EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 49th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 19-22, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. Visitors will also see the first significant change of the last 15 years in the festival map. There are several new features this year: Voodoo Productions’ street theater will include roaming graffiti stilt walkers, contortionists and living master works of art. Salt Lake Acting Company will appear for the first time at the festival, offering a sample from its upcoming summer show, The Secret Lives of the Real Wives in the Salt Lake Hive. Urban Arts is offering its largest live graffiti mural installation, while a row of several other artists will be demonstrating their creative process in real time. For kids, as admission for those 12 and under will be free, there will be plenty of make-and-take art options in Frozen Spaces in the Art Yard. The City Library auditorium will be the home to the 22nd edition of the international Fear No Film program, with the strongest slate of narrative short films in the event’s history. Of course, dance, who wears the empress jewels in performing arts, will be represented by Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Echoing Spirit Dancers and, of course, the ever-popular 1520 Arts, at The Round. For tickets and more information, see the Utah Arts Festival website.
NOTE: This is the centerpiece preview feature of the 22nd Fear No Film program at the Utah Arts Festival. For a complete rundown of the Utah Made Film slate, see here. For a complete rundown of the Midnight film slate, see here.
At 22, the internationally acclaimed Fear No Film program at the Utah Arts Festival has become the state’s most important short film event. This year’s selection of 78 short films is the second largest in festival history. Few arts festivals in the nation can claim to have an extensive, peer-reviewed, juried film program on par with what Fear No Film has established.
Coordinated by Derek Mellus, who also is the film production manager for the Utah Film Commission, 14 countries outside of the U.S. are represented, including nine films from Iranian filmmakers, the largest contingent ever picked representing a single nation outside of the U.S. on the Fear No Film slate. The rising standards of Utah filmmaking, especially in narrative shorts, is reflected in the selection of 19 films representing the Beehive State. The total comprises eight narratives, six documentaries and five films for kids.
Narrative shorts are the stars in this year’s slate while the number of documentaries are among the lowest for the program. Animation continues to be an impressive genre in terms of artistic experimentation. There are so many solid examples of gutsy, edgy and experimental storytelling that Mellus will present a record four Midnight screening programs this year.
In addition to Iran, there are eight films (all animation) from the Russian Federation, seven from Germany, five from France, three each from Canada and Spain, two from Turkey, and entries from Brazil, India, Poland, U.K., Mexico, and Portugal. There also is one film from Australia, made by a director who grew up in Utah.
The programming blocks include two Emerging Artists narrative screenings, three narrative screenings, two documentary screenings, four Midnight screenings and two Kids! Screenings. The screenings are accessible to the public, even those who do not have a festival ticket, and will take place in the City Library Auditorium.
A jury will determine various awards including grand jury prizes, honorable mentions, Utah Short Filmmaker of the Year and Fear No Filmmaker Award.
The Utah Review screened all 78 films for the capsules:
ANIMATION PROGRAM (RUNTIME 57 MINUTES): June 19, 6 p.m. and June 21, 8 p.m.
Surreal symbolism propels this sharp video art animation, AS I WAS A TREE, by Syrian filmmaker Jamal Maghout, portraying an individual who seeks to escape a seemingly endless journey of violence, terror and the loss of self-control and empowerment because of these dynamics.
Meanwhile, a journey of boundless and joyful intellectual curiosity propels the animation in MR. PASSENGER #01 SHAPES, a Portuguese short directed by José Pedro Cavalheiro. This animation film is part of a series that blends the logical and absurd in the adventures of Mr. Passenger who never tires of pushing the boundaries in imagining what shapes and clouds he sees might resemble.
From Russia, ODE TO PERFUME, directed by Maxim Litvinov, is a clever homage to the natural magical sources of scents and perfumes. A self-taught animator who has worked primarily in information systems engineering and in video game design, he animates the uncapping of containers and bottles that carry perfumes to reveal the character of their scents.
A gentle, brief remembrance, PEPPERMINT STICKS, directed by Maureen Monaghan, follows a girl who visits her great-grandmother’s bedroom and recalls the times they spent together.
A smart poetic piece about climate change from Germany, RISE AGE, directed by Tatjana Theuer, is marvelous for portraying something that is so enchanting on the surface but actually belies a potentially ominous reality about rising sea levels. “Rather than pointing fingers, I believe in the power of characters to make us experience rising sea levels through their eyes,” the director explains. “This story is told with a blend of cuteness, community, and a touch of stubbornness.”
Part of an animated series, THE PRIMEVAL FATHER “THE FLAT EARTH”, directed by Vladimir Sakhnovsky, is a wry commentary on the omnipresent tensions of the generation gap that has perhaps existed for time immemorial. The Father seems annoyed every time his resourceful son manages to come up with something that is new and improved.
An exquisite example of the drawn form in animation, THE SHYNESS OF TREES comes from students at the highly regarded Gobelins School’s animation program in Paris. A middle-aged woman is concerned about her aging mother who is obsessed with her garden, insects and a grand old oak tree at the end of her yard.
Spirited, romantic and delightful, THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, a German short directed by Christoph Horch, is about a couple whose relationship actually seems indifferent, uninspired and aloof but reanimates suddenly when they realize that both of them share a weird affliction.
Inspired by modernist art and design, TOIL AND SPIN, directed by Maureen Zent, is part of a series of animated shorts that are miniature minimalistic artistic studies that experiment with how the surface movements of objects can lead to deeper, enlightening illusions that suggest a variety of conditions and responses. In this instance, the animation sparks how we might envision the phases of falling asleep and the struggles with insomnia and restless sleep.
A superb Canadian experimental animation short, WITNESS: AN ORGANIMA FILM, directed by Nik Arthur, offers a string of brief scenes of miniature universes that he deliberately leaves open to the viewer’s imagination about organic matter. In a process that took two years, Arthur recruited natural materials experts to explore each setting. As noted in the director’s statement, ”As the project progressed, research led to the realization that life hides beneath the surface of everyday objects and animates its own stories. With title and sound designers, musicians, and writers, the project culminates in the voices and textures of creatures rising from their respective surfaces.Forgoing typical narrative structure, the film contemplates, wanders, and opens more possibilities than conclusions. Natural worlds serve as mentors and guides as they immerse and invite, renewing our vision and appreciation for the life that goes unseen.”
EMERGING ARTISTS NARRATIVE PROGRAM 1 (RUNTIME 56 MINUTES): June 19, 2 p.m., June 21, 4 p.m.
I AM A CANADIAN, directed by Foad Asadi, is a timely, universally situated story about immigration but instead of a story about legal status it is an elegantly understated expression of the psychological and social ramifications of living in a new land and assimilation. Asadi is an actor and filmmaker originally from Iran who now lives in Canada and his fictional narrative echoes in part the dynamics of the experiences that any newcomer faces in a new land. As with other short films in this festival from Iranian filmmakers, note that while the economy of the spoken word is sparse and compact, the visual language evokes an impressive amount of context to comprehend and appreciate the protagonist and the narrative.
Among the 16 Utah films is the outstanding debut of JUST A PILL AWAY by Frederick Shih, from Taiwan who recently graduated from Brigham Young University. The school is well known for its outstanding animation program but its capacity for narrative filmmaking is producing solid results. The story centers around an actor, dismayed by an unbroken string of unsuccessful auditions. who wonders if taking a new drug that guarantees a permanent and perfect smile is worth the effort. She even seeks the counsel of her acting mentor. Shih excels at elucidating the theme about the risks of compromising one’s standards in making a choice that really is poorer than what appears on the surface.
PUNTER, directed by Jason Adam Maselle, is set in Johannesburg, South Africa and centers on a male teenager who looks forward to celebrating his father’s birthday with a surprise. However, his father, a compulsive gambler, is looking to capitalize on what he feels is a winning streak in betting on horse races.
From Iran, SUMMER TRIANGLE, directed by Maryam Esmaeili and Ali Babi, is a quintessential example of young Iranian visual artists who skillfully use metaphors to convey the significance of their narrative epiphanies. A girl looking for her cat on the rooftop of an apartment building notices a boy who apparently is contemplating suicide and she asks him to help search for the pet. Esmaeili’s director statement encapsulates effectively the gist of the narrative: “[T]he story unfolds, viewers are invited to witness how the young girl and boy harness their imaginative prowess to overcome obstacles, communicate authentically, and forge a deeper bond.”
Inspired by her love of Mexican cinema, Farah Khalil’s TORTILLA builds nicely on the classic metaphor of having a seat at the table, even with differences in culture and social privilege plainly evident. Set in Chihuahua, the story involves Camila who has invited her boyfriend Miguel to dinner with her family, in order to win her mother’s approval of them dating. The evening is tense, especially when the family learns more about Miguel’s family but then the young man and his girlfriend’s mother bond unexpectedly over tortillas made by hand.
EMERGING ARTISTS NARRATIVE PROGRAM 2 (RUNTIME 57 MINUTES) — June 19, 4 p.m., June 22, 2 p.m.
Marking the first time India has been represented in Fear No Film, BROKEN REFLECTIONS is an excellent introduction. Directed by Rohan Bakshi, the film centers on Tushar, 17, who is out with his friends from school and is shocked when looking into a window, he notices his mother with another man. The film’s extensive use of reflections emphasizes the son’s emotional turmoil and psychological distress as he wonders how his mother could be having an extramarital affair.
A delightfully crafted story about non-conforming gender identity, DUSK comes from an Ecuadorian-American filmmaker based in Utah: Kohl Avalos Bybee, who came from Mesa, Arizona and now lives in Salt Lake City. Trying to find the right outfit for an upcoming dance, Dusk has sewn the perfect clothing to express their identity.
Many of this year’s Iranian short films are miniature studies in psychology and Paria Shojaeian’s HEADACHE takes up the challenges of individuals trying to overcome loneliness and discover attachment even when it is objectified and falls short of its idealized symbolism. There is a poetic feel in the story about a lonely garbage collector who finds a discarded orchid in a pot that emanates a sound that immediately enchants him. However, at his home, he eventually is discomfited by the sound coming from it and decides to return it to the original spot where he found it. Yet, he has become so attached to the flower pot that he changes his mind.
A Utah film, THANKSGIVING, partly inspired by the premise of Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day film (1993) finds Jason trying to find his way out of a time loop, as he arrives for Thanksgiving dinner with relatives, an experience that he hopes to be over and done with as quickly as possible. Directed by Austin J. Lawrence, who recently graduated from Brigham Young University’s media arts program, the story works in its readily recognizable representation of quirky Utah family vibes.
NARRATIVE PROGRAM 1 (RUNTIME 60 MINUTES): June 19, 8 p.m., June 22, 6 p.m.
Brazil has consistently been aolidly represented at Fear No Film and AMARELA, by Japanese-Brazilian scriptwriter and director André Hayato Saito, is effective in its broadly appealing and relevant narrative about immigrants who attempt to assimilate in their new communities, even if it means rejecting family cultural traditions. Erika Oguihara, a Japanese-Brazilian teen, looks forward to cheering on Brazil in the final of the World Cup. However, her hopeful anticipation of being seen as fitting in is shattered by callousness and hostility that leaves her emotionally pained.
CONFUSED BLOOD is exceptional for its cinematic approach along with its intricate, nuanced layers of storytelling. While the film, directed by Jason Cutler, comes from Australia, the story centers on a half-Korean man who now lives in Seoul and is trying to sort out how he identifies best with Korean culture and society. Cutler, who grew up in Utah and is Richard’s sibling, experiments with genre here, mixing quite effectively narrative and documentary forms of storytelling here. Prominent is the Korean folktale of Ungnyeo, which is of enormous cultural significance in Korea as it is part of the folkloric telling of how the country was founded. Ungnyeo is a bear and is the friend of a tiger, both of whom desire to become human. While the tiger grows restless and gives up, the bear finds patience in their determination and is eventually transformed into a woman. It would be Ungnyeo’ sln who would establish Korea. The theme is that truly satisfying personal transformation comes through patience and devotion, and Cutler skillfully parallels this folktale with the significant elements in the story of his sibling.
Tender and elegantly understated in its narrative treatment of gender policing in sports, the outstanding Iranian short INSIDE, directed by Mahtab Pishghadam, dynamically contrasts with the aggressive feverish hostility the issue has generated in the U.S. Mahtab, 10, is the standout on the boys soccer team but just before a pivotal match, questions arise about her eligibility and actual identity.
A dark satirical gem, KUMAR KUMAR, directed by Kiran Koshy, who comes from India, is about an immigrant now living in the U.S. and hopes he does not have to celebrate his birthday alone. Desperate to the point of taking extreme measures, he rushes to check his phone every time he hears a notification ping, anticipating that it might be a birthday greeting. The ending definitely puts the icing on the birthday cake.
POCHA, directed by New Mexico native, Anna Lisa Padilla, is a sweet narrative about a girl who is finding it difficult to learn enough Spanish to communicate with her grandfather. In her director’s statement, Padilla explains, “I made Pocha for the little girl who tried so hard to pay attention during Spanish conversation between family members. I made it for the teen who felt overwhelming shame for feeling so disconnected from her heritage. I made it for the adult who is taking matters into her own hands and studying the language and culture of generations before who fought for the right to be proud of who they are.”
NARRATIVE PROGRAM 2 (RUNTIME 61 MINUTES): June 20, 6 p.m., June 21, 2 p.m.
Fans of Forrest Gump and Con Air will enjoy Brandie Lee McDonald’s parody mashup of those films in CONVICTS & CHOCOLATE, a Utah short that had its premiere at last year’s Carbon Shortcuts Film Festival in Helper, Utah, which was part of the centennial celebration of the Utah film industry. The film’s historical connections are notable. The director’s father had worked on the production set of Con Air and during a visit to Paramount Studios, the director and her husband sat on the bench used in Forrest Gump. Incidentally, the film was shot on the actual Con Air plane, now at the historic Wendover Airfield.
Standing out for its magnificent cinematography in Utah scenery, FROM WAY UP HERE, directed by Celeste Chaney, is likely positioned to be a Fear No Film audience favorite. The story revolves around two women who decide to bolt from a wake and the atmosphere of grief and head to the mountains for some adventure. The ending is beautifully handled and touching. Note that the production crew includes Oscar Ignacio Jiménez, one of Utah’s most widely sought cinematographers.He worked on three short films that are in this year’s Fear No Film slate.
Yet again, HOMUNCULUS, directed by Golnoush Ansari, demonstrates the impressive visual language of Iranian filmmakers in their narrative approach. In her first live action film, Ansari touches on a familiar theme in other Iranian entries in this year’s Fear No Film slate: the despair of loneliness. A carpenter decides to place himself in a sofa he crafted by hand that was originally intended to be placed in a hotel but instead lands in the home of a writer whom he has admired for a long time. In her director’s statement, Ansari explains, “ I tried to portray the thoughts and emotions of a man that has been isolated, living his life away from people, and how he developed the thoughts and obsession about being something else. ‘What if he could?’ ‘What if it changes his life?’ This movie talks about transformation. And by that I do not mean only physically, but mentally and emotionally.”
Two-time Fear No Film award winner Luis Fernando Puente returns this year with a strong candidate that will be contending for jury honors: I HID MY HEART INSIDE MY HEAD. Much of this Utah filmmaker’s work arises from a personal connection to narrative and epiphany. This story is about impending grief and whether or not one’s faith can truly rise to the challenge of finding answers and solace in such circumstances. Aaron, a Mormon, is witnessing his gravely ill wife’s final decline. On one hand, hos wife, Veronica, turns to quantum healing in order to accept her inevitable demise. Meanwhile, Aaron hopes that his fellow congregants who arrive at their home to offer a blessing of healing, in the hope that his beloved’s decline can be reversed. As usual, the production values are impeccable. In his director’s statement, Puente writes, “The pull away from organized religion has left a spiritual void, many look to fill in various ways. After a global pandemic, in which death was ever knocking at everyone’s door, and people self isolated through quarantine, existential matters became a topic of conversation. It was a period of time in which we looked at ourselves, questioned our identity as humans, as a society, and learned to collectively come to terms with how fragile life is.” Puente’s creative premises are consistently translated to th cinematic screen with full and satisfying effect and this latest film demonstrates that capacity.
From France, YA HANOUNI, directed by Lyna Tadount and Sofian Chouaib, is one of the shortest narratives on this year’s festival slate but it packs an incredible punch. Barely three minutes, this short starts innocently enough. Parents are trying to settle their baby for the night while competing about which one of them will be able to coax the child to speak their first world. The ending is a stunner.
NARRATIVE PROGRAM 3 (RUNTIME 60 MINUTES): June 20 and June 22, 8 p.m.
From Mexico, the brilliant A WHISPER STARTS A FIRE, directed by Eduardo Moreno Fernández, is a major contender for jury honors. A grieving mother hopes that a documentary about her son’s death will be a vindicating testament that it was not in vain. When the documentary comes out, she is shocked to discover that artificial intelligence was used to alter her testimony which had been filmed. The film brings home the concerns about not just how the use of AI technology in media compromises the creative process and production but, more importantly, how it can revise and replace the authenticity of the most intimate and closest experiences of our personal histories.
Short films from Spain have always been an artistic hallmark at Fear No Film and LES PLOMES extends that tradition. Directed by Carme Puche More, this six-minute short is about a mother and daughter who previously have never admitted to each other how lingering grief has affected them emotionally. At the center is what happens when a mother expects twins but only one of them survives in the womb. The director, who learned belatedly from her mother that she was the surviving twin at birth, said in her director’s statement, “I’ve struggled emotionally to finish this project. We need to talk more around miscarriage and perinatal grief. We need to find a balance between our bodies and our souls. A wise woman always said to me that the biggest mystery never shown in cinema is the biological life of women. Let’s do it; let’s show it even when it hurts.”
Poland is represented by one of the most emotionally profound e entries on the Fear No Film slate: PEOPLE & THINGS, directed by Damian Kosowski. The story is painfully fresh, as it is set when Ukraine was invaded by Russia in 2022. A mother and her daughter have been summoned to a small town in eastern Ukraine where a mass grave has been discovered. They have arrived to collect the DNA test results of the father-husband who has been missing. While they hope that he was not killed in the conflict, the test results seem to indicate otherwise. But, the mother is not convinced, as she contends that there are discrepancies that could suggest the results do not incontrovertibly verify that he is among the dead. She finds herself in a limbo that she vigorously contests to be resolved with certainty.
THE LEMON YELLOW TIGHTS WITH CATS is about a woman who wonders if her quirks and idiosyncrasies in her persona are worth the risks of being harshly judged by observers and outsiders. And, she contemplates whether or not she should remake herself. An ad agency art director by day, Peter Molnar flexes his potential as a filmmaker.
Another exceptional short from Spain, THURSDAY IN MARCH is set on March 11, 2004, just three days before elections in Spain, when a series of coordinated bombings at Madrid commuter gain status during the morning rush left 193 dead and 2,500 injured. It’s the morning of Maria’s 19th birthday and she exchanges loving words and hugs with her mother before leaving for the train station. When bulletins break about the bombings, the mother panics and tries repeatedly to call her daughter’s mobile phone but there is no answer. Luis Murillo Arias, who directs the film, elicits the full raw power of nerves, frantic thoughts and tensions in the mother’s character (played superbly by Ana Fernández). He brings the viewer directly into the space of her apartment.
DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM 1 (RUNTIME 63 MINUTES): 9, 4 p.m., June 21, 6 p.m.
A Utah documentary, A LIFE OF INTENT: GROWING DESERT ROOTS, directed by Caroline Boyd, was filmed in southern Utah and centers on Shelly, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was 19, and later turned to nature photography as a creative outlet to help her heal. It is one of the festival’s most uplifting offerings this year.
Another Utah documentary story, DEAR PELICAN, directed by John Meier, chronicles The Dear Pelican Project, coordinated by Making Waves for Great Salt Lake, which is supported by Friends of Great Salt Lake, and the Great Salt Lake Collaborative. The impetus for the project arose recently when the usual thousands of American White Pelicans did not return in 2023 to nest on Gunnison Island. The reason was that record low lake levels meant that the pelicans could not safely nest there for fear of being exposed to predators. In 2024, only about one-tenth of the usual population of pelicans returned to Gunnison Island and most were seen trying to build their nests on Hat Island. The film is one of two documentary shorts this year by Leicester Productions, which is based locally.
A genuinely poignant and resilient testament that is almost heartbreaking in its literary power, FREE WORDS: A POET FROM GAZA, directed by Turkish filmmaker Abdullah Harun Ilhan, is a Fear No Film must-see entry. The film highlights the experiences and work of Mosab Abu Toha, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet.
Despite Israel’s criminal war to destroy Gaza and its people, the film makes clear the idea that for Toha and other creative voices Gaza is the poet. Toha was at one point separated from his family, detained, tortured and imprisoned, which sparked protests from the international literary community. The film is a powerful statement that the making of art remains the most essential lifeline we have in this turbulent world.
Also made in Utah, PUSHING LIMITATIONS, directed by James Coca, a Bolivian native who graduated from Utah Valley University, is about Alan Salazar, a Mexico City native who is not a U.S. citizen but nevertheless perseveres to live his artistic dreams as a choreographer.
Touching on changing perceptions about dignity and the dying process, SUFFERING INTO GOLD, directed by Lowell Blank, tells the story of Paul Gralen who decided that instead of allowing the debilitating decline of ALS to engulf him completely he relied on medical assistance to die with dignity. The film documented Gralen’s final days and his wife’s support as well as that of his sister and the guidance offered by the Shared Crossing Project.
DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM 2 (RUNTIME 60 MINUTES): June 20, 2 p.m.; June 22, 4 p.m.
An informative film about a fascinating piece of Utah arts history, EMPRESS, directed by Steven R. Ford, is about a theater in Magna, Utah that has survived for more than 107 years and has been revitalized since it was damaged during a 2020 earthquake. Historically, the Empress Theatre is one of the oldest and best preserved commercial buildings in Magna, and it is the oldest theater in the community. It is one of the most encouraging tales of historical preservation in Utah.
Filmed in Utah, LANDSPEED LIZ, directed by Allison Swank, is about a female rookie driver realizing the chance to take a race car to 300 miles per hour on the Bonneville Flats. The director is based in Brooklyn but last summer was attending the Bonneville Speed Week of events with her parents and then caught notice of a woman her age talk about the feat she was about to undertake. “Intrigued, I introduced myself, and she graciously allowed me to start filming her rookie driving passes in the Iron Dinosaur with nothing more than my iPhone,” Swank wrote in her director’s statement, adding that later she connected with Lorenzo Pace, a New York cinematographer, to document the event. “What started as a spontaneous encounter turned into the serendipitous and experimental journey that became this film!”
The second Utah short film by Leicester Productions on this year’s festival slate, THE PHO KING, directed by Jeovanni Xoumphonphackdy, is an astute, snappy testament to how multicultural community bonds can be nourished and cultivated by something like a good bowl of phở. The smart, tight film, which runs a little under seven minutes, captures the genuine persona, humor and backstory of Brandon ‘Pho King’ Luong (‘the noodle whisperer’) whose social media visibility revved into high gear when he plumbed the depths of the available phở offerings in three Utah counties. With a hat tip to scientific methodology, he documented the progress of his research project — more than 60 bowls of phở in 45 restaurants. Using a refractometer to assess the broth’s quality, Luong create the ‘Pho Quantitative Yumminess Unit’ as his measure. Nevertheless, he didn’t let that overwhelm the objective to make phở as accessible and non-intimidating to his growing numbers of followers. The result was The Pho King SLC Graph, a four-quadrant format inspired by one that avid sports fans create to determine the best (or personal favorite) basketball players in the game.
Equally uplifting, THEN WE SAW THOSE EYES…AGAIN, directed by the father-and-son team of David and Jackson Hughens, is a lovely story about a mother with a daughter who has Down syndrome and decides to adopt two more children with the syndrome from a Ukrainian orphanage.
KIDS! PROGRAM 1 (RUNTIME 47 MINUTES): June 19 and June 21, 12:15 p.m.
The Iranian short, BIRD DAY, directed by Davood Haseli, is one of the most sophisticated entries in this year’s Kids! program for Fear No Film. The theme is about respect for nature, as a child who is searching for butterflies and then encounters a bird hunter. The boy finds a deserted tiny bird and decides to care for it before letting it fly freely when it is mature enough. It becomes an epiphany that convinces him not to hunt anything further.
A delightful animation short from Germany, DREAMING OF FLIGHT, directed by Elena Walf, is about a hen who is distracted from her expected duty of laying eggs when she is inspired by watching swallows fly to be able to do the same thing.
One of numerous animated shorts inspired by music and classic stories produced in Russia by Belarusian creative artists that are on this year’s slate, EVGENY GLEBOV: LITTLE PRINCE, directed by Igor Volchek, featuring music from The Little Prince ballet by Glebov. The animation is clever, charming and expertly rendered in these series. Likewise, music by Russian composers is highlighted in ISAAC SCHWARTZ: THE CIRCUS, directed by Alexandr Guriev, and SERGEY SLONIMSKY: THE BELLS, directed by Dmitry Naumov.
NAVAJO HIGHWAYS: “TAKING IT BACK HOME”, directed by Pete Sands, is the first episode in a new series featuring puppets and live action, designed to teach and inspire Navajo Nation children to learn about their culture and the Diné language. Set in the fictional town of Mitten Creek on the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation, the principal character is Sadie, a young Navajo who has grown up in the city, and is spending her summer on the Navajo reservation to learn about the culture and language. Designed for Navajo children from Pre-K to third grade, the show ”centers around her learning these different things [and] the audience doesn’t really understand so they learn along with Sadie the audience learns along with her, following her journey,” Sands said, in an interview published in the Moab Times-Independent. In 2017, the number of fluent Navajo language speakers was estimated to be around 170,000, less than half of the tribe’s population, according to the Navajo Times. Sands added that those children who are not Navajo hopefully will enjoy the show to learn more about the history and culture of Indigenous people.
From Utah, THE SOCKENING comes from the youngest director this year to be featured at Fear No Film: Sophia Linzie McDonald. The short is witty and well executed: what happens when someone decides to wear the same socks day after day. McDonald already has an award-winning short on her portfolio: The Sister Sister Jinx, which has taken several honors including Best Picture (for her age category) at Tumbleweeds, the kids’ film festival sponsored by the Utah Film Center.
KIDS! PROGRAM 2 (RUNTIME 49 MINUTES): June 20 and June 22, 12:15 p.m.
As in the other kids’ program, there are some more cleverly made animated shorts inspired by music and classic stories produced in Russia by Belarusian creative artists that are on this year’s slate: ALEX ROSTOSKY: THE LEOPARD, directed by Boris Korshunov and Alex Rostotsky; DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH: POLKA, directed by Tatyana Musalyamova and HANNA LEVI VROMAN: THE TRAIN, directed by Alexander Lenkin.
From Lehi, Utah, HOMEROOM, directed by Brandon Orton, is a charming and smart take on the kid’s timeless challenge of solving a word problem for his math homework. Spencer, 11, loves being a detective and solving the problem is accomplished by following a trail of clues in his bedroom, which include a Polaroid snapshot and a locked box that can be opened only when he has completed the homework problem.
NAVAJO HIGHWAYS: ‘HORSEY TIME’ is the fourth episode in this children’s series targeting Navajo Nation children, ranging in age from Pre-K to third grade. For more information about the series, see details above in Kids! Program 1.
POP FLY, directed by Aaron Roman, is like a child’s story version of the classic baseball film Field of Dreams. Dismayed by the fact that he missed catching a pop fly that could have won the game for his team, the boy discovers an opportunity on his way home to finally overcome the fear of missing a catch.
PUFFERFISH comes from Germany and Julia Ocker, a director familiar to younger Fear No Film audiences. This is yet another animated short in a series that is a perennial favorite, where each animation piece fits beautifully within a 3:37 timeframe.
A Spy Hop Production short in Utah, UNBEARABLE, directed by Kitzia Rodriguez and written by Aria Gunter, is a cute story about what happens when a teddy bear is lost about what to do when its owner has moved on to their next phase in life.