Short & Burley

I want to bag the yanks out again; but before that: Wow! Ostia: The Final Night was incredible. Initially I found the B&W retro style of the movie a little…awkward. And I don't know the filmmaker portrayed in the film, Pier Paolo Pasolini. However, the rent boy was just so archetypal. Innocent. seductive, manipulative, sleazy. Stunning. That scene at the beach parking lot, when I think Pasolini realises this rent boy is his ruin, the image of the boy is transcendental. Like a cursed angel. There's a glow about his pale, perfect body. His thick, long, 70s hair drapes around hypnotic eyes. This stylised vision brings Pasolini to his knees in worship. What a truly stunning, and all so brief, bit of film. Oh shit, just googled Pasolini. He brought us Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom.

Also goggled Craig Boreham, the director. His show reel has some really strong images. Realised his film Drowning is in the Oz Shorts session - which I'm unable to make. Which is unfortunate as the snippet that appears on the screen in the festival lounge intrigues me. This young guy joins a guy/girl couple at an infinity pool and the other boy leaves. Something about that shot captures me. And the same actor is in both films. Who is he? He is just beautiful. I'll be keeping an eye out for a chance to see more of Craig's films. Isn't that what festival are about? Every now and then you come across someone's work and you need to find out more.

Short & Burley included a film by Fine Young Man Productions, as did Cocktales the night before. They were the ones using voice-overs of apparently real interviews with gay guys while a drama played out on screen. Tonight's was about finding out your partner is being unfaithful. I've got to be honest, so didn't work for me. The US shorts so far have really laboured. Thankfully the Canadian's stepped in with the quirky Dinner at Lucy's. Did anyone else think the two men were father and son? So, the fact that their wives shouldn't be having a moment in the kitchen pales compared to what I thought the men were doing.