Shorts: Life Goes On

Event Information

Life goes on. If one were to believe mainstream cinema, a woman’s life tend to end at 40. Or at least life as we know it. Nameless grandmother, who’s only role is to care for others with no agenda of their own – this is what many female roles look like after hitting a certain age. We love grandmothers – but women* at all ages have desires, dreams, thoughts and agendas – and on top of that, are allowed to be selfish in their pursuits in life.

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Films

Alternating Current / 2018 / Rowan Gray / Canada / 7 min

A woman aging out of a thankless job faces a life of poverty after being suddenly stripped of her hard-earned pension.

A Great Ride / 2018 / Deborah Craig / United States / 33 min

“A Great Ride” is a documentary about older lesbians aging with dynamism and zest for life. When they were young these women forged a social movement to come out as true to themselves. Now they are pioneers once again as they face the next daunting challenge: growing old, which can come with frailty, loneliness, and the death of dear friends. In this group portrait, these women are courageous role models for aging, which they do with determination, engagement, an independent and irreverent spirit and a heartening delight in living.

Deconstruction: the Susy Shock Chronicles / 2016 / Sofia Bianco / Argentina / 20 min

From the very heart of the Pachamama region to the centre of the capital cities, Susy Shock creates her own path, and travels, as if she were a comet brightening up the instant, whichever instant she crosses our path. High heels and make up, streets, poetry, friends and companions; all contribute to her condition of reinventing herself: not a man, not a woman, not xxy nor h2o; but a monster of the abnormal, a butterfly who wants to play and enjoy. It is the dichotomy of the visible and invisible in the setting of a person, in the deconstruction of an identity. And, above all, it is all about the struggle to be who you want to be. Who wants to be normal? … Let others be the norm.

Rosario / 2016 / Marlen Ríos-Farjat / Mexico / 10 min

Rosario sees her days go by as caregiver for her ill husband. Silently, she bears the burden of a marriage that has dried up. No one in her family knows how she feels; everyone keeps up appearances. But a struggle has begun between her duty and her own desires.

Lady M / 2018 / Tammy Riley Smith / United Kingdom / 12 min

Hell hath no fury like an older woman scorned. An aging actress summons the spirit of Lady Macbeth in order to win the part in an upcoming production. The actress, Margot Collins, played Lady Macbeth to great acclaiming her youth. Now in her fifties, she is largely forgotten, struggling for auditions, let alone parts. But when a theatre company announces its intention to stage Macbeth, Margot is determined to land the eponymous role once more … At the auditions it is a younger actress, Chloe, who commands the attention of the director, Richard, but he remembers Margot’s inspirational performance and agrees to hear her read. It soon becomes clear, however, that Margot has no chance of starring opposite Brad, a hot TV star, twenty years her junior – and is instead offered the art of one of the witches… But one should never underestimate the spirit of the play to conjure black magic, to summon mishaps and mischief, nor the power of a formidable older woman to get what she wants …

Living Tongue / 2018 / Michelle Gualda / Argentina / 15 min

A living tongue is a repertoire for expressions, constantly growing and changing. Tomoko is a retired Japanese woman in an exchange program in Argentina, with her living tongue she soaks up new words and gestures in a constant quest to communicate.

Pamçka / 2018 / Elda Sorra / Germany / 12 min

Axi, the mother’s Pekingese dog has died. Marina the younger daughter, who still lives with her mother, is instructed to go and get Greta, her older sister. Greta, who tries to distance herself from her family, reluctantly follows their request and learns at lunch that the mother, while burying the dog in the garden, has made a finding, which apparently belonged to the long-dead father. Arrangements have been made to get rid of the fund and Greta, who does not want to know anything about it, finds herself in the midst of it. This whimsical tragicomedy short film portraits a fragment of an unusual mother-daughter relationship with strong, but somewhat headstrong women and a weird situational comedy.

If this interests you, we recommend you check out our screening of the feature film Pause!