Short Film 'Concert' On Tap At Bronxville Picture House
BRONXVILLE, NY — An afternoon of short films — ranging from comedies to dramas to animation — will be presented Sunday at The Picture House in Bronxville.
The 40th Anniversary Asbury Short Film Concert is a touring exhibit of award-winning short films from years past. Asbury Shorts USA is New York City’s longest-running, non-competitive short film exhibition and touring show and is celebrating more than 40 years of publicly screening world-renowned shorts films in cinemas, art museums, performing arts centers and outdoor venues.
Director Doug LeClaire told Patch that his mission is “to bring short films from all over the world that have won different awards from the Oscars to Sundance to folks that don’t regularly go to film festivals.”
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He said the “concert” has been described as “a roving jukebox of award-winning short films.”
The two-hour programs will consist of 10 to 12 hand-picked short films, but no overarching theme.
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“You might get a 10-minute dramatic film that won the London film festival 10 years ago, followed by a comedy that was the audience choice at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
LeClaire assured Patch that there will not be two hours of tear-inducing drama.
“We just try to stay away from the dark violent stuff and try to stick to really good comedies, really thoughtful and poignant dramatic shorts and top-notch animation,” he said.
LeClaire doesn’t release all the names of the films that will be screened because people will go to YouTube, watch the films there and not buy a ticket to see them in the theater on a big screen.
“But I will tell you that I programmed one of my all-time favorite short films that goes back to the ’90s, believe it or not, and it’s from Belgium,” he said. “It’s called ‘The Bloody Olive.’ ”
The nine-minute film is a noir spoof, LeClaire said, directed by Vincent Bal.
Another film he mentioned is a short documentary called “The Honeys and Bears” and is about a synchronized swim team for seniors who practice in a pool in Harlem.
“We rarely play docs unless they are really entertaining and under 15 minutes,” LeClaire said.
While he has had celebrities, such as Edie Falco, Aidan Quinn and Olympia Dukakis emcee the concert, he will be behind the mic in Bronxville.
“We are not here to make money,” LeClaire said. “We want the people at The Picture House to like our products and hopefully, maybe, make us their annual short film show.”
If You Go
The 40th Anniversary Asbury Short Film Concert will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday.
It will be held at The Picture House, 84 Kraft Ave. in Bronxville. Tickets are $15, or $12 for members.
For information, email info@thepicturehouse.org.
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