The frosty fractals of winter have fully thawed, and hibernating artists are slowly emerging from their studios with the fruits of last season’s labor. May’s best buds include two Staff Pick Premieres, “LIFE CYCLES” and “Intercourse,” both about how we react when life throws us a curveball. Oddball stop-motion animation “Xylophone” and the heartwarming “SAND IN THE SKY” enthralled our team with stories of no good, very bad days (sizzling summer temps + a mischievous goat = a frustrated pregnant lady) and really great, very sunny days (through the bright eyes of a 1½-year-old). We know we always say this, but May was a really good month for Staff Picks. Press play to see what we’re talkin’ bout.
SAND IN THE SKY
“SAND IN THE SKY” from Gnarly Bay.
What can we say about Dan Riordan and Dana Saint’s production company, Gnarly Bay, that we haven’t already written in the Vimeo blog, their video’s comments section, direct messages and e-mails? They have an amazing ability to find captivating, human stories and wring every drop of warmth, heart and comedy present in a moment and project it onto the small screen. We’ve followed them through insane bachelor parties, record-breaking rafting trips, and now family vacations to Hawaii. One difference this time, though, is that Dana’s 20-month old son is the one doing the storytelling. Be sure not to miss this heart-melting doc/narrative hybrid, and Gnarly Bay’s 10th (!) Staff Pick.
LIFE CYCLES
“LIFE CYCLES” from Ross Hogg.
Humans are creatures of habit. Whether we know it or not, we form behaviors that become routine and they structure our lives. That structure gives us a sense of security and provides a sense of familiarity, which influences the choices we make. Using a rule-based, rhythmic structure, animator Ross Hogg attempted to capture the daily cycles of his personal habits and juxtapose them against external events and global issues. The result was a creative portrayal of the monotony of our daily routines and how one powerful moment in time can knock us out of the drone of the everyday. It was also one of this month’s Staff Pick Premieres.
Hurray For the Riff Raff – ‘Pa’lante
“Hurray For the Riff Raff – ‘Pa’lante’” from Kristian Mercado Figueroa.
Seasoned Staff Pick alum Kristian Mercado Figueroa has a way with weaving visual stories and song lyrics together seamlessly. The video that earned him his last Best of the Month badge for Craig Finn’s “God In Chicago” (March 2017), as well as his latest for Hurray For the Riff Raff’s “Pa’lante,” beautifully portray human pain, grief, the capacity for change and a willingness to seek a speck of light in a situation shrouded in darkness. Starring The Florida Project’s Mela Murder as a Puerto Rican mother traumatized by the devastation of Hurricane Maria, “Pa’lante” (meaning “go forward”) follows a family bravely putting the pieces of their lives back together in the wake of a storm that ravaged their home.
APERTURE
“APERTURE” from Emanuele Kabu.
Combining 2D animation and photographs filmmaker Emmanuele Kabu captured in his Italian hometown, “APERTURE” is a speedy tour through Belluno via the eyes of a former citizen trying to adapt to the changes of a place he was once intimately familiar with. In an attempt to re-learn Belluno’s language after spending years in London, Kabu poignantly elaborates “I’ve spent 11 days forcing myself to document every angle of Belluno….After all the hard work I am still having the same mixed feelings about this place and living here, but at least I’ve discovered that every wall, no matter how many we build, has a crack or a scratch. And this is a relief.”
Intercourse
“Intercourse” from Jonatan Etzler.
“Intercourse” centers around a young couple whose relationship is rattled when a boyfriend offers to pay his girlfriend for sex while she is on her period. What initiates as a seemingly playful joke, eventually escalates into a potentially existential threat to the relationship. “I wanted to show that even intimacy can become a commodity,” said director Jonatan Etzler when asked about story’s central conflict. Even the film’s title is a nod to this notion: “The word ‘intercourse’ actually sounds like a business term to me. It could easily fit in with all the other words a big corporation would use while discussing their latest interim report.” Press play on this Staff Pick Premiere for one of the most fascinating conversation-starters we’ve seen in a long while.
The Loaf Zone
“The Loaf Zone” from Christopher Rutledge.
The Vimeo curation team lives (pretty much) together in a corner office of the Vimeo HQ, where all five of us watch, discuss, debate and type away the workday hours. Sometimes, though, a short will show up on our screens that makes us forget we have a job to do and makes us laugh together…like, laugh really hard. A few minutes of shared laughter over fart and dick jokes was brought to us by Chris Rutledge’s 3D-animated Staff Pick, “The Loaf Zone.” The title kinda says all you need to know about this peculiar comedy, while at the same time saying nothing at all. Such is a beauty of this ridiculous lil comedy.
The Wild Inside
“The Wild Inside” from Andrew Michael Ellis.
“The Wild Inside” refers to the raw energy of wild horses who run free in the Southwest United States and the animal roots of human beings who capture and attempt to tame them. Filmmaker Andrew Michael Ellis profiles inmates of the Arizona state-prison system who, in a new rehabilitation program, are tasked with training and readying the horses for adoption. The “low-risk” men are nearly done serving their terms behind bars, and the power of their relationship with the animals whose fierceness they’ve been asked to break emphasizes the healing abilities of connection/belonging over depersonalization/solitary confinement. Beautifully shot and edited, there’s a lot to unpack in this piece about our prison system, the welfare of prisoners, and governmental institutions that keep both man and animal behind bars.
Lattice
“Lattice” from Maria Constanza Ferreira.
Crystals are believed to have been a source of healing since ancient times, but have you ever considered the calming power of their fractals and iridescent sheen up close? As in, under a microscope? Science brainiac and crystalologist Maria Constanza Ferreira cleanses our eyeballs in this gorgeous, animated trip through the colors of rainbows you can hold in your hand.
Griffin Gass / Pacific Standard Time
“Griffin Gass / Pacific Standard Time” from Ben Ericson.
You don’t need to be a skateboarder or a sports lover to appreciate this vid from Ben Ericson – it’s got enough rhythm and style to stand out as a work of art on its own. With whiplash sharp editing, perfect sound design and a curtain of hazy, grainy 16mm, we follow skateboarder Griffin Gass as he cruises around the bustling Seattle, Washington streets. If Gass’ smooth skating doesn’t get you (which it should, he rips) we know the camera work will blow you away. Rarely do we see action captured so fluidly on film.
Xylophone
“Xylophone” from Jennifer Levonian.
We were super excited to stumble upon this quirky animation, which story-wise is more or less a grown-up version of the children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.” Made with paper, watercolors and what must have been boatloads of patience, it’s a short about the ridiculousness that can go down when you’re an expecting Mom who just wants to entertain her bored kid on a hot summer’s day. Funny, sweet and slightly off, “Xylophone” is a delightful testament to the handmade charm of DIY stop-motion animation.
Emergence VR
“Emergence VR” from Julius Horsthius.
Like a safari on another planet, “Emergence VR” places you in a smooth tour of pixelated environments that are simultaneously familiar, foreign and fantastical. Julius Horthiu’s VR version of his non-360 Staff Pick, “Emergence,” feels like stepping into a video game to experience what future intergalactic botanical gardens might look like. Who knows – perhaps these imaginative words are what awaits us when we inhabit Mars?
