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Chlotrudis Short Film Festival

A well selected bunch

By RICHARD BECK | February 28, 2007

2.5 Stars

KILLING ME SOFTLY: "Forgetting Betty"

The sight of Murderball at #20 on the Chlotrudis Independent Film Society’s Top 100 Documentaries list would put anyone in a suspicious frame of mind, but the 11 entries in the society’s 2006 Short Film Festival are a well selected bunch that range from Chekhovian revelations of the everyday to exercises in narrative stillness. There’s a little bit too much of the whole “Don’t be scared! Fall in love!” thing going on, however (Byran Nest’s “ ’Til Death Do Us Part” and Sean Ashcroft’s annoying “The Story of Bubbleboy”), and the influence exerted on impressionable youth by the Amélie soundtrack (quirky accordions and bells) pervades too many entries. But then there’s James Anderson & Robert Postrozny’s softly heartbreaking “Forgetting Betty.” The real highlight, though, is Nick J. Palmer’s thriller “Sounds,” a nine-minute wrecking ball of suspense and narrative economy. Someone please give this guy money.

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Film Festivals, More

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