Are They Smiling?
From the Archives
•
09-Oct-2020
A young woman decides to carry on the family tradition of attending the county fair, this time with her dead parents. Kate Jean Hollowell directs and stars in “Are They Smiling?” a comedy about an unusual grieving process: spending the day alone at a fair carrying the ashes of your dearly departed. We learn who’s in the urn when she approaches a caricature artist, “can you paint me and my parents?” Before that, she’s just wandering around making small talk with strangers, playing games, riding rides, rolling around in a human hamster ball. And having imaginary conversations with her folks — at a monster truck show, she imagines her mother being worried for the driver’s safety (“mom, it’s fine, I’m sure he has health care”), and earlier she assures, “I’ll find someone soon; see, that guy is looking at me.” Indeed she does meet someone soon, a mustached man who’s also alone, also carrying an urn, and they hit it off. Just watching Hollowell move through the fair is engrossing, but there are some real laugh out loud moments as well (i.e. she lines up for a picture with a dinosaur only to remember there’s no one there to snap the photo), and it’s brought home with a charming final dance sequence. Cast: Kate Jean Hollowell, Max Baumgarten.
Up Next in From the Archives
-
Deepfake Apology Video
A narcissistic woman gives an insincere apology after creating a deepfake video of her brother-in-law for her social issue documentary. Brooke Bundy and Jerzy Rose direct “Deepfake Apology Video,” a darkly comedic two-hander about the irresponsible behavior of a wannabe filmmaker. Joy sets up a b...
-
Chopping Onions
Director Adinah Dancyger crafts her personal experience growing up with her grandmother into a sharp double portrait, which folds in vital themes like assimilation, identity, and Korean barbecue. Soli, an 8-year-old who’s out of school for the summer, is left in the care of her grandmother in Que...
-
Patty Are You Bringing Weed in from J...
In 1968, a young flight attendant bought 900 lbs of marijuana in Jamaica and tried to smuggle it out. Directed by Matthew Salton.