"Unpresidented" is one short film made in response to Donald Trump's presidency. (Photo: Nitehawk)
In the year since Donald Trump’s election, American art has adopted barbed subtexts. Suddenly, so much of the popular culture we consume is a corollary to the social and political implications raised by the melodrama of the current administration.
As our president and his affiliates grow more scandal-ridden by the day, each of the aforementioned talking points remains intriguing and worthwhile. But they’re also convoluted: All of these projects were conceived long before Trump neared the White House, and most were filmed before he even clinched the Republican Party’s nomination last July. Their themes about racial inequality, gender divisions and immigration biases have been relevant for centuries, but even films and TV shows that have taken last-minute inspiration from our current political climate owe most of their conceptual ideologies to pre-Trumpian contexts.
For the most part, we won’t have a clear picture of Hollywood’s artistic response to Trump until 2018 or even 2019, when the projects now in development and production come to fruition. (“American Horror Story: Cult,” which offers a flimsy parable about a country divided by post-election rifts, may be the closest we’ve come to a fictional response to the so-called Trump phenomenon. For comparison’s sake, the late-1970s Vietnam War movies “Apocalypse Now” and “The Deer Hunter” weren’t envisaged until nearly the end of the 20-year war. They opened a few years after the conflict concluded, sharpening their ability to respond to such a global tragedy.)
But at least one medium has seen an immediate uptick in artists commenting on our polarizing current events: short films.
“That’s where the shorts format can be most exciting, especially for documentary filmmakers,” Vimeo curator Ina Pira told HuffPost.
A member of the five-person team that selects Vimeo’s coveted Staff Picks section, which can vault a video to varying degrees of internet fame, Pira has noticed that more of the platform’s recent submissions are political in nature, especially in the nonfiction and music-video realms. Some of the short videos Vimeo showcases are made in as quickly as a few months, or even a few days. Popular topics, she told HuffPost, include climate change, the aftermath of the election and Europe’s current refugee crisis.
Timing is key. Unlike feature-length films, which often require two-plus years and hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars to make, short filmmakers can deliver commentary on current events while those events are still current, for comparatively little money. Similarly, sites like Vimeo and NoBudge, a free platform run by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Kentucker Audley, allow directors to skip the complex distribution models that only sometimes amount to widespread attention. Everyone longs for a snazzy Sundance premiere, but many of those movies struggle to find an audience beyond the insular festival circuit anyway. Instead, digital launchpads allow filmmakers to reach audiences quickly and cheaply.
Audley pointed to a 14-minute fiction film called “Unpresidented” as an example of the dexterity privileged to short-form storytellers who don’t need the vast resources that most feature-length filmmakers require. “Unpresidented,” about a New Yorker’s attempt to justify his bet that Trump would win the election, premiered at last month’s New York Film Festival and screens at this week’s Nitehawk Shorts Festival in Brooklyn before launching on NoBudge by the year’s end. That’s an example of the synergy that’s become prevalent among the network of artists and curators making and supporting short-form content.
Of course, not all of the political work in the short-film arena is so literal. In Audley’s eyes, stories that amplify the voices of groups most damaged by the administration’s rhetoric and policymaking can be just as potent; the word “Trump” is not required in order to resist the White House.
“I don’t think you have to respond to the pinprick of President Trump for your film to resonate with a post-Trump world,” Audley said.
At NoBudge, which typically houses unconventional, independently made shorts and feature films, most of the submissions Audley receives are not grounded in hard-boiled issues like those hosted on Vimeo or funded by the Tribeca Film Institute’s If/Then initiative, which issues grants for short documentaries that convey “diverse perspectives” of global proportions, according to producer Mridu Chandra.
“Short films are not as culturally relevant in general as features,” Audley admitted. “I feel like people really don’t have that much exposure to short films in the mainstream.”
When it comes to mainstream audience’s historic embrace of short films, Audley is right. In the early days of American moviegoing, the cost of admission included shorts and newsreels that would screen ahead of the headlining feature. Then the genre was sidelined to festivals, attended mostly by dedicated cinephiles, industry gatekeepers and high-brow types. Today, filmmakers are relying on internet platforms to foment a renewed appreciation for video pieces that run anywhere from two minutes to half an hour.
Pira has noticed that comment boards on Vimeo’s topical shorts are more electrified than ever. Communities of likeminded individuals are engaging with material that finally speaks to the representation that corporate popular culture sometimes lacks, even if well-made movies like “Get Out” and shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale” are underscoring protracted social ills.
Vimeo Staff Picks, especially, has become an anchor for work that finds broad recognition. “Best of Luck with the Wall,” a seven-minute project that used satellite images to sketch the overwhelming vastness of a potential fence dividing the United States and Mexico, racked up more than 1 million videos and was covered by news outlets like Salon, Splinter News and the Daily Mail. And “4.1 Miles,” a 21-minute snapshot of the European migrant crisis, landed on Vimeo and The New York Times’ website before earning an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary (Short Subject) earlier this year.
“When the election happened, I think everybody’s priorities changed a little bit,” Eleanor Wilson, an Australian-born filmmaker living in New York, told HuffPost. “All of a sudden, it became a thing where it’s like, ‘Well, if I’m a person who’s putting a voice out into the world, I actually need to think about what it is that I truly want to say now.’ For me, it changed how I thought about storytelling a bit. If I’m going to go to all the trouble for making a film and finding financing, it’s either got to be extremely politically relevant or it’s gotta be a really good time.”
Wilson does not have to “worry” about box-office revenue or other traditional benchmarks of cinematic success. She can deliver her work to hungry audiences with a few clicks of her keyboard.
“It really opens up options for the audience when you can say, ‘Oh, this can just live online and that’s all it has to do,’” she said. “It doesn’t have to fit anybody else’s needs.”
"Orgasm, Inc." skewers "big pharma," with an investigation into the way major corporations attempt to capitalize on women's sexuality. Director Liz Canner catalogs the race to create an FDA approved "Viagra for women," and ends up also lovingly explaining the "strange science" behind the female sex drive. Warning: this film includes sexual imagery lots of O faces.
"Jesus Camp"
Somehow, despite the pervasive religious zealotry and penchant for brain-washing, the most shocking part of this film is when the head of the Jesus camp in question tells her campers that Harry Potter is evil (because he is "a warlock"). Either that or a mother actively convincing her child that global warming does not exist. But beneath this film's absurd specifics, lies an unsettling look at a deeply misled faction of the conservative right.
"Tabloid"
With "Tabloid," Errol Morris revisits the story of British tabloid sensation Joyce McKinney, a former beauty queen accused of kidnapping a Mormon and making him her slave. "Thirty years before the antics of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan," she makes the modern day scandal look like child's play.
"Aileen: Life And Death Of A Serial Killer"
Through the story of Aileen Wournos (the woman understood to be "America's first female serial killer"), "Aileen" dissects a triptych of the issues surrounding its primary subject's prosecution. It casts light on the way the stories of salacious criminals are sold to the press, the way both the public and court system digest a female murderer, and the chilling lack of remorse that defines serial killers, gender stereotypes aside.
"The Woman Who Wasn't There"
"The Woman Who Wasn't There" tracks the retrospectively terrifying Tania Head, as she poses as a 9/11 survivor, incorporating herself into a support group and weaving an intense web of lies for over six years. Her deception and its effect on those surrounding her present a compelling look at pathology and the lengths we are willing to go to garner acceptance.
"The Imposter"
Essentially this one is a real-life version of "The Orphan," except with a French man impersonating a Texas boy who has gone missing. It is perhaps the closest the documentary format can get to being truly scary.
"Dear Zachary"
A good way to test if someone has a soul is to make sure they weep violently when watching "Dear Zachary." Seriously, you will be racked with sobs by the end. But, beyond the emotional personal story upon which it is based, the film places a critical spotlight on an intensely-flawed child care system.
"Blackfish"
You've probably already heard everything there is to be heard about this "hauntingly beautiful nonfiction film." Anyway, it's on Netflix. Watch it.
"For The Bible Tells Me So"
"For The Bible Tells Me So" is a simultaneously academic and emotional look the harrowing clash of Christianity and homosexuality. Through the stories of five families, director Daniel Karslake reveals the deliberate stigmatization of the gay community by religious conservatives and the many ways that scripture has been used as an argument against basic human rights.
"Talhotblond"
"Talhotblond" explores the complex consequences of virtual relationships through one specific Internet love triangle, which ends in murder and incarceration. There are moments of somewhat corny chat recreation, but the complete picture of the person behind the titular screen name is chilling enough to forgive those phoned-in reenactments.
"Invisible War"
Tracking the rape epidemic in the military, "The Invisible War" exposes not only the pervasiveness of sexual assault, but the flaws of the system that perpetuate it and blame victims instead of granting them justice.
"Schooled: The Price Of College Sports"
Being interested in sports (or having any conception of what "touchdown" means) is not necessary for watching this documentary. Through the lens of a few slighted young men, "Schooled" tells the story of the big business of college sports and the little it has to offer its players.
"The Central Park Five"
"The Central Park Five" takes on the troublingly powerful impact that media can have on public perception. The narrative tracks the five boys who were wrongfully convicted in the notorious 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park, exposing flaws in the criminal justice system and effect of trial by mob.
"Man On Wire"
In a sublime narrative that may as well be a fairy tale, "Man On Wire" tracks the preparations of Philippe Petit, the miraculous French man who walked a high wire strung between the Twin Towers in 1974. The tale of "the artistic crime of the century," as it came to be called, is suspenseful yet intriguing and easily the most beautifully unique real life story on this list.
"Hot Coffee"
If you were alive in the '90s, you've heard the story of the woman who drove with coffee in her lap and sued McDonald's. It's practically an urban myth. But did you know that she sustained burns so intense she had to undergo hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of surgery and receive skin grafts? Did you know she wasn't even driving? This story is a portrait of the agenda behind tort reform and the perception of "frivolous" lawsuits.
"Bronies"
"Bronies" delves into the world of adult (predominantly male) fans of the children's cartoon "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." At once a community and a subculture, the show's following trades in a sense of love and acceptance that seem otherwise unavailable to its members. Beneath the cosplay, "Bronies" offers up a story about the way human nature seeks belonging, and the heteronormative assumptions that all too often get in the way of that basic desire.
"Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room"
Director Alex Gibney depicts the rise and fall of Enron in a way that frames its leaders as some of the more tangible villains of the documentary genre. Even if you vividly remember the publicity surrounding the 2001 scandal, this retrospective look at the fallout still manages to pace through the story of Enron with a level of engagement rivaled only by fictional thrillers.
"From One Second to the Next"
Werner Herzog's documentary about texting while driving has an obvious agenda: stop careless idiots from texting while driving. But that doesn't stop this it from being a well-packaged and emotionally-moving film, perhaps because no matter how many times you've heard the stats, the extent of senseless deaths that are a direct result of texting and driving remain mind-blowing.
"It's a Girl"
This upsetting look at "gendercide" in India and China encounters the devaluation of females and the extent to which it has led to infanticide and violence toward women. In case you needed further warning as to precisely how grave this situation has become: the film opens with a woman who has given birth to and subsequently murdered eight of her daughters.
"Girl Model"
"Girl Model" renders a startling look at an industry that does not flinch at the exploitation of children, as told from the perspective of an ex-model working as a Russian scout. Some of the more disturbing moments expose sexual abuse and exploitation of pre-pubescent females, but this documentary focuses its lens more closely on the way young girls are tricked into working for free and forced to support their families while lacking support for themselves.
"Hoop Dreams"
Tracking Chicago's top basketball prospects as they are recruited to attend competitive high schools, "Hoop Dreams" explores the intersection of race, education and class through a world in which success on the court can make or break a family's future.
"The Act Of Killing"
This 2014 Oscar nominee tracks two Indonesian death-squad leaders as they reenact their mass killings in whatever genres they wish. As they recreate their share of the atrocities -- totaling approximately 1 million deaths -- the film peels back an unflinching look at the meaning of evil once it is no longer contextualized by war.
"Into the Abyss"
Another addition to this list from Herzog: "Into The Abyss" examines why people kill, and whether capital punishment is ever warranted. In conversations with inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime, Herzog delves deep into the state of the the prison system, for an unflinching look at life, death and the value of a humanity, as impacted by a search for justice.
"The Institute"
The impact of "The Institute" on its viewers is, at least for the duration of the film, that of the Jejune Institute on its inductees. As it follows the story of participants in an two-year alternate reality experiment designed as "a citywide art project and living game," it will leave you questioning what is "real" and whether our experiences matter any less, once we discover that they have been contrived.
"Life 2.0"
Examining the world of virtual reality, "Life 2.0" depicts the consuming nature of the site called "Second Life" (which, for many in the film, is given priority over what we might call "first life"). One of many stunning portraits tells the story of two married-in-real-life people who commit "emotional adultery," when they meet and fall in love within the confines of "Second Life." Overall, this is a haunting look at the need for human connection and clever ways in which we are willing to garner a sense of acceptance.
"Marwencol"
In 2000, Mark Hogancamp was beaten senseless outside a local bar. He had to have his entire face rebuilt, and finally emerged from a nine-day coma, brain damaged and forced to re-learn how to walk and eat. After 40 days in the hospital, he was dismissed, because he could no longer pay for care. With nowhere else to turn, he enmeshed himself in the creation Marwencol: a 1/6-scale replica of a WWII-era town. This is not only his story, but that of finding unexpected beauty in tragic events; Jeff Malmberg's documentary is (almost) as intricate as Hogancamp's tiny town.
"Terms and Conditions May Apply"
The title sounds about as boring as, well, reading the terms and conditions of nothing in particular, but this documentary is more eye-opening than it may seem. There's a lot going on with all that fine print, and there are plenty of industries that rely on the fact that we do not realize it. For example, it would take approximately 180 hours per year to read all of the terms and conditions agreements at each of the various sites you likely hold an account, and consumers lose about $250 billion dollars annually as a result of what they simply do not know.
"Maxed Out"
"Maxed Out" mulls over the American reliance on credit cards and the resulting debt problem. Cut with standup bits from a young Louis C.K., it uses a smattering of personal stories and focuses on predatory lenders to help craft a narrative about the way unsavory business practices seek to profit off of the most vulnerable segment of society.
"The Pervert's Guide to Ideology"
Admittedly this one might be a bit hard to digest for those of us who are not psychoanalysis and philosophy nerds. "The Pervert's Guide to Ideology" plays like a trippy college course taught by Slavoj Žižek, but if you can wade through his discussions of dialectics (and extremely heavy accent), the overriding messages about subconscious influences and our best strategy for a satisfying life are certainly worth the effort.
"Solitary Confinement"
This National Geographic feature paints a chilling portrait of the deeply tortuous effects of isolation. With a mix of experts and those that have experienced such extreme captivity, it takes on the caveats of a system that reduces violence in the general prison population, but also often leaves its captives too broken to function outside of the cells to which they've been confined.
"The Revisionaries"
The former Chair of the Texas State Board of Education, Don McLeroy, once said of the kind of power he had: "It boggles my mind." After no less than four minutes into the documentary, your mind will also be boggled. "The Revisionaries" explores the inordinate influence of Texas in buying textbooks, which affects the rest of the country and, consequently, its curriculum. Of course, this conflict boils down to the theories of evolution verses intelligent design, with the latter pushed so aggressively by the Texas school board, that it might not be readjusting only what kids are taught in schools, but the future policy that emerges from those lessons.
"Shenandoah"
In depicting the story of four high school boys who murdered a Mexican immigrant, "Shenandoah" dissects the mob mentality of the small town in which their atrocity took place. Whether or not you were familiar with this case when it ran through the news, the objective here is to take on a very specific form of racism, told through the disturbing reality of American life for those who don't fit into the mold of "tradition."
"Bigger, Stronger, Faster"
Using himself and his brothers as the subject, director Chris Bell examines the conflation of steroid subculture and the more ambitious aspects of the American dream. Dealing in the dangerous effects of steroids, Bell also takes a look at what he identifies as "the side effects of American culture." Obviously, both Hulk Hogan and Sylvester Stallone make cameos in the film.
"Whores' Glory"
This exploration of prostitution looks at the act of selling sex across three different countries, languages and religions. Director Michael Glawogger views his subjects through an unflinching yet compassionate lens, for a disturbing look at the crossover between sexuality and politics, and its impact on women from vastly different cultures.
"The House I Live In"
"The House I Live In" takes on the tangible effects of drug abuse as just one aspect of a much larger issue. By delving into the workings of America's criminal justice system -- notably the "jailingest" one on the planet -- director Eugene Jarecki investigates the impact of the war on drugs: an effort that has cost more than $1 trillion, led to more than 45 million arrests and left illegal drug use essentially unchanged.
Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger & SI’s Pat Forde react to the huge performance this weekend by Texas QB Arch Manning, Michigan and Notre Dame's spring games, Jaden Rashada entering the transfer portal, and more
