Part of First Look 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
Museum of the Moving Image - Bartos Screening Room

With directors Joe Callander and Sophy Romvari in person

There is an art to making concise works of cinema, much as there is an art to working on a large scale, or episodically. Yet too often short films are considering stepping stones, mere test runs, toward making features. So it is exhilarating to discover filmmakers who are not just adept at the short form, but committed to exploring it as an ongoing practice. The filmmakers Joe Callander and Sophy Romvari come at the short from different angles, but nevertheless share an ability to express complex ideas and emotions in a exceptionally short span of time, as well as a willingness to train their cameras on the people and environments closest to them. From Callander’s deadpan sincerity to Romvari’s snapshots of Akermanian intimacy, they are two of the form’s most innovative new explorers. Approximate runtime: 60 mins.

Pumpkin Movie (Dir. Sophy Romvari. 2017. 10 mins.) When two long-time friends call each other over Skype to continue their annual Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins together, they swap stories of negative encounters with men, both first- and secondhand, in this frank window into the pervasive nature of gender inequality.

Norman Norman (Dir. Sophy Romvari. Canada. 2018, 7 mins.) A young woman grapples with the declining health of her beloved dog in this film about mortality, cloning, and Barbra Streisand. New York premiere.

Grandma (Dir. Sophy Romvari. Canada. 2019, 2 mins.) Upon traveling to Budapest to meet her extended family for the first time, filmmaker Sophy Romvari attempts to document her late grandmother’s apartment through images of the past and present. World premiere.

Tina Delivers a Goat (Dir. Joe Callander. 2013. 2 mins.) Tina completes the delivery of a goat.

Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns (Dir. Joe Callander. 2014. 2 mins.) In which we discover that Tim and Susan have matching handguns.

The God of 400 People on Drugs, or The Autobiography of Joe Callander* (Dir. Joe Callander. 2016, 5 mins) American filmmaker Joe Callander takes his Facebook friendship with Australian DJ Joe Callander to the next level.

Late December (Dir. Joe Callander, 2016. 8 mins.) The story of one man’s unbroken devotion to his wife of 63 years, even as Alzheimer’s has steadily eroded her mind and memory over the past eight years.

Three Forgivable Failures of an Incorrigible Dreamer (Dir. Joe Callander. 2019. 12 mins.) Somewhere deep in the frozen blue light of a Vermont winter, an incorrigible dreamer ruminates on three things that just did not turn out quite right. World premiere.

Tickets: $15 (Free for members at the Film Lover level and MoMI Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum (see gallery hours). View the Museum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.