female Directors Short Film Festival at Carlton Cinema in Toronto included films from Canada, Australia and the U.S.

By Ivonne Flores Kauffman

WILDsound Festival accomplished to bring together Toronto’s cinephiles for a night of great short films, directed by and starring women, that awakened a mix of emotions in the audience during the Female Directors Short Film Festival.

But of course, some films were better than others. Here is a short review of some of them.

Old Habits

Directed by Mary Musolino, this Australian film manages to take the viewer on a reminiscing trip in only seven minutes. The film starts with two old women talking about their past in a beach-side changing room. They talk about their first love, their late friend and life itself.

It’s not until one of them confesses to her sister that she doesn’t love the man in her life anymore that the film starts making sense. At that moment, two young girls enter the change room and discuss their recent crushes. This scene shows some sort of remorse from the sisters regarding their past decisions and how they have influenced their lives to the point where one of the sisters asks the other to leave her lover and run away with her, to which the other sister declines.

This film, despite being short, accomplishes to create a great narrative and provides an unexpected ending. Perhaps the most interesting aspect about it is that the viewer can identify themselves with this story. We all have taken decisions that have altered our lives forever and lead to asking ourselves “What if?”

Bet the Demons Win

Directed by another Australian filmmaker, Denise Hurley, Bet the Demons Win tells the story of a teenager who is tormented by her past demons — in other words, her gambling-addicted father and a sister who betrayed her. The eight-minute short film is filled with emotions such as desperation and anger. Karlisha Hurley, who plays the lead role, gives an excellent performance. However, the film still lacks content and is ultimately confusing. The story starts abruptly with Hurley’s character fighting with her sister and ends in the same way. The beginning and the end of the plot are missing in this film, which makes it impossible to take anything out of it except that Hurley’s character is full of rage and pain.

My Name Was January

Directed by Canadians Elina Gress and Lenée Son, this documentary tells the story of January Marie Lapuz, a Filipino trans woman, who was brutally murdered in her home in New Westminster, B.C. in September 2012.

January, a sex worker, was stabbed 18 times in her home before dying. Despite being an awful crime that shook a community, My Name Was January is a tribute to January’s life and legacy rather than a film about her death. The film has some honest and raw scenes, like those where January’s mom is interviewed. It also includes interviews with January’s closest friends and members of the trans community. My Name Was January is a beautiful piece regarding the life of a strong woman who was killed in a horrible way. 

Even though the film is beautifully made, it ultimately failed to achieve its full potential. There are some moving scenes, however, the pieces didn’t completely fit together. The film had great scenes that were unrelated to each other, perhaps the reason for it being that it was directed and produced by January’s closest friends whose main focus was to remember January.