June 19, 2020

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AFI DOCS: Your Guide to Shorts Program 2

Watch the best in short nonfiction films at AFI DOCS, June 18-21. Get your ticket here.

Curated from hundreds of entries, this year’s short films highlight unique voices from around the world – presented in four programs.

Following the screening, watch a recorded discussion with the films’ directors.

8:08 HOW WE RESPOND – directed by Ian Bell
On January 13, 2018, Hawaii issued a false missile warning leading millions to believe a missile attack was imminent. Our live-streaming culture provided a record of how people dealt with their own mortality.

“Back on the mainland the event was quickly chalked up to just another chapter in the misadventures of the Trump Presidency. The pace at which we normalized this event was disheartening. My hope was to provide viewers a window into this moment; to feel what those who were affected in the moment felt, while also gaining a better understanding of how people processed what they thought to be their final moments.” – Ian Bell

ALL THAT PERISHES AT THE EDGE OF LAND – directed by Hira Nabi
A decommissioned ship and the shipbreakers from all over Pakistan there to break it enter into a conversation and discover they might have more in common than otherwise imagined.

THE FOREST CHURCHES OF ETHIOPIA – directed by Jeremy Seifert
In Ethiopia, church forests are withstanding environmental destruction — but just barely.

“These little blips of green rising out of vast swaths of deforested brown offer hope and a vision of life abundant. That’s a heartening mythology and a powerful intersection of faith and science doing some good in the world. The disheartening mythology is just how tiny they are, how vast the space is that reveals what we have lost. But, because of the Ethiopian Church Forests, not all is lost.” -Jeremy Seifert

MOTHER – directed by Jas Pitt, Kate Stonehill
A young dancer from a Rio de Janeiro favela finds acceptance through their vogueing family, the art of Ballroom, and their relationship with their vogueing mother, Makayla.
“I hope audiences feel moved by the profound love and friendship that this community shows each other at this precarious time. To me, they are an amazing example of what family really means, and I hope audiences find themselves exploring the meaning of family when they watch the film, too.” – Kate Stonehill

OUT OF THE BLUE – directed by Jonathan Bregel, Steve Hoover
A 78-year-old man decided to cover his entire body in a blue tattoo once he retired from his career as an accomplished Baltimore City planner.
“Jim lives his life in a way that we think makes people say, ‘I hope I’m like that when I’m his age.’ He is someone who really values and enjoys his existence in a way that feels true.”-friendzone aka directors Bregel and Hoover

PAMPAS – directed by Jessica Bishopp
A hybrid documentary exploring sexual signaling and urban legends about how plants were used in 1970s suburbia to send seductive signals to neighbors, or so rumor has it.
Watch Jessica Bishopp talk about the film: