June 09, 2006

Tonight, Short Shorts welcomed back alumnus JASON REITMAN whose short film, IN GOD WE TRUST, screened at the festival 5 years ago. Jason recently completed his first feature film, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, which has garnered critical and commercial success. So much so, in fact, that 20th Century Fox, the distributor that purchased the film at the Toronto Film Festival, has put Jason on a worldwide press tour.

Jason and his long time producing partner, DANIEL DUBIECKI, arrived at the Laforet Theater around 17:30 Friday night. People were lining up from the 5th floor all the way down to ground level, waiting to see the film and its phenomenal all-star cast. Virtually every role in the movie is played by an established actor, including Sam Elliot, Katie Holmes, Aaron Eckhart, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe, and even TV’s “The O.C.” star Adam Brody.

After the doors opened and people scrambled into the theater to grab a good seat, host and Short Shorts co-founder DOUGLAS WILLIAMS welcomed Jason and Dan onstage. Asked about what approach a short filmmaker should take in trying to parlay his work into a feature film, Jason explained that “it should touch on the same genre and tone of the feature film you hope to make.” His short film IN GOD WE TRUST was a satirical comedy, much the same in humor as his feature film.

After the short screening and q & a, the audience settled into their seats for the feature. Right off the bat, the witty repartee between the lead character―a vehement defender of Big Tobacco---and those obstructing his path elicited big laughs from the audience. In the story, Aaron Eckhart’s character argues, without sentiment and with great strategy, that the tobacco companies, which allegedly kill millions, should not be vilified by a liberally righteous society. A lot of things can kill you---cars, planes, etc―and cigarette companies are the only ones who are under constant attack.

Some of the biggest laughs came when Rob Lowe’s character, a slick Hollywood agent with an obsession with Japanese culture, appeared onscreen. In one shot, he’s seen talking on the phone wearing in a Kimono. After the screening, Jason and Dan took more questions from the audience. Asked what he thought makes Jason a good director, Dan replied, “Broad shoulders.” After the laughs died down, Dan explained that he and Jason have always clicked because of their common sensibilities and humor. They laugh at the same things and are mutually inspired by the same comedic concepts.

Another man, sitting in the front row and effusively praising Jason’s work, asked if the film paid homage to any other director’s work. Jason replied that while the film had been inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE, he did not intend to specifically honor any other film. Dan added that THANKYOU does pay homage to other directors that he and Jason admire, including Wes Anderson.

Jason also talked about his next project, a satire of corporate culture. He covered heaven and hell in his short film, politics in his first feature, and now he will tackle the corporate world.

Given the fact that thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of short films circle the globe every year, it’s quite a feat to be selected for a competitive short film festival. Five years ago, Jason made it into Short Shorts. Now he has survived the scrutiny of Hollywood professionals and not only made a high profile feature film but succeeded greatly doing it.

International Program A screened for the second time at Laforet early this afternoon. This program includes a number of outstanding films from Europe and the USA. The bubbly Swedish film ESTER opens the program is part of the festival’s Women Short Shorts category, which celebrates the achievements of women behind the camera. The program closes with a special screening of THE CHILI CON CARNE CLUB, which features Mel Gibson and Kristy Swanson, who played Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the original feature film!

Festival-goers Tatsuya Kobaiyashi and Tomohiro Kyan particularly enjoyed DELIVERY, a German animated film, makes an interesting statement about the environment. “It was very original,” said Tatsuya. The two were surprised to see such a young-looking Mel Gibson in THE CHILE CON CARNE CLUB, which was produced way back in 1993!! Has Short Shorts inspired these economics students to become filmmakers? “We’d rather watch films than make them!”

Kyan & Kobaiyashi