Avoiding the temptation for lame April Fools Day jokes other than the title, it's Coffee Time again so grab a cup o' joe and chill out with some short films from the Coffee Shorts network. It's a real mixed and international bag this month with a fantasy animation from France, an intense drama from Germany and a human interest documentary trailer from the USA, all collected and presented here for MFM by our little British distribution company. As always, if these don't fulfill your fix check out the archive links way below somewhere, or drop in on MFM's own short film library.
Le Chat Orange
I first came across Martin Welter and his sweet film Le Chat Orange at a film market in Italy, where it had been selected as one of France's strongest films by a young filmmaker that year. I loved the organic and hand made feel of it, the detail of the hand drawings and all the extra finishing touches like the voiceover, music and even style of subtitles that collectively create that little aura of magic that every fantasy fairy tale type story needs.
Telling the story of an evil witch who, naturally, loves the colour (sorry guys, I am a Brit, colour should have a "u" in it!) black but is deeply vexed by her essential witches cat, which is orange! The witch embarks on a number of plans and spells to turn the orange cat black and eventually has to haul it off to her sister's pyramid which is where things start to get a little trippy and the witches have a surprise in store. It's an awesome little film that takes you back to being a kid in it's innocence but still satisfies the indie film fan in you.
Coffee rating: 8/10
Notes: Childhood fantasy with an innocent but slightly dark edge
Lowdown
Returning quickly from the excellent Still Waiting last month, Christian Grüner's new short film Lowdown is another exercise in beautiful cinematography, classic filmmaking, natural acting and a smart and mature storyline. The film tells the story of a brief but apocalyptic discussion around an after-dinner table as two couples relax with wine, conversation and one of those "fun" boardgames that always turn up something unpleasant. Lurking beneath the surface of this so-perfect 30 something middle class soiree is a dark and dangerous trust issue, unseen secrets and deep paranoias that quickly turn things on their head.
Far more intense and dramatically driven than the contemplative Still Waiting, Lowdown reveals Chris' ability to craft dialogue, situation and acting to get the most powerful effect out of a situation with barely a raised word and once again no sign of over stylised dross, this is deceptively simple and pure filmmaking crying out for a feature length opportunity.
Coffee rating: 9/10
Notes: Strong, smart and clever short filmmaking
THE TRAILER: Skid Row trailer
Starring Fugees rapper Pras, Skid Row is a compelling and edgy documentary feature film from the US investigating life on the streets in LA's Skid Row. Left on the street to fend for himself with no money in his pockets and a camera crew filming from a distance undercover, Pras goes through a pretty incredible experience uncovering some amazing stories and a shockingly real exposure of the violence, drigs, crime and fear that go hand in hand with LA homelessness. Available widely on DVD distributed by Indie Rights Inc
Coffee Shorts have a unique approach to distributing short films which uses well established social and video networks to exhibit its filmmakers, earning them income through a series of advertising and partnership deals; just watching the films above helps them earn money. So if you have a short film you think is up to the standard and would like to get involved, have a look around coffeeshorts.co.uk and check out the online submission details; we also accept music videos and trailers for indie DVDs or features.
Steve
Piper is the managing director of Coffee Films, a production
company based out of England that focuses on all forms
of zero-budget filmmaking. His
company website is: http://www.coffeefilms.com.
Avoiding the temptation for lame April Fools Day jokes other than the title, it's Coffee Time again so grab a cup o' joe and chill out with some short films from the 
