Short Film: April Kelley of MiniProductions with ‘Edith’ and ‘Annie Waits’.

I don’t normally review short films on my blog, mostly because you as the reader may not be able to find these films to watch yourselves, but when April Kelley of MiniProductions (miniproductions.co.uk) got in touch and asked me, I thought, well why not? Read on for more about Bafta Longlisted drama Edith and Annie Waits, a vignette to a TV series.

Edith (2016)

Edith is a bit of a star studded affair. Written by an award winning author, Ray Robinson, directed by Christian Cooke, who starred in Cemetery Junction, and starring Peter Mullen (Trainspotting) and Michelle Fairley (Game Of Thrones). It’s done the festival circuit rounds, and garnered a rather nice array of palm leaf parenthesised mentions.

It’s the story of a man who has sunk into depression after the death of his wife, Edith, and can’t seem to let her go, or let the past go. With the gentle help of a friend, he starts to come back to life. It’s a study of grief, but isn’t depressing or mawkish, which is nice. And it’s beautifully shot and executed, though forays into the past seem to foreshadow a denouement which is not delivered on. But one to watch out for.

You can watch a little YouTube trailer for this film HERE.

Annie Waits (2017)

This is a comedy short that serves as a vignette or taster for a series that’s currently in production. It stars April Kelley as Annie, a twenty something woman who wants to live an exciting life, but tries to filter this through her relationships, which means that when they become stable, she switches off and gets out. It’s very modern and humorous, and Kelley is delightful, definitely a face to look out for. But with it’s Peep Show-like voice over and it’s lack of meaningful answers to millennial dysfunction, it’s not for everyone. Perhaps there’s something about the desperation of people who expect extraordinary lives and relationships, and look down on their friends for being conventional, but who do nothing out of the ordinary themselves, that just irks. But there’s certainly a humour and charm to this film, and I think it will certainly find plenty of viewers.

Keep an eye out for more on this, as it becomes a series.

If you want to find out more about these films, about April Kelley or MiniProductions, you can go to their website HERE.

Do you love short films? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.