The yearning for personal connection is a common thread that runs through the six moving and deeply human shorts in TIFF’s Short Cuts Programme 02.
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Executive produced by Spike Lee, filmmaker Joecar Hanna’s Talk Me (pictured above) takes place in a world where conversation as a form of intimacy and affection has been outlawed. Only physical signs of affection are permitted, which means it’s fine to have sex out in the open, but the art of telling someone you love and care about them has become taboo, and what little conversation exists between people is often banal and dull. Pedro (played by Hanna) has grown weary of the monotony of the relationship he has with his husband, and now finds himself fascinated by the more free spirited Kira (Melanie Smith). Pedro and Kira bond over their favourite song (in a world where music is seen as a weird thing), and something new blossoms. Talk Me offers a unique take on what it means to speak one’s mind openly and freely, and how communication is an act of radical intimacy.
Salar Pashtoonyar’s incendiary and powerful short I Fear Blue Skies recounts the story of Zemari Ahmadi, an aid worker who finds himself struggling when The Taliban returns to power in his native Afghanistan. Most countries have begun pulling their citizens from Afghanistan, and Ahmadi looks to leave alongside his family, but his ties to American aid organizations could put his changes of getting out in jeopardy. His only hope is to appeal to The Taliban to allow him to restart his NGO and continue his work while waiting for possibly up to two years for proper paperwork to come through. Heart wrenching and nuanced, I Fear Blue Skies is a call for accountability in a country that the rest of the world has seemingly forgotten about amid a multitude of other global crises.
Sandra Desmazières gorgeously hand drawn animation Water Girl is the kind of fable where one can feel the hand and heart of the creator, as it looks back on the life of a woman who’s spent her years diving for shellfish and urchins in her coastal hometown. There are no words, and everything is conveyed through facial expressions, glances, and music, and just like many similarly constructed shorts, nothing feels missing. It’s an entire life of joy and struggle nicely distilled into a scant number of minutes.
Those in need of a laugh will find plenty in Rich Williamson’s satirical workplace comedy Bots, but they’ll also squirm and shudder at the subject matter. Pavel (Tim Dowler-Coltman) has grown disillusioned at his job, working for a shadowy cabal of bad actors trying to spread misinformation, garbage memes, and conspiracy theories that fuel online right wing outrage. Things come to a head when Pavel thinks he has a great idea for a new cultural flashpoint, but becomes frustrated when his voice isn’t heard or appreciated. Williamson pokes fun at how plenty of outlandish lies and half-truths are taken as gospel by the thoroughly online and outraged, but by looking at trolls and the technology that fuels them, Bots also offers plenty of witty and depressingly real insight.
Isabelle Mecattaf’s short form documentary Not Scared, Just Sad speaks to her family’s struggle to move ahead with daily life while in the middle of a war zone. From her home in Beirut amid bombings carried out by Israel, Mecattaf’s family has to find a way to keep calm while explosions can be seen from their balcony. Bombs may be going off outside, but that doesn’t mean they can choose to ignore the leak in their kitchen. Utilizing split screens to great effect – showing conversations happening concurrently in the house and at different points – Not Scared, Just Sad finds its humanity in watching everyday people wondering about their future, and trying to either laugh to keep from crying, or merely finding ways to stay busy.
The best of this programme, and indeed one of the best shorts at TIFF this year, is Yassmina Karajah’s Ambush, a youthful and vibrant look at nightlife in the city of Amman, Jordan. By day, Hasan (Emad Alkobari) serves warm beverages to old timers at a local cafe, and at night he hangs out on a rootfop with his buddies, peeking into a pop-up discotheque across the street that some of his friends are too cheap to pay a ten buck cover charge to enter. Jana (Sereen Khass) is newly sober and about to celebrate her birthday with friends who want to go to the club. She’s trying to be good, but is feeling tired and weak. Eventually Karajah will have these stories cross paths, but on their own each of these characters is compelling and relatable. Ambush also offers a different vision of Amman than one normally sees on screen, one that’s rich in culture and joyful moments.
Saturday, September 6, 2025 – 3:30 pm – Scotiabank Theatre 3
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 – 8:45 pm – Scotiabank Theatre 14
