Palm Springs International ShortFest 2025: High Anxiety

 By Jonathan Bilski

Q&A after the screening

High Anxiety, you win! Couldn't help, but sing the line from the Mel Brook's classic homage to Alfred
Hitchcock. And, the audience did win, with some tension-laden and blood pressure raising shorts from the High Anxiety program. 

Now all of these films had to overcome some sort of problem; there was a great Q&A with many of the directors and producers when just such a question of problems for filming was asked. That and how much each cost to be produced. Not gonna go over their prices, but good lucking finding a home that cheap here. 

So, why not start with Overcomer, which had to overcome the main actress being let go three days before shooting and a location change. Actress, Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, the replacement and only a theater actor, pulled it off, showing the unease of a job interview, an annoying Mom and having her wig rip just before said interview.

Goodbye Sun, sadly didn't have anyone in attendance for the Q&A, but was a simple horrifying sci-fi premise of a solar eclipse not ending on a French beach. Love is in the air, also possibly the end of mankind. Great little family moments of dealing with a possible eternal eclipse and a missing daughter/little sister.

guests in lobby

Staying with French speaking films, Mean Ends has to deal with the "disposing of a dead body" and not getting caught. Now, this maybe should have been in the Chills & Thrills section 'cept for the tension of a family wanting revenge and having the possible killer over to make sure he's the killer. While, his place is searched. This movie came about funny enough when the team behind it couldn't film another movie due to cold weather, but was left with a fake dead body and had no storage for it. So, while leaving it around the house they were inspired to make this film. So another film had to fail for this one to be made. Though, the did say they got to finish that film too with another "corpse." 

Cattywampus

Cattywampus, was my favorite film of the night. Getting both Hamish Linklater and John Carroll Lynch made it stood out, that and the great comedy beats. The director revealed they got them at SAG minimum, not a lot of money, because of the actor's strike and them being bored and having nothing to do.

The two actors are a couple of thieves pulling off a heist when Hamish Linklater sort of has a breakdown and realizes he really might be robbing himself of an emotional breakthrough. I don't want to give too much away, but for this almost 20-minute short I was hooked how this crime and emotional catharsis would go down. The two actors and possibly more play well-off each other. I'm fine with the director, Jono Chanin, becoming a sitcom writer.

I'll end with Premiere, which had its North American Premiere, awwwww, nudge. And, oh looky here a BFI winner (you gotta win a national lottery for funding), Channel 4 film, from England, the very saddening Homework. Homework easily captures how s/bad it might be having to scrape by stealing food to live through the eyes of a middle school daughter with a single Mom and a kid sister. Thanks England, you depression factory. Premiere give us the high tension of having your film premiere at...wait, a film festival. Yeah, it got kind of meta. Especially when the director got into how he based it on his own dealing and stress within the film industry. The film centers on a director whose nervous how his film will do and is angry that a former friend is doing better than him in the same line of work. Oh, and he's acting like a real jerk to his girlfriend about it.

Each of the films above had me nervous as to what would happen next and that's totally the vibe of the program, so good job, ShortFest.