The 2022 Nashville Film Festival has kicked off, and I will bring you coverage from the entire festival. We have a loaded slate of films that are set to come out, and today, I share everything I watched during day four.
Relative (Documentary)
Unraveling a complex tapestry of vulnerability, shame, and love, the filmmaker discovers a pervasive history of multigenerational sexual abuse in her Italian-American family. As decades of secrets, home movies, and long-avoided conversations surface, a family bound by loyalty and tradition forges a new path forward.
A harrowing look at generational trauma in one of the most authentic documentaries you will ever see. Relative is NOT an easy watch, especially if you have been through any sort of sexual assault. While a hard watch, it’s an essential watch because how this plays out is how each person that deals with this type of scenario that involves family plays out. I am in awe of the filmmaking, stories, and tragedies this movie uncovers.
The biggest fear anyone faces when something like this happens is that no one will believe them. You see the different generations and how they looked at things or perceived what happened to them. I am heartbroken, sad, and genuinely in tears. I applaud everyone involved in this project because it’s one of the most important pieces of filmmaking we will see this year.
HANNAH HA HA
Hannah lives a content, hard-working life in the small town where she grew up. To her visiting older brother, she’s just wasting her time. As their Summer together winds down, Hannah gets what wasting time really means.
The distorted imagery that lives throughout this movie is an apparent distraction. It was like watching a movie with some smidges on your classes that won’t come off. Unfortunately, with that distraction comes a script that doesn’t really take off at any point failing to find the voice I believe it was looking for. I will credit Hannah Lee Thompson for giving a very good performance that makes the film at least watchable. Overall, Hannah Ha Ha has so many stories that are never fully fleshed out, which hinders the entire movie.
Mate (short film)
A down-and-out has-been attempts to reconnect with an impressionable teenager over a weekend in working-class Western Sydney.
Mate is an intense drama examining the relationship between John, a deadbeat father, and his son Jack. One of the first things that stand out in this short is Joshua Brennan’s incredible performance in the role of John. You have this overcompensating man trying to seem cool in front of his son while attempting to perform his fatherly duties. Brennan does a brilliant job of bringing John to life in a way that makes him relatable to the audience.
As predicted, John’s own demons start to get the best of him, and it causes an even bigger riff between him and Jack. Overall, the film is quite direct and honest, which conveys well with carefully crafted direction, strong writing, and beautiful cinematography. I really liked this one.
The Music City Drive-In 