This collection of strange and magical shorts are the final block that I’ve had the pleasure of watching at the Chattanooga Film Festival.

Content: The Lo-Fi Man (2023): Brian Lonano, who co-directed this short with Blake Myers and wrote it, just wants to tell you about Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Yet he’s been replaced by the new and improved Brian Lonano (Clarke Williams) who is now a streaming content aggregator and influencer, asking you to smash that like button and ring the bell so you get the updates. Breaking free from the mouse-eared androids that have him locked up, he battles the Content Seeker by, well, kind of becoming Tetsuo and joining up with film revolutionaries Kino, B-Roll and Wild Track.

We live in a strange place now, a reality where you can get almost every movie you want but may not have the time to watch it. Or maybe you do and when you want to break it down and discuss it, you get lost in the machine of likes and shares. I try to keep my mind open to both sides, as sure, it’s nice to have the most perfect quality home media ever, as well as streaming materials and everyone deserves the opportunity to find and appreciate pop culture in their own way. But man, if I see another listicle or YouTube video that posits theories like “maybe all the shot in the Eastern Bloc SyFy sequels in the 90s were high art” or ten slashers you never saw before and #3 is The Burning, well…

It’s a fine line between discourse and gatekeeping, I guess.

Everyone really seems like they were having fun with this and it made me think about how I present what I love about movies with more thought. So…mission accomplished.

Seatbelts (2022): In Michael Dunker’s short, a couple heads out on their second date and drives right into the middle of conflict when the guy refuses to put on his seatbelt. Everybody in this story did their own research and has notes for what they want each other to know, but they’re just like every conversation you’ve had outside your own bubble since 2016. Nobody is changing their mind and opinions are much like the football jersey that you live and die to be part of. Some shorts are mini-movies; some are sly jokes quickly told. This does the latter well.

Don’t Let Kyle Sit Down (2023): Directed by Joel Jay Blacker and written by Nick Logsdon, this starts when some friends gather around the campfire. Then, someone makes the mistake of saying, “Let’s throw on one more log,” which brings the beardless and burnt-up Kyle to the party.

When everyone is trying to have a moment of relaxation, count on Kyle to cry over the bus he lost or to pick up that acoustic guitar sure to ruin everyone’s moment of simple nothingness. Leave those logs in the pile, because Kyle is always watching. Always waiting.

This one is absurd fun with a concept that just plain works.

We Forgot About the Zombies (2022): Chris McInroy made GUTS, one of the few movies of the last few years to make me physically sick, which is some kind of standing ovation. This one isn’t as intestine churning, but it does have multiple neon-colored liquids inside syringes, formulas that transform people into cake, a zombie ripping off chunks of its arm to appear more pleasing to look at, a clone and, man, I forgot the zombies too. Four minutes, dude. This movie did more in four minutes than some films and their sequel do in four hours.

Variations On a Theme (2022): In Peter Collins Campbell’s short, there are quite literally Variations On a Theme, as a couple who has been physically splitting into many different versions of themselves soon discovers that a mutation has been created and that could threaten everything. The budget for this probably got spent in the first thirty seconds but with little more thought — and more cash — this could easily become an actual idea for a full-length.

Foot Trouble (2023): Directed by Vanessa Meyer, who co-wrote this short with Joshua Strauch, Foot Trouble is about Jade, who has a foot issue that no one wants to discuss. I mean, my biology teacher and his daughter both had webbed feet and I remember once he made her take her shoes and socks off and show all of us, so the world even outside of this movie is strange. So are parents.

Jade decides that instead of just getting past those feet. she covers them up with socks for swim class. I mean, you want that goth boy to notice you, I guess. When you’re young, you blow romance out of proportion, but I never had to come home to cold hot dogs and my mom’s next strange boyfriend. Just warm soda — my parents did not believe in ice, for some strange reason — and my dad sleeping through Married With Children.

This has a lot of style, even if it doesn’t hit many of its lofty targets. That said, it looks great and the talent shines through.

Gold and Mud (2023): Conor Dooley has taken on a real challenge here. Tell the life story of a female doctor in six minutes and still have us care for her, in spite of how absurd some of the moments can be. Ana Fabrega, as Dr. Ana Fabrega, is our one constant.

I’d say it’s episodic in nature, but some of those episodes last scant nanoseconds while others play out. Falling in love at a horse farm, a patient who spits all over the place, a balloon animal in bed and a remembrance at the end where it’s difficult to tell what was real and what was a dream. I wonder, in the last three years of dementia life that my dad had, how much did he remember and how much did he think was television? Was I any more real to him than Fred Sanford, Jessica Fletcher or Johnny Rose?

This is the kind of short that you can watch so many times and come away with something new each time. Incredibly made and just perfect.

Earthling (2023): Keith Lane and Molly Graham have made something pretty amazing here. It concerns the summer of 1976 and Jack and Jim Weiner, twin brothers who were abducted by aliens from Maine, along with two of their friends, Chuck Rak and Charlie Foltz.

It took a decade to remember what happened and even in 2023, Jack considers himself a representative of those space brothers and wants us to know that we’re killing our planet.

The animation in this is inspired by Jack’s artwork, which is bizarre and yet has the influence of no one else. After all, who has been to other realities and planets? Illustrator and animator Ameesha Lee translates that art for our human eyes and makes this story even more astounding.

Instead of the alien stories you’re used to seeing on basic cable, this film makes what happened to these four men feel authentic and possible.

The Promotion (2023): Directed by A.K. Espada and Phil Cheney, The Promotion starts with two office drones in a 1980s office that slowly reveals just where it really is and just who they truly are. With each insult, they reveal that they just want that promotion, not because they want to destroy one another, but when you’re trapped in the pushing the rock up the hill office life, you need anything you can find to get you through the eternity of ennui. Surprising effects and a song out of nowhere only improve this excellent mini-film.

Vertical Valor (2022): Directed and written by Alex Kavutskiy, Vertical Valor celebrates the lost heroes of World War 3: the skaters who stayed home and keep working on their ollie while delivering bad news to, well, the same dad over and over and over yet again. Man, I never knew I could have served in this unit, because I could rail grind and get some limited air even as a fat teenager. Perhaps my knowledge of sponsored riders and Misfits lyrics could have been put to service for my country. I could have read old issues of Thrasher to blind vets. Man, while I’m glad that we haven’t had a major world war — I mean, give 2022 time — I do know that I could have been part of the effort.

Foul (2022): John (Luigi Riscaldino) has a problem that so many men do. He just can’t stand a foul. Sports are tense, you know? And no matter how hard you play or your team is playing, that feeling that an authority can take it all from you is real. Just like an authority taking away your freedom, which John later finds out.

There are also those moments when in the heat of a match or inning or round you feel that you’re in a life-or-death situation. And all that adrenaline can make you feel so much bigger, stronger and tougher than you are. Consider this film a life lesson that you don’t have to experience yourself, but can walk away with the benefit. The next time you get fouled, just brush yourself off and get over it.

FIN. (2023): After witnessing their husbands blow up real good in a freak fishing accident, Edna and Bertha (Addie Doyle and Lee Hurst, who also directed and wrote this) are forced to carry on the family business. The problem? The Man (Blaine Miller) controls the water and claims that it’s for men only. Well, when you have a fake mustache, the world and everything in it can be yours, chica.

I loved every moment of this. A strange world that exists only in this film lives here, a place where despite all the traumas that they’ve dealt with, Edna and Bertha can still just sit in a boat and drink whiskey when they’re not robbing men for their bear coats.

The Chattanooga Film Festival is happening now through June 29. To get your in-person or virtual badge to see any of these movies, click here. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Here are some more shorts from the Chattanooga Film Festival.

Ringworms (2022): A sinister cult looks to gain occult power through cursed worms and find the perfect host within Abbie, a young woman with commitment issues hours away from receiving a marriage proposal from the boyfriend she doesn’t even think she likes. Faye Nightingale, who plays the lead, is absolutely supercharged awesomeness; so is the direction by Will Lee. A splatter relationship movie that ends with a double blast of garbage disposal and black vomit mania, then topped by a head graphically splitting open to reveal a hand? Oh man — I loved every moment. I want more. So much more. Also: There’s a cult!

Kickstart My Heart (2022): Director and writer Kelsey Bollig survived a near-death experience to tell this story of, well, a near-death experience. Lilly (Emma Pasarow) must survive three levels of living hell to return from the near-dead which ends up looking like scenes from horror movies and Mortal Kombat, which I can totally endorse.

You have to love when someone tells an incredibly personal story and does it with fight scenes involving ninjas and demons. More people should follow the model that this film has set, but then again, this is so original and well-done, they’ll find themselves wanting in comparison.

Shallots and Garlic (2022): Directed and written by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto, Bawang Merah Bawang Putih is about what happens when sisters Nur and Karina reunite for their grandparents’ wedding. as the family partakes in the dinner ritual of numpeng, Karina blames Nur for her allergic reaction to garlic. Their grandmother only adds to the tension as their mother tries her best to bring harmony to the table. Despite the culture that you come from, the nervousness that comes from family situations is universal. This tells that story in a way that looks gorgeous but shows how alike we all can be.

Greetings (2023): I never saw this coming and I was floored by this short. Trish is a shy cubicle dweller in an office that’s big on birthdays. She hardly knows anyone, so when she has 15 minutes to write a birthday card from the heart, she makes the wish of the card reader come true. Soon, her birthday notes are in high demand, as she has the power to give love and money to people who never saw themselves with these high commodities. But when everyone forgets her birthday and she’s mistreated by middle management, she takes her pen and a stack of kitten cards to deal out the fates that people truly deserve.

Director and writer Stephanie Bencin has delivered a knock-out short here packed with character quirks remembered throughout and the right touch of absurdist humor that makes this one that I’ll be remembering long after this festival — and several after it — is over.

The Lizard Laughed (2022): Based on the comic from Noah Van Sciver, this short was adapted and directed by Allen Cordell. It tells the tale of Harvey (Sky Elobar), a man with no true responsibilities who meets his strange son Nathan (Jared Boghosian). As they explore the Laughing Lizard rock formation, Nathagets the courage to ask his father why he abandoned their family. It’s tense and strange and wonderful, a mix of well-shot live action and some beautiful animation that creates an unexpected twenty minutes of joy.  I plan on seeking out the comic book now to see how close the filmmaker got to capturing it and if there’s any more of the story to discover. You can learn more at the official Twitter page.

Black Tea (2022): Directed and written by Laura McQuay, this invites us to watch as a lonely Victorian widow (Allyn Carrell) brews tea and casts spells, all to hope to find a long-lost love (Matthew Simmons). This looks absolutely gorgeous, like a painting come to life and feels so well-planned and art directed. From the social media for this film, I’ve seen the storyboards and am astounded by how tight they are and how almost every shot from them ended up in the finished film. Like watching a work of art painted before your eyes. I watched this more than once as I was so taken by its look, its music and its closing moment. You can learn more on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

Farmer Ed (2022): After isolated farmer Ed (E. James Ford) makes a shocking discovery on his land, he tries to keep it a secret from his wife Birdie (Samantha Nugent). But how long can you keep a floating brain from the person you are closest to? Director and writer Azwan Badruzaman has a great eye for setting up shots and pacing, while the cast is absolutely perfect. I’d love to see this as a full-length, as I feel like there’s so much more to explore and my appetite was only briefly sated by this great effort. There are a series of quick cuts as we see the being within the bar study Birdie that are some of the best put together scenes I’ve seen in a short. Can’t wait to see more! You can learn more on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

Picture Day (2022): Director and writer Kelly Pike has crafted this story of Casey (Oona Yaffe), a girl who must go through picture day at the school located on a military base. From battling with her mother over earrings to her father trying to make things make more sense at the dinner table, this photo session seems like a never-ending source of stress and worry. Do we ever appear as we dreamed that we would or how we wish to look in the photos that capture just a second of distortion of who we are in our heads? Picture Day is a slice of life that ends in fantasy and I for one enjoyed every moment.

Canal (2022): A woman (Suri Jackson) must cross a bridge as she walks home, but she feels the pull of staring into the water below. This pulls her through a portal into another world, a maze where she must escape what has dragged her into this new world while gathering her own understanding of it. Director Will Rahilly wrote this along with star Jackson and Anna Boskovski, Will Rahilly, Aaron Rodriguez and Giovanni Saldarriaga; the results are absolutely awe-inspiring, as there are moments that play with perspective and even the direction of the camera, tilting and changing the world around its heroine. Black and white has never felt quite so expressive as the moments I spent within this world. I am truly wowed by what I have seen.

The Five Fingers of a Dog (2022): This was probably the movie I was the most looking forward to in this collection and, sadly, the one I was most let down by. You remember how exciting Fatal Frames seemed from the description and box art? Yeah, that. A so-called “gothic neo-giallo,” which means that this takes the masked killer, the strange weapons, the POV and the kills — well, they get way too graphic, so that puts this in the slasher genre, but man, why quibble at this stage of the game — of the form and puts them on video with out of synch dialogue that feels more like being silly than emulating actual Italian to English dubs, as well as a filming style that’s somewhere in-between digital video and a filter that makes it look like degraded film, except, you know, most gialli actually look gorgeous. Nice lighting, off-kilter camera angels and weirdness for weirdness’ sake do not a good giallo make. At least Kyle Tierce’s soundtrack is lovely. I really wanted to like this film by Charlie Compton and Justin Landsman, but when you call your own movie disreputable, it’s kind of like picking your own nickname and forcing us to call you by it. And I tried, I honestly did, watching this more than twice to try and see if I was just off. I wish that I could have loved it and not feel this disappointment.

Likeness (2022): Kaitlyn (Mary Rose Branick)’s mother (Virginia Newcomb) has been missing for four months and no one seems to be working all that hard to find her. That’s why she’s created a digital AI copy of her, using all of her social media posts, to help her find out exactly where her real mother is. Director and writer David A. Flores has created a film that starts with an interesting concept that really could happen in the future and explores the emotions that surround loss and how even all the technology in the world may not be able to heal the wounds left by someone. I also found it so fascinating how Kaitlyn can speak more honestly with the representative of her mother than she could to her flesh and blood parent. The ending is really well handled, too.

When You’re Gone (2022): In the midst of heartbreak, a writer-turned-party girl (Kristin Noriega, who also directed and wrote this) learns what it means to face pain, as her issues suddenly become moot when she becomes hunted by a subterranean mother and its horrific progeny. Is what’s happening real? Or is this just how emotional agony can make you feel? Either way, this has so much goop dripping into nearly every frame of its action, as well as a heroine not afraid to get her hands dirty and her teeth bloody by fighting back against whatever these creatures are that have her trapped. The elevator to stairwell transition scenes are dizzying and I feel like this needs to be a full-length to expand on each character and learn more.

The Waiting Room or Eggs In Purgatory (2023): Maya (Lyla Stern) died young at just seventeen. Since then, she’s been sitting in Purgatory for eternity in the hopes of learning where her final place in the afterlife will be. She becomes friends with Dean (Pavel Paunov), a young man who has lived a life on Earth very close to her own. But untold millennia of waiting for what’s next has gotten to Maya, which isn’t helped when the keeper of Limbo, Eugene (Colin Heffernan), loses his list of names which may strand her in nowhere forever. This really feels like the way I used to talk in my youth, when I would try to round off infinity and spent hours pouring over song lyrics in the hope of finding something, anything of meaning in this place. Director and writer Madeline Blair captures that and commits it to this film.

Cafe Cinatriz (2022): Director Jordan Bahat has created a story that arises from the last few years of our lives. During that time, Max experienced the loss of his best friend, yet tonight at Cafe Cicatriz, he finally has the opportunity for an actual authentic human connection with Lourdes. He hopes that with time, he can show her his true self, once he builds the courage he needs and perhaps together they can create an actual relationship. But when the word comes out that masks can be removed, he knows that he can’t show her what is underneath his face covering. Because, well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

The Spirit Became Flesh (2023): In a town in Alabama that few would know the name of, Sam (Christopher Dietrick) has come back home to see his sister Lilah (Chloe Baldwin), She is all that holds him here, as his parents are dead and he’s built a life in New York City. This place has always been religious, but Sam is shocked to learn that they now slavishly worship a creature in the woods that they believe is the Holy Spirit. Whatever it truly is, it demands ritual and sacrifice. Can Sam break the cycles of this religious world he no longer belongs in? And more importantly, should he? Director and writer Jesse Parker Aultman has created something really special here. You can learn more on the official site for the film.

The Stewards (2022): In this future-placed short by director and writer Hannah Eaton, a virtual reality conservationist named Avery keeps having the same dream, night after night, which makes her question the isolation that she lives within, the way that she lives her life and perhaps even the nature of reality itself.

The Chattanooga Film Festival is happening now through June 29. To get your in-person or virtual badge to see any of these movies, click here. For more information, visit chattfilmfest.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Salute Your Shorts is the student and Tennessee filmmaker showcase as part of the Chattanooga Film Festival. There are some great films here, so get ready to dig in!

Stephen King’s All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (2023): Based on the Stephen King short story, this is the tale of Alfie Zimmer, (John Ennis) a middle-aged traveling salesman, contemplating suicide in a scummy motel somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. During his lonely trips across America, he has saved graffiti that he has seen in a notebook and now regards them as friends that offer him some distraction as well as something that speaks to him. He then decides to hide the book and if he’s going to kill himself, he leaves it to fate. If the lights of a farmhouse behind the motel appear in the snow before he counts to sixty, he will write a book based on the things he’s seen written on the walls. If not, he will throw away the book and put a bullet in his mouth. Well, in the book, that’s how it ends. This has lights appearing in twenty seconds is the bet and this film gives away what happens next while King doesn’t reveal the fate of Zimmer. Directed and written by Bolen Miller, this film is a fine addition to the many Dollar Baby — King takes only a dollar for student filmmakers to make one of his stories — adaptions of this yarn.

Punch the Boss (2023): Directed by Taryn Grace and written by Matt Webb, this short sets up the eternal conflict in nearly every workplace. If you hate your job, shouldn’t you just go ahead and punch your boss in the face? Pete (Webb), Cory (Cory Davison), Les (Jay Heselschwerdt) and Doug (Chris Maloney) wonder the very same eternal question, especially when they can trace all of their life’s woes to their leader, Johnson. Can all of our problems be solved with violence? And what happens when you finally rise up with fists and you find out that perhaps you’re not quite as tough as you thought you were? There’s some fun camera work here on the way to the boss’s office that is nearly POV and the character work is quite solid for a short of this length.

Solitude (2023): Directed by Trevor Hancock, Solitude is all about a man named Brett who just wants a weekend of absolute, well, solitude. Yet the person next door won’t give him a moment’s peace, constantly pushing him further and further away from the self-care and quiet he so desperately needs. Sometimes, the only way to achieve peace is through an insane act of violence. Maybe that’s me saying that. Perhaps it’s the voices in Brett’s head. You have three minutes in this short to figure out the answer for yourself.

Don’t Look Too Far Ahead (2023): This was an utterly gorgeous short that is so different than usually what plays at fests. It tells the story of Miami native and first-generation Haitian-American college basketball athlete David Jean Baptiste. He talks about how he may not have had the same monetary advantages of his fellow players, but he knew that he had athletic gifts that could not be bought. I really enjoyed that he remember something a teacher once told him, that he was more than just a basketball player. Looking at his life online, you can see that he was on the Dean’s and Honor’s List nearly every year that he attended The University of Chattanooga and won the prestigious Blue Award from the Chancellor’s Office for campus leadership and service. This film sets up his last home game as he reflects on where he has come from and wonders what the future holds as he plays guard for the Rogaska Crystal team in Slovenia. I really liked a lot of the choices that director Nattalyee Randall made with this film and it gave me such a sense of joy and hope.

Greenhouse (2023): As a flower farmer (Morgan Sharpe, one of the film’s writers with Marah Bates, who also dances in this short) begins to grow her first crop, she finds that the critical voice in her head is paralyzing her and nearly costing her ability to enjoy the fruits of her harvest even as they are grown. Directed by Rachel Porter — who is a “fledgling flower gardener by hobby”, this is a meditation on “the daily struggle to persevere amidst self-doubt, learning to face our fears, and choosing to sit with the dark spaces within ourselves.” I really found a lot to consider and think about in this one’s short run time and will use what I have learned as I push to create more and better works. You can learn more at the film’s official site.

After Hours (2023): Directed by James Ross, this short feels like part of a much bigger project or at least I hope that’s the case. As a night shift security guard and custodian work their way through the small hours, something strange is happening. All they have on their side are the surveillance cameras and a walkie-talkie as they come nearly face to face with something unseen, something vicious and something out for their blood. Really enjoyed the sound design and how this was shot. Here’s hoping for more.

Anya (2023): Directed and written by Chris Davies, Anya hints at the potential for so much more. Something horrifying has emerged from the forest sometime in the 70s, definitely on Halloween night and most assuredly with no good will. Tava Hill is Anya, a young woman whose future is tied to this creature. Anya is just a bit under six minutes long and the opening scare record that informs us that Halloween is about death and revenge, well…that sets up something great. Nearly every moment of this is perfectly art directed, scored and lit. I can’t wait to see what Davies is up to next. Why does Anya have a diary? Who was the woman that came from the woods? And how does it all tie together? I need to know more!

Crossing Tides (2023): Directed and written by Gabriel Henk, this short is about how a recently widowed older woman copes with the loss of her husband. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, as my mother went from being in the same house as my dad for 52 years to now being alone with just two cats since his loss. How do adjust to the silence? Time passes and she starts to see her husband more and more as this film moves to its expected conclusion. That said, it’s well made and definitely brought up some thoughts and emotions.

Harmonious (2023): Two friends — played by Lainey Mackinnon and Madison Beehner — have given in to greed and decided to summon a demon (David Sircusa) in the hopes of achieving their desires. But there’s a big difference between the idea of bringing a demonic force to life and what it will demand from you when it becomes a real and actual event. Directed and written by Valery Garcia through the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, this also feels like it could be expanded into a feature.