Watch: This Award-Winning Short Shows the Worst Thing You Can Do at a Funeral
READ MORE: SXSW: Indie Maverick Kate Lyn Sheil on Going Big With ‘House of Cards’ & Making Movies with Exes
Indiewire has partnered with NoBudge, a site dedicated to showcasing innovative low budget filmmaking, to present some of the most exciting new work in independent film. Each month actor/filmmaker Kentucker Audley will select a highlight from the NoBudge film library and premiere it right here on Indiewire. Check out this month’s short, “Helburger in Paradise,” and be sure to watch more great films at www.NoBudge.com.
With the short film
collection “Intimate Semaphores,” director T.J. Misny presents a darkly comedic
anthology of three stories unrelated in narrative, which share no overlapping
characters. However, they each portray women on the edge — dealing with
old promises, deteriorating vision and conflicting ambitions.
“Helberger in Paradise” might be my favorite of the group. It features a wonderfully shifty performance by one of indie film’s best actresses, Kate Lyn Sheil. Here
she plays a drifter named Nora who becomes involved with a cab driver while
heading to the funeral of an old friend. At first, the skittish Nora battles
with the cabbie because she’s late and he refuses to drive any faster. But as
they progress, deeper issues begin to surface.
Nora arrives at the church mid-service with no intentions of sitting through
the funeral. Instead, she has planned an elaborate stunt to blast Jimmy
Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise” from an old tape player in the rear of the
sanctuary. In an ambitious set piece captured beautifully, the stunt unravels
in hilarious fashion, sending Nora stumbling away before she gets recognized.
Returning to the same cab to escape for the airport, the film contracts into a
talky character study between Nora and Rally, the straightforward cab driver,
who emerges as a figure of ethics to play against the anarchist Nora. The
result is oddly satisfying, a smartly drawn portrait of two characters at
completely different stages of life. Misny explores from a literary framework
and succeeds with a sharply written tale of rebellion and living with your
past.
Also, check out the other two shorts from the “Intimate Semaphores” collection —
“High and Dry” and “The Crumb of It” — on NoBudge.com beginning at 1pm EST on Tuesday,
July 28th.
READ MORE: Watch: This Bizarre Short Delivers the Secret To ‘Healthy’ Living
