A couple more student films from this year's online Bolton Film Festival...
1. Danny's Secret - UK - World Premiere - Dir: Raphael Bliss
In co-operation with The National Film And TV School, this was a world premiere showing of a somewhat comedic coming-of-age story which simply doesn't hit the right notes.
The premise is that a 17 year old boy and his similarly aged girlfriend have been invited to a party that Friday evening, and the big expectation is that they will 'go with each other' (ie: have sex) either there or afterwards. Both are nervous as it will be their first times. However, where the plot is lost for me is that the boy masturbates in the bath (seemingly for the first time) and is then worried that his older sister has become pregnant because she used the same bath water...!
There is a good choice of location and use of both natural and prerecorded sound, and the two young protagonists do work very well together, it's such a shame that it hasn't been given a more overtly comedic twist in the writing which would make one accept the above premise.
The three main cast are Jonathan Blake (Danny), Isabelle Allen (Sophie) and Nicole Harrison (Danny's sister).
2. Interstate 8 - Germany - Dir: Anna Thieme
Filmed in North Carolina, a group of young men are driving to a party with a German girl friend. The police pull them over for a reason I didn't understand, but they found that the driver was driving whilst suspended and at least one of them was in possession of illegal drugs.
The film shows the police's treatment of these youths and handcuffs them and drives them off. It also shows how the police treat the German girl. Although she was speaking fluent English in the car beforehand, she pretends not to understand, and so is put into the back of another police car next to another girl, already there. The other girl is either Latina or Indian, it was difficult to tell, but either way, again, she was not white American and did not speak English.
An interesting expose (if indeed this was based on real life) of how police view foreigners and females in general, and how easily both of them have become victims in a seemingly unjust and biased society. Fortunately for the German girl, she is left at the hotel she told the police where she was living and they never bothred to check or go with her to the reception, but just dumped her and left.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 17/10/20
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