Flickers’ RIIFF Opening Night Put the World on Screen at PPAC

On August 4th, the Providence Performing Arts Center saw the opening night presentation of the annual Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF). Filmmakers and film lovers alike gathered to connect, take photos on the red carpet, and enjoy a line-up of short films featuring global and premiere selections. With over 7,000 submissions to the festival, narrowing down the selection to just 278 final films, nine of which played last night, was a daunting task, but one that Shawn Quirk, Executive Director of the festival, takes seriously. Our world “is a new reality every day,” said Quirk in opening remarks, “and the films we watch help make that reality real.”

“This festival is about more than exceptional films,” concurred Ericka Atwell-Cardona, RIIFF Director of Development and Community Engagement, “It’s about bringing people together… We celebrate the vision and the perseverance that it took to get everyone here.”

Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Film & Television Office, took his moment behind the podium to emphasize the opportunities the Ocean State presents to filmmakers. “We like to call Rhode Island the smallest state with the greatest back lot,” explained Feinberg, emphasizing that the festival this year featured work from 45 countries. “France, Netherlands, Japan… Pawtucket” he added to laughs from the audience. And with several new additions to the montage of films shot in RI that plays before the festival, last year’s Ella McCay among them, the proof is on the screen.

The night’s lineup of shorts was wide-ranging, encompassing music videos, horror, comedy, live-action, and animation. “My favorite was Cartoon Physics by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata,” said Josh Relyea, a frequent festival-goer who attended Tuesday night with his family. The film tells the story of a four-year-old girl’s discovery of a dead bird, and her mother’s surreal, cartoon-like response, all rendered in stop-motion animation.

Local filmmaker and first-time festival-goer Audrey Collins agreed. “I loved the complex style of animation, and the freedom from reality provided to the images,” she said. “Upon watching it, I thought of my own time on this earth, and how precious the gift of life truly is”

For Keith Brown, a professor of film at the University of Rhode Island who attends the festival annually, a favorite of the night was Visitors, a surreal horror/comedy film by Minnie Schedeen. “I really liked the connection between the strange and the funny. That’s hard to pull off in a short,” he said. Brown, who used to instruct at the festival’s KidsEye Filmmaking Camp, had an unexpected reunion after the screening with a KidsEye graduate he taught in 2008 who’s since become a documentary producer. The smallest state with the greatest back lot indeed!

This critic’s favorite of the night was Howl, a short film written and directed by Sara Crow that follows a young girl’s relationship with her father and the wolf she swears is wandering the suburbs of New Jersey. Crow does a masterful job of evoking childhood memories without laboring over them — a brief sequence of protagonist Molly (Zoe Ziegler) checking out books from the library sent me back to my own memories of emptying my childhood library of all the thin, hardcover, non-fiction picture books on whatever subject had transfixed me that week. A shot of Sailor Moon dolls piled on a table lasts just long enough to conjure an image of Molly’s world in the viewer’s mind that lingers over the scene while avoiding the self-important trap of obsessing over them, and fine editing work ensures the world is always mediated to the viewer through Ziegler’s face.

Ziegler, who in my opinion gave the best performance of 2024 in Janet Planet, shines again here. She has an excellent command of when to let her face play neutral, letting audiences project their own childhood memories onto her, and when to arch an eyebrow or tilt her chin. At only 14 years old, I look forward to seeing her on screen for many years to come. Alex Moffat, known for his excellent character work on Saturday Night Live, excels here as well, crafting a performance of stances and hands-in-pockets that’s able to set the tone of a wideshot using only his posture. Seeing Crow’s film was a highlight of the night, and I hope others get a chance to see it themselves, and that Crow continues to get chances to make great films such as this. More information about the festival, including the ability to purchase tickets, can be found on the official website.