The Angel of Forms

Host Scott Forrest presents a curated compilation of eight independent short films in this rapid-fire science-fiction feature. Genres collide, narratives twist, aesthetics clash, and even humor, both campy and dystopian, showcase the vast creative possibilities of each story's individual world, offering the viewer a brief glimpse into the lives of every character's attempt to survive the otherworldly chaos around them. Released in 2001, the selected shorts span original creation dates of 1997 to 2001; most of the featured filmmakers also appear as themselves in short video interviews to talk about their inspirations, creative process and motivations while working on their individual shorts.

Three characters unknown to each other, experience a supernatural entity slowly unveil itself.

Inside a computer a space-time is revealed in which image and sound become numbers and motion manifests as rhythm, flow and chaos. This tracking and integration experiment removes the superficial identity of video to detect kinetic disturbances in everyday environment.

After a catastrophic global war, a young filmmaker awakens in the carnage and seeks refuge in the only other survivor: an eccentric, ideologically opposed figure of the United States military. Together, they brave the toxic landscape in search of safety... and answers.

Thevan, a folk singer of the Paanan caste, has a fateful encounter when escaping slavery, leading to discover an ancient tradition altering his destiny.

GRIS

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip to the countryside to visit her aunt at their ancestral house. She invites her six friends, Prof, Melody, Mac, Fantasy, Kung Fu, and Sweet, to join her. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

An anthropomorphic creature has trouble sleeping.

During Childbirth, a mother is told the child is stillborn, and she struggles to finish the birth in order to survive.

Voyeur

Abysse

A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?

Filmmaker and artist Jack Smith described his own film as a “comedy set in a haunted movie studio.” Flaming Creatures begins humorously enough with several men and women, mostly of indeterminate gender, vamping it up in front of the camera and participating in a mock advertisement for an indelible, heart-shaped brand of lipstick. However, things take a dark, nightmarish turn when a transvestite chases, catches and begins molesting a woman. Soon, all of the titular “creatures” participate in a (mostly clothed) orgy that causes a massive earthquake. After the creatures are killed in the resulting chaos, a vampire dressed like an old Hollywood starlet rises from her coffin to resurrect the dead. All ends happily enough when the now undead creatures dance with each other, even though another orgy and earthquake loom over the end title card.

In this 60 second art piece, a dog named Layla is called upon by nature to defend harmless daisy flowers from the wild grass that is conquering their territory.

A young man who is still living at his parent’s house wakes up in a very strange situation in the middle of the night. The house is dark and there is no trace of his parents. He searches for them and tries to find out what happened…

Seraphim Cloud and his life size doppelgänger enter the netherworld of Calico Ghost Town deep within the Mojave Desert.

Through Martian horizons, she gazes upon the world she’s only known through tales of scrap screens. Colors altered by fading memories, and shapes molded by imagination... Her perception of Earth, a symphony played by fragmented notes, an artwork painted by distant echoes. In the embrace of Mars, she carries the fractured essence of a heritage lost in space. Generations adrift in the solitude of the Martian plains, lives in a kaleidoscope of the world.

By fabricating her biography, Luo Su, a young Chinese white-collar worker from a low-income family, hopes to wed Mr. Win, an alluring bachelor. But when her mother's shocking TV interview exposes her deceit, she loses everything and ends her own life. Left in limbo, she is mystically given one last opportunity to alter her fate within 72 hours - albeit within the body of a man.

When Adrian's friend denies him a loan of money, a rampage of thoughts starts within him. Why won't Jacob lend him any money? And why won't he lend any to him, specifically?

Pablo, an introverted child, has the ability to enter his mother's paintings, this takes him on a surreal and bizarre journey that dissolves the limits between reality and imagination.