I’m back with more coverage of Sundance 2024’s short Film programs! Today, I’m covering all of the award winner films since they released a specific program filled with the Special Jury winners. Obviously, all of these films are incredibly high quality—that’s how they won the award—and as an amateur film critic, it was fun to see what the professionals value in directing/film in general.
This will be my final review of Sundance this year, and I’m sorry to all of the films I didn’t get to! Next year I hope to attend in person and do a better job of seeing even more films.
Past Sundance 2024 Coverage: Short Film Program #3 | Short Film Program #5
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love
Filmmaker: Makoto Nagahisa
Award: Special Jury Prize for Directing
Find the Film: Letterboxd
I have no idea what I just watched but I’m absolutely obsessed. Pisko the Crab Child is in Love is a bizarre documentary film style short about a girl named Pisko who is half crab, half human. She is groomed by her teacher when in school, and he ultimately abandons her because of her crab-ness. Never fear, though, our odd little protagonist finds love and connection in other places.
The Looming
Filmmaker: Masha Ko
Award: Special Jury Prize for Directing
Find the Film: Letterboxd
This movie was so incredibly spooky and well shot. I can’t believe the amount of suspense and fear and sadness this managed to instill in me in a mere 15 minutes. In The Looming, an old man hears noises in his house each night. While most people in his life dismiss it as the delusions of a man with dementia, his Alexa-like speaker picks up on the noises as well, and he realizes it’s real. The mix of horror, realism, and dread was so well captured in this horror-esque short.
Bob’s Funeral
Filmmaker: Jack Dunphy
Award: Short Film Jury Award for Nonfiction
Find the Film: Letterboxd
The first half of this film lost me, but the second half brought me so far in I ended up sitting on the floor of my living room sobbing. Bob’s Funeral is a documentary film made by Jack Dunphy in the wake of his father and grandfather’s deaths. These two profoundly different men impacted the people around them in varying ways, and Jack interviews these people to find out more about who they really are.
Bug Diner
Filmmaker: Phoebe Jane Hart
Award: Short Film Jury Award for Animation
Find the Film: Letterboxd
Help! Get me out of here! That is how I felt for the majority of the time I watched Bug Diner. This is truly the horniest film I have ever seen and is not for any of the people who complained about Saltburn being too much. If you were one of the people who laughed in the face of the bathtub scene and also enjoy animated animal horniness, you’ll probably adore this film. It’s well made (I think, I rarely watch animation) but the plot was not for the weak.
The Stag
Filmmaker: An Chu
Award: Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction
Find the Film: Letterboxd
In The Stag, a man works at a deer farm and is tasked with cutting off a stag’s antlers while his children watch. He’s clearly a good dad, and those pieces of the short are evocative and well-shot. The actual deer part hit less well for me, likely at least partially because as a vegetarian I don’t do well with animal pain or gore. The movie was slow but beautiful, and I think this is a great choice of film for someone who wants to see beautiful pictures and meaning that’s not overdone or reliant on plot twists to get the job done.
Say Hi After You Die
Filmmaker: Jenna Tooley
Award: Short Film Jury Award for US Fiction
Find the Film: Letterboxd
I think someone on the jury committee had a passion for crude jokes and grieving, because like Bob’s Funeral, this movie had both. That being said, I found it to be a powerful portrayal of moving on after loss. After Gloria’s best friend dies, she has to come to terms with what that means for her life and find a way to move forward. In the process, she has conversations with a port-a-potty she likes to believe is a manifestation of her friend. It’s more than a bit ridiculous, but it manages to pull it off.
The Masterpiece
Filmmaker: Alex Lora Cercos
Award: Short Film Grand Jury Prize
Find the Film: Letterboxd
The title of this film seems to have prophesied its ultimate success in grand jury prize. That being said, this film most certainly is deserving of the accolades. The setup is so good that time flew by while I was watching. It felt simultaneously longer and shorter than its runtime of 20 minutes. In The Masterpiece, a young art dealer meets a father/son scrap yard duo and invites them to their mansion to take more of their things. There’s a constant underlying tension and a need to know what’s happening next. That being said, I do feel like the payoff wasn’t quite what I hoped—I needed it to end with more of a bang. Still, I deeply enjoyed watching and would love this turned into a feature film.
