2025 Tribeca Review Roundup: Part 3

It has been a huge pleasure covering Tribeca all week and watching all of the superb short film programs. Congrats to the recently announced Oscar-qualifying winners Beyond Silence, Playing God and I hope this email find you well! Although this is our last set of reviews from the festival we will continue our coverage next week with an exit survey giving out some accolades of our own. But for now, here are four more reviews of some favourites from the fest:

DOC Albany, dir. Ben Proudfoot

For those of you who don’t know, ShortStick is merely a hobby and passion project for me. My actual career lies in healthcare where I spend most of my day in a hospital lab working as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. 

I’m no doctor but access to healthcare remains a passion of mine. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement to say healthcare is not a privilege, it’s a right. Everyone should have equal access no matter what your social status is and no matter where in your country you live. I feel very blessed to live in a country with universal healthcare. Even if it means taxes are a fraction higher and wait times for routine procedures take a little longer, it’s a sacrifice we are all willing to make in order to ensure everyone can get what they need. Never will you be denied or have to wait for life-threatening care. I am not going to sit here on a high horse and say Canada’s system is perfect. No healthcare system is perfect and there is always room to improve. However, I am going to shift this review to the American healthcare system as this is the main focus of DOC Albany. 

DOC Albany starts with some key information that sets the tone for the documentary you are about to watch. It defines the term ‘medical deserts’ as an area with limited or no access to quality healthcare facilities, medical professionals, or resources. It goes on to say 77% of rural counties are medical deserts. 

It’s amazing how wide the scope of DOC Albany is for being just 19 minutes in length. It does an excellent job painting the picture on both a macroscopic and microscopic level. It tackles the problem in the US as a whole and how past presidential administrations have aimed to solve it before it zooms in on two specific cases in the small town of Albany, Georgia. 

Albany, Georgia is one of many small underserved areas across the United States. Our introduction to the city is given by OB/GYN Dr. Sheena Favors who tells us some of her patients drive 2 hours to see her to get the care they need. Dr. Favors is one of many doctors in America who are part of a medical school loan repayment program for doctors who serve a set amount of time in certain underserved areas. Sheena is everything you want to have in a doctor. As always, Ben Proudfoot lets his subjects shine. He exceptionally chooses moments that best highlight her and it doesn’t take much time to see how she is down-to-earth, caring, humble and driven woman. Deeply personal stories are added in to allow you to feel connection to the subjects. Albany is somewhere she never envisioned herself being but now that her mandatory serving time has come to an end she has the big decision to make. Does she stay or does she go?

The other doctor from Albany we are introduced to Dr. James Hotz. His story is impressive and so expansive it feels like a feature length film could be made of his life alone. In a way, it already has - he is the inspiration behind the 1991 film Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox. Although, Dr. Hotz admits a lot of liberties were taken on screenplay with that one. The decision to include this fun anecdote and the adding in of clips from Doc Hollywood elevates the documentary and is something any movie buff will enjoy learning about. Dr. Hotz accomplishments far exceed that little fact though. He worked on the hill and helped pioneer the very program we see Dr. Favors partaking in today. Dr. Hotz was a true trailblazer for rural care and his passion for undeserved communities is admirable. 

Dr. Hotz states something simple yet profound that echoes my thoughts from the beginning of this review:

“What was this country based on? The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There is no pursuit of happiness if you are sick.”

DOC Albany remains incredibly relevant in this tumultuous moment of time. Just 2 weeks ago the AMA released an article about the effects of the recent budget-reconciliation bill passed by the House of Representatives. The bill poses a huge risk to access to care, particularly in rural areas. It places a cap on the amount a student can borrow for professional school under the Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program that is well under the average cost of Medical School. It also “provides that time spent in physician residency training would no longer qualify as a public service job, thus making residents ineligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.” This is all in addition to the current administrations attempts to slash medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that are lifelines to low income families. It’s in the conclusion of the article where the AMA promotes the expansion of the National Health Service Corps program that has placed thousand of physicians in needed areas. 

Loan programs like these should never be put at risk. Especially not at a time when the physician population is aging out as rapidly as it is. Nearly half of all physicians in America are 55 or older and one fifth are 65 and older. Programs like these are crucial in keeping the flow of doctors coming into the field to replace the ones leaving. 

With this, Dr. Favors words ring louder than ever. “I don’t want somebody to have to live in New York City to be healthy, they should be able to live in Albany, Georgia.”

Review by: Brandon MacMurray

/HAAW/ , dir. Joey Scoma

Joey Scoma’s high-altitude horror film /HAAW/ opens on close-up shots of cranking and grinding metal gears, ominous doors slamming shut, immediately creating a sense of terror-laden tension; then cuts to a trio of aliens with bulbous bald heads, and giant pitch-black eyes that make them look like mutated cabbage patch kids. They’re dressed in the kind of outdated, neon-coloured ski suits that 80s moms wore to keep fit and have fun. Across from them in the cramped ski lift, though, is the true horror—rich, white weekend warriors.

You could make a joke about how all it takes to make a horror movie is a couple of alien masks, and a one-day pass to the ski lift—and while this is true, Scoma has chosen to go far, far above and beyond in his creation of /HAAW/. The alien faces here are fully prosthetic and could stand toe-to-toe with any prosthetic makeup in a Hollywood film. Much of the runtime of /HAAW/ is close-ups of these alien faces, and they really hold up to close scrutiny. Instead of travelling to the closest ski hill to grab some shots on the fly, Scoma and his crew instead built a full ski lift gondola set and went with a retro-styled rear projection to show the ski hill passing underneath, as he didn’t think that a green screen could offer the look that he wanted to achieve.

Writer-director-editor-star Scoma, as well we a large portion of the cast and crew of /HAAW/ all came to filmmaking through the popular YouTube channel 5-Second Films, which all had a set up and punchline within, well, five seconds (plus an additional three seconds for opening and closing credits). They also collaborated on the feature film Dude Bro Party Massacre III (there is no Dude Bro Party Massacre I or II); this gives an idea of the insane kind of off-the-wall vibes that run through /HAAW/ and shows Scoma and his crew’s commitment to a bit.

Scoma made the ingenious decision to shoot /HAAW/ in the boxy 4:3 Academy ratio, each frame is packed full of characters like they’re all shoved into the cramped ski lift together, its setting working effectively to create an inescapable prison for these characters, in the long lineage of single-location horror films. The scene is already tense before (just a few seconds into the film) the nature of the title is revealed, that the aliens can only communicate with one word: /HAAW/. What follows is a ratcheting up of tension between the white men and the aliens that they think are intruding on their space.

The men’s attempt to bully the youngest alien, making fun of his /HAAW/-ing efforts to communicate doesn’t go well for them, and the film builds to a psychedelic freak out straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Stargate sequence, where the ski lift becomes a vortex of coloured lights, speeding down corridors of pink and orange, and where inky blacks spread through pools of ominous, glowing red.

Scoma has described his films as “deep and dumb,” /HAAW/ is a fun lark about wacky looking aliens grunting out funny noises, certainly, but at its core, it is a film about race and class. It’s no coincidence that it is rich, white men who are rude to “aliens.” Ultimately, /HAAW/ offers a message of communication and acceptance—that if you are xenophobic to others around you, your eyes will bleed black blood.

Review by: Joshua Hunt

Cherry-Colored Funk, dir. Chelsea Pennello

Cherry-Colored Funk tells the tale of the serial grifter Roberto Ferrari’s (played by Michael Tow) latest endeavor; opening a “genuine” Italian ice and gelati shop which he claims sports a healthy “93% profit margin!”. Somehow already messy on opening day, Roberto gives his seemingly only employee Lily (played by Laura Hetherington), the rundown of his requirements - practiced sales pitch greeting, strict two sample policy and always answer the phone.

Unsurprisingly, this flawless scheme of his does not go as expected, as one after the other the people he has wronged in the past shows up in the shop and starts demanding various forms of retribution. One by one he brushes them off with further excuses and flees to the back room of the store, leaving poor Lily to fend for herself and maintain some measure of composure. As the tempo of the music in the store builds, so does the intensity of the chaos inside, slowly edging towards a breaking point.

With excruciating amounts of detail and thought put into every scene and shot, this film quickly draws you in and brings the audience front and center in the mayhem. A clever mix of close up and broader shots, with an occasional awkward and unnatural view such a top down shot of Robertos office, juggles the viewers between engagement and disorientation. Coupled with a fast paced editing style and an equally fast paced soundtrack they achieve a real sense of urgency as your pulse starts to rise with the tempo of the film.

I also wanted to highlight the effort that went into the costumes and scenery here. While the full cast list is fairly small and the space is effectively one location split into the two rooms (the shop and the back office), the film takes full advantage of these restrictions and fills the space with rich details making each shot all the more engaging. A few of many examples of this includes Lily’s workwear t-shirt matching the poster on the sidewalk sign out front, the handwritten “Order here!” sign on the cash register which is plastered with stickers of the shop logo, the book with the title “New complete do-it-yourself manual” casually thrown on the desk in the back room, Lily’s iPod classic filled with strangely formatted song titles and many many more.

Whether you feel like diving into all those details for yourself or just want a (intense) break from the hard hitting dramas I would encourage you to check out Cherry-Colored Funk whenever you get the chance, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Review by: Robin Hellgren

The Rebirth, dir. Connie Shi

In a world where all abortions have been illegal for decades, women have to buy illegal pills on the black market to terminate their undesired pregnancies. This setup of The Rebirth, by Connie Shi, is already an unfortunate reality for so many women in this world who struggle to get abortion access. Shi directs and leads the film as a woman who is pregnant and has obtained one of these pills. She works as a server at a bar where her misogynistic boss is extremely abusive. We soon find out that there is more than meets the eye to this abortion pill she just took. The illegal substance she takes suddenly gives her superhuman powers.

The Rebirth is a genre showcase for a specific situation. A woman who wishes not to work at a bar anymore and wants to avoid seeing her toxic employer, who continues to try and humiliate her. The director and star, Connie Shi, uses genre conventions to articulate femininity, reproductive rights, and relationship dynamics. She vocalizes to her friend, the same one who got her the pills from a contact, her desire to leave the bar. It is a workplace where she works under pressure, is not being treated well and is constantly being harassed by clients. Her transformation is a statement of taking her power back from the abuse, violence, and societal rules placed upon the female body. 

The short duration excites the audience for more development on that concept. A pill that empowers the human body is not a new concept in cinema. Recently, Coralie Fargeat's The Substance approached the subject and became a zeitgeist in popular culture. However, both of these works present a new approach to the genre in cinema. They are directed by women that propose a newer vision for films about women and by them. Shi provides a fascinating concept that may offer even more engaging moments as a feature. A whole new universe has been created. WIthin the background of prohibition of abortion it could expand its canon with other stories of women gaining sudden power. In a scary moment for reproductive rights, genre cinema, such as action combined with supernatural abilities, can discuss the absurdity of acts against women's rights. 

The Rebirth deserves a longer development to explore the possibilities of its concepts and showcase the talents of Connie Shi, who thrives in creating fascination in The Rebirth. 

Review by: Pedro Lima