Article contributed by Sophie Sorrell
Cherry Lemonade
Cast: Eris Baker, Skylan Brooks, Chance Harlem Jr.Directed and written by Aisha Ford
Running Time: 11mins
Over the course of a hot summer’s day in a lower-income neighbourhood, a black girl learns to take the lead on her own terms.
Sun-soaked and poignant, Cherry Lemonade is a thoughtful portrayal of a young black girl’s journey into learning how to hold her own and stand her ground in a tough and complex world. A character driven film, the story is told through the eyes of Phoenix (Eris Baker), as she navigates growing up in both her immediate community and the world at large. There is a reflective, contemplative quality to the film; Phoenix is at the age where she is discovering the world around her and learning to see it as it truly is, growing a sense of awareness of the dangers and difficulties it holds for a young girl. The film captures a raw sense of authenticity as it looks at the lessons learned on that journey, showing the value of self-empowerment in a world that is fraught with potentially dangerous situations. Eris Baker has a strong, charismatic on screen presence as the lead Phoenix, effortlessly carrying the emotional weight of the film as it explores the struggles of growing up and all the joys, fears and uncertainties that come with it. Whilst the narrative could have benefitted from an extra scene or line of explanation to clarify the resolution of certain key obstacles that help drive Phoenix’s character arc, Cherry Lemonade hits all the right emotional beats, with strong character development that allows the film to pack a powerful and memorable story into just eleven minutes.
Everything Stays
Directed and written by Cole Bacani
Cast: Ryan Gatus, Sari Arambulo, Nicole McCullough
Running Time: 26 minutes
Everything Stays follows Gabe, a high school senior, as he wrestles with the prospect of being the first in a large Filipino family to leave home. Gabe has a prominent position in his family; his younger cousins look to him to lead the way and bring them all together. As Gabe considers leaving home to attend college in California, his family endeavour to convince him to stay home in Illinois. Over the summer, Gabe struggles to choose between his family or his future.
Everything Stays takes a narrative that could easily have made up a full length feature film and condenses it down into twenty-five minutes. The film captures the beauty, love and life of a large family, whilst also showing how the strength of those ties can lead to tension and heartache when it comes to balancing the wants, needs and feelings of one’s family against one’s own hopes, dreams and desires. An air of nostalgia oozes from the screen as Gabe, weighing his decision, appreciates all the wonderful reasons he has to stay, and tries to soak up the memories of what is potentially his last summer before he leaves. This is delicately balanced against a sense of longing, uncertainty and hope as Gabe struggles with the prospect of leaving his family behind, and comes to terms with having a dream that means taking off into new territory. Everything Stays is a beautifully shot, heartfelt look at a last summer, fraught with internal struggle and the tangle of bittersweet emotions that come with facing with big, life-altering decisions.
Forever Tonight
Directed and Written by Swetha Regunathan
Cast: Nivita Chaliki, Ethan River Cohen
Running Time: 12 mins
Lehka sneaks out of her house to chase her dreams of prom night, but finds that her evening does not go the way she hoped. As she pursues her crush at a pre-prom gathering, Lehka finds herself making some unexpected decisions and begins to see things with a new perspective.
Forever Tonight strips away the rose-tinted lens that usually accompanies portrayals of prom night, and provides a raw look at the uncomfortable reality of going through adolescence. The film is proud in its awkwardness, and tender in its depiction of navigating life feeling like an outsider, different and out of step with those around you. As Lehka’s night unfolds, she finds herself faced with unexpected situations and responds in equally unexpected ways, not always with grace and elegance but certainly with guts and mettle. Set in the picture of suburban America, the film highlights the pressures and challenges of being an American-Indian teenager and daughter. Regunathan has crafted a character and a story that is notably real, tender and gritty in its portrayal of teenhood.
La Tecnica
Directors: Clemente De Muro, Davide Mardegan
Writer: Clemente De Muro
Cast: Cesare Costagli, Leonardo Giannelli, Nilde Pantani
Running Time: 10mins
Leonardo, a shepherd’s son, meets Cesare, the new guy in town, who teaches Leo the best strategies with girls.
An Italian film, La Tecnica captures the sense of self-consciousness that comes with growing up and growing awareness of new things. Its charm is in its innocent awkwardness, in the naïveté of Leonardo and the false bravado of Cesare, and the tender expression of the age at which first crushes start to arise. A snapshot of an Italian summer, the ten minutes slip by in a haze of sun splashed days, swimming in the creek and traipsing over glorious green hills out in the stunning Italian countryside. Gentle and atmospheric, La Tecnica is a wholesome look at the beautiful awkwardness of growing up.
The Speech
Directed and written by: Haohao Yan
Cast: Gloria Xiong, Chedi Chang, Harmonie He
Running Time: 26 minutes
2003, Beijing, China – the Chinese government have announced the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). As social norms are impacted, three eight-year-old girls at a private boarding school uncover personal truths during a lockdown.
Taking place against the central backdrop of a private Chinese boarding school, the narratives of three girls play out one at a time, tied together with small interconnecting mentions and moments. Anqi (Gloria Xiong) struggles to makes sense of the dynamics of different relationships amidst the new lockdown norms, Yezi (Chedi Chang) deals with being bullied during quarantine, and Zhenzhen (Harmonie He) struggles against expectations as a competitor in an important speech competition. It’s a film that hits a little harder off the back of the events of 2020. The Speech is an intriguing exploration of humanity, taking a look at how one makes sense of the world and one’s place in the world during an inexplicably confusing time. There is a quiet poignance to the film; The Speech is elegantly crafted, subtle and reflective. Anqi, Yezi and Zhenzhen are reaching the age of self-awareness, developing their values and ideals, and navigating that growing understanding of self is made more challenging by the lockdown. Over the course of the film, we see the girls attempting to deal with some of the ordinary challenges that come with growing up, juggling the pressures of friendships and managing expectations from teachers, in the midst of extraordinary circumstances that add an extra measure of tension and confusion to the situation. Whilst serious in tone, the film hits the right emotional beats without being too heavy handed. It could have been interesting to see the girls’ narratives further entwined, rather than taking place sequentially, however there is enough detail nestled within each story that, despite shifting between narratives, the film still feels cohesive. Running just over twenty-five minutes long, The Speech is a captivating watch, examining the weight of managing relationships, insecurities, and expectations under the strain of unusual, harrowing circumstances.
American Eid and The Silent Echo, also in the Coming-of-Age category, were unavailable for virtual screening.
