Ana (Ouananiche, 2012)

3/10
Or, when short films preceding a feature fails. Before I talk about the movie, can I talk about film festivals? OK. The screening begins at 9. But it never really begins at 9, because everyone's gotta shuffle in. So maybe 9:10. But of course, the movies need to be introduced, by two separate people. So maybe at 9:20 the short film that, let's face it, nobody really paid to see, begins. I will admit to being prejudiced against short films - rarely do I find them entertaining or memorable. I've seen countless at festivals over the years, and only a handful have ever really stuck with me. And, to be fair, Ana is not a terrible movie. Actually it isn't even a movie, it's a "live remixing" by Quebec artist Ouananiche of a movie called Amer. What this means is that frames are looped and manipulated and beats are derived from the sounds on-screen. This is interesting to watch for a bit on Youtube at home when you're killing time. But to sit through it for half an hour while you're waiting for the movie you paid money to see to start so you can hopefully get home at a semi-reasonable hour, how can it stand a chance? It doesn't help that so many of these beats develop exactly the same way and reach exactly the same conclusion, coming in repetitive 3-4 minute chunks rather than a nicely composed 30-minute piece. Short films preceding feature films is a tricky endeavour - a bad experience could sour the viewer on whatever else is to come, which may be what happened to me for...