Shorts
Shorts Program 3

Blaké - Mama Lova - So What If the Goats Die


Video introduction by Vincent Fontano and Jeff Taver

Sunday, October 3—Sunday, October 10, 2021
Online on Eventive



The shorts in this online program provide unexpected plot twists and stylistic turns. Mama Lova portrays a grieving mother managing a devastating loss; So What If the Goats Die mixes genres as it builds toward a surprise finale; and the experimental Blaké turns the mundane (an overnight shift of two security guards) into visual poetry.

3 shorts, 62 min

  • Blaké — US Premiere
    Dir. Vincent Fontano, France, 2020, 23 min
    In Creole with English subtitles
  • Mama Lova — North American Premiere
    Dir. Jeff Taver, France, 2019, 16 min
    In French with English subtitles
  • So What If the Goats Die (Qu’importe si les bêtes meurent) — New York Premiere
    Dir. Sofia Alaoui, France, Morocco, 2019, 23 min
    In Berber with English subtitles

Blaké

US Premiere

Dir. Vincent Fontano, France, 2020, 23 min
With David Erudel, Vincent Fontano, Lolita Tergemina
In Creole with English subtitles

In this experimental short—the first Reunionese film to win a prize at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival—Vincent Fontano offers a poetic interplay between two security guards whiling away the hours during the overnight shift in an underground parking lot.

  • Watch introduction by Vincent Fontano

  • About Vincent Fontano

    • He started his career as a theater writer, director, and actor with the Compagnie Kèr Béton. Winner of the 2017 Talents La Kour, a program that promotes promising Reunionese directors, he caught the eye of production company We Film and television channel France 2, who helped him to direct his first short film, Blaké.

Mama Lova

New York Premiere

Dir. Jeff Taver, France, 2019, 16 min
With Alicia Bigot, Akim Chir, Mata Gabin, Daniel Joseph,
In French with English subtitles

Adèle, heartbroken after the death of her teenage son during a gang fight, channels her sorrow into defending herself and her neighborhood, all but neglecting her two other children in the process. This unexpected short film by Jeff Taver finds hope and strength in tragedy.

  • Watch introduction by Jeff Taver

  • About Jeff Taver

    • He started his career in the events industry, going on to record numerous French hip-hop concerts. Passionate about movies, he soon got involved in editing, producing, and finally writing and directing web series and short films.

So What If the Goats Die (Qu'importe si les bêtes meurent)

New York Premiere

Dir. Sofia Alaoui, France, Morocco, 2019, 23 min
With Fouad Oughaou, Saïd Oughaou, Oumaïma Oughaou
In Berber with English subtitles

High in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, young shepherd Abdellah and his father are snowed in with their animals. When Abdellah can finally reach the nearest village for supplies, he finds it abandoned. Dumbstruck, he will soon find out the extraordinary reasons why the inhabitants left.

  • About Sofia Alaoui

    • She spent her childhood in her native Morocco and elsewhere in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She has directed short documentaries and fictional films that cross borders and cinematographic genres; her work has been screened at numerous festivals as well as Moroccan television. She is currently developing her first feature film, a story about a female character from the Atlas Mountains.