By: Isabella Urbani, Staff Writer
Content Warning: mentions of pet death
Cathy Huynh, Sean Brennan, and Anastasia Itkina were some of the SFU film graduates selected from over 250 submissions to be featured in the 13th annual Vancouver Short Film Festival from June 2–11. The event, which can be enjoyed online or in-person at the Vancity Theatre for the first two days, consists of 57 short films. By purchasing a ticket — which is $12 for students — attendees will be able to watch all the short films that are featured for that day’s screening. More SFU graduates’ work can be viewed online.
The Peak had a chance to interview Huynh and Brennan about the inspiration for their films, the directorial process, and the months of preparation that went into their end products.
Cathy Huynh, Adrift (2022)
Huynh began writing the script for the film in fall 2021. The thesis film debuted in May of last year alongside her SFU classmates, which included Itkina.
The film, titled Adrift, tells the story of two best friends reconnecting after one of them returns home from school. Now in completely different places from where they were before college started, the duo try to rekindle their friendship by attending some of their favourite hang-out spots. As the night draws to a close, viewers come to see that the former friends have more in common than they once believed.
Huynh said the film is both a personal ode to the “female friendships” in her life and a reminder of the “sad, yet normal, by-product of growing up, which unfortunately includes drifting apart from your friends.” She said it was her love for storytelling that led her to pursue filmmaking. She took inspiration from the Vancouver area for the film and was able to shoot scenes at Roundel Café and Fantacity, which the friends visit on their list of nostalgic comfort spots.
Huynh’s favourite scene to film was done at Fantacity, a karaoke bar downtown. “Our team breaking out into song with “I Want It That Way” was definitely a set highlight! I’m super proud of this scene in particular, since it was one of those fulfilling moments where you get to see something you’ve been visualizing in your head for so long actually come to life.”
Huynh hopes viewers will be “affirmed” by watching the two leads in the film come to terms with how their lives have panned out. “It’s more than okay to not have your whole life figured out,” said Huynh. “Feeling like you’re stuck in limbo is a collective experience that almost everyone experiences as a young adult.”
As someone who has watched a best friend turn into a stranger in a matter of months, Huynh perfectly captures the silent battle between wanting to salvage a friendship and leaving things best unsaid. One of the more moving scenes in the film happens when the two main characters meet up for the first time at dinner and can barely hold a conversation, when just moments ago, in a memory sequence, they were planning their future together.
Adrift will be a part of the final day of in-person screenings on June 4 at 4:15 p.m. More information about Huynh, including her 2021 film Caleidoscope, which appears on the CineAsian Films website, can be found online.
Sean Brennan, Holly (2019)
Brennan’s film Holly also taps into the intrinsic human experience: losing a loved one. The film, completely shot in black and white in 2019, begins with Holly’s owner, Olga, reminiscing about her pet’s life as she goes about her morning routine without her animal companion. To cope with the loss, Olga visits a therapist named Arlo, who goes to unconventional lengths to keep Holy’s memory alive, in more ways than one. When Olga comes to, she turns to a new coping method with the help of a newfound friend.
Although Brennan began making films with his sister when he was 10 years old, and continued to do so with friends during high school, he originally was a sociology major at UVIC. Brennan says the loneliness and desperation Olga feels when her pet Holly passes away mirrors how he felt when he first moved to Vancouver to attend SFU. “That kind of isolating experience can make people more okay with maintaining toxic relationships,” said Brennan.
He also shared how the inception of the film took twice as long to come up with than the filming itself. “What you don’t see when you watch this project are the endless notebooks filled with rejected ideas.” He explained the feeling of wanting to do something special, and being frustrated while thinking of ideas. “Eventually, I had to pick a project and ‘Holly’ had a script that got a really good response from readers.”
Shot in downtown Vancouver, the film has a montage of actual dog walkers Brennan saw on the street and asked to be included in the movie. Not only is it super endearing, but it illustrates the unique character of each dog, its owner, and the bond they share. As sweet as this moment is, Brennan’s film touches on the unsettling nature of the stages of grief, particularly focusing on denial, demonstrating just how blissful ignorance can be.
Holly will be a part of the “After Dark” screenings on Saturday, June 3 at 8:15 p.m. All films featured in this screening will include unsettling themes that may be triggering, and or stories with dark elements and horror. You can learn more about Brennan and his projects through his Instagram, @hellothisissean.
Anastasia Itkina, A Week to Rosh Hashanah (2022)
The longest of the trio of films is Itkina’s A Week To Rosh Hashanah. Leading up to Rosh Hashanah, “the calendrical New Year” of the Jewish religion, David, the film’s main character, “develops an unusual disorder and becomes determined to put an end to it.”
The Peak reached out to Itkina for an interview but did not receive a response in time for publication.
A Week To Rosh Hashanah will be a part of the 5:30 p.m. screening on Saturday, June 3. More information about Itkina and her extensive producing projects, including Huynh’s film Adrift, can be found online.
