Digi60 sees Ottawa-area filmmakers compete to create a short film within 60 days. To call Digi60 a festival is accurate, but more than that, it represents Ottawa’s emerging film culture and provides a venue for filmmakers and audience members to connect.
This year, the filmmakers interpreted the theme of escape. Considering this is the first post-lockdown winter, I can think of no better idea. Each film in Block B depicted escape, according to different angles, from the emotional to the physical.
Read our reviews of Block A and Block C.
Escape Room by Banana Peel Productions
An escape room from which there is no escape ends in tragedy but begins in a familiar environment, a café. I enjoyed seeing how this location shifts from a place of calm reflection to a place of screaming horror. The source of this terror resembled a classic movie monster living among the roasted beans. An escape room existing within a café and casting a vampiric goth as a barista are clashing opposites—inventions that redefine B-horror. (A great beginning for Block B.)
A Momentary Lapse by Ashley Gorman & Stephen Gagné
The victim/murderer is giving her statement to the attending police investigator and has selective memory lapses. Closeups of their hand caresses suggest attraction. The victim/murderer is not arrested, but released to enjoy her escape from the confines of the dive bar and the event that occurred there. A Momentary Lapse signifies an escape from memory, but can we?
The Spaces Between Us by Vincent Valentino
The main character develops agoraphobia (a fear of open spaces), so she self-isolates. We witness her conflict as her two worlds, inner and outer, collide. A supporting and nurturing therapist encourages her to take that leap–to release herself and venture outside again–to embrace her lover waiting on the other side of the door. Recurring images of a door handle prove that the power to flee is up to our own volition. Yet what if our thoughts prove too powerful—how can we escape? Are we controlled more by our emotions or by our thoughts?
The Winds of Change by Deniz Berkin
Of all the films in Block B, this one relied on images of nature and industry. The film returned to a framed photograph of a couple at different stages of decay. Apocalyptic or dystopian impressions pervaded here to remind the audience that we cannot escape time, even if we are in love.
Who Goes First? by Wynn Quon & Jason Dai
Taking place in a sealed garage, the story depicts two women involved in a tragic incident and how despair, guilt and remorse threaten to erode their mental states. The locked garage signifies their stuck place. While one of the characters reads to escape, the other character’s incessant talking cracks her concentration, leading to the film’s climax. The audience must answer this unforgettable question: is death an escape?
Accursed by Jessie Edwards
A group of women live in a small encampment. They are healers who use herbs for remedies, but a group of witch-hunters soon invade their peace, leaving behind death and destruction. The only survivor casts a curse, and as an adult, she hunts the soldiers that she had changed into wolves. They cannot escape from her revenge. Although this film falls in a genre akin to fantasy, there is no mistaking the grim reality.
Karla’s Date by Antonio Najera
In this blind date at a local Ottawa establishment, we watch as Karla wishes to escape from the guy she just met. We relate as we reflect on our own worst dates and remember how those moments over dinner or drinks were an eternity. The film leaves Karla sitting with a potential partner as if to say we must meet the wrong people first to appreciate the one whose companionship will last a lifetime.
Kinsfolk by Tom Peters & Sydney Ward
A sinister family features in Kinsfolk. We watch the action unfold from the son’s perspective. A vintage record player plays a soundtrack to which the son murders his parents. His motive: they murdered his sister. The son will drive off into the darkness, escaping his family home, but as he drives, the ghosts of this family will travel with him.
sub vari ant by Jennifer Mulligan & Andrew Galligan
The title denotes a word we have all heard and spelled syllabically, emphasizing a recent development in pandemic news regarding the sub var iant. A man quarantines in an apartment’s basement with only a small window to see the world that is always obscure. He attempts to shatter the window with a steel rod, but remains imprisoned. There is no dialogue, only a musical score that voices his urgency. A patient forever sentenced to the asylum captures the film’s mood to amplify its impact. sub vari ant echoes our struggles with lockdowns, yet for this character, confinement is forever.
In Our Dreams by Christalla Buttle & Navjyot Singh
A married couple remains locked in a loveless relationship, but they turn to a revolutionary phone app. They use this before sleep to help them escape from each other. They dream of alternate realities where they might be happier. These dreams are their only escape, yet their monotonous life continues together. Why don’t they move on? Perhaps, they feel closest in their emotional distance.
The Killer That Came To My Home by Amanuel Abebe & Colin Ziraldo
Two bros are thrilled when a beautiful stranger knocks on their door, promising to party with them. This stranger is a murderer. They run upstairs and lock themselves in a room until they capture her using her love of candy as bait. They flee outside. This comical film is a riot to watch because of the story’s absurdity. The trope of opening your door to a stranger makes one think: who are you inviting in?
Dead and Alive by Deena Alsaweer & Geghani Panosian
The concluding film of Block B has the audience observe a mysterious ritual in a local cemetery performed by two sisters who hope to reconnect with their deceased mother. The inside of a mausoleum is the backdrop for the older sister’s journey to the underworld, and after talking with her mother, she returns to her sister waiting at the gravesite. The sisters left the cemetery with the knowledge they sought. Dead & Alive asks us to recall those unfinished conversations we hoped to have with our departed loved ones and tells us that we cannot escape family.
These 12 films changed my perspective on escape. I applaud these filmmakers for bringing their stories to this year’s screen, and as I write, their scenes flash on the walls of this Ottawa cafe. No monsters here, just exceptional coffee.
While it is too late to attend this year’s festival, look forward to December 2023, when Digi60 will reveal another secret corner of the cinematic space.
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