A Handful of Dust Short Films
Dust has been presenting science fiction short films on several online sites since 2016; it produces new work and presents completed work submitted to it. Although based in Los Angeles, the work Dust presents is international in origin. As with any collection of short works, the quality varies, but Dust is indisputably presenting not only some of the most interesting cinematic sci-fi material of today, but is also giving exposure to talented set designers, writers, actors, directors and make-up artists who will graduate to feature films and beyond.
Dust’s shortest short films (around ten minutes or less) tend to be less successful, having less time to dig in and explore their premises and characters. Director Mark Slutsky’s otherwise beautifully shot Never Happened explores a future wherein spouses can cheat on each other and not feel guilty by erasing their memories. The film is a tantalizing glimpse of Slutsky’s world, but doesn’t have the means to explore it fully; Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry’s 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a much more satisfying and comprehensive look at a similar idea.
Likewise, Keiichi Matsuda’s Hyper-Reality, a short look at the future of augmented reality, is visually impressive, colorful and sharp. The future it foretells, though, is so close it just barely qualifies as science fiction. Director Joshua Wong’s The New Politics has a slick, five-minute setup to what turns out to be a visual joke (not revealed here). And Pets, David Wunderlich’s dystopian look at the fate of humanity under artificial intelligence, telegraphs its surprise ending too early. All of these films, though, have fine production values.
It’s in the longer short films that Dust’s works excel. Belgian director Karel van Bellingen’s The Leap easily has material strong enough for a feature film. Simon Merrells (Crassus in Starz’ Spartacus: War of the Damned) plays a paramilitary officer in 22nd century London. Working for the IPMA (Inter-Planetary Migration Administration), he’s assigned to stop cartels from helping freeloaders stow away on space ships destined for New Earth. A massacre of civilians he took part in haunts him for years, until he meets a prostitute, Jade, who may lead him to a way to redeem himself. The Leap‘s production values are strong and could better many feature films I’ve seen.
Jamie Magnus Stone’s Orbit Ever After, on the other hand, works perfectly as a self-contained short film. In that respect, it’s the most successful Dust short I’ve seen. Featuring a very British sensibility (and some fun steampunk imagery), it dares to be whimsical, romantic and tragic all at once. The story of a lovelorn boy stuck with his family on an orbiting, dilapidated spacecraft, it strikes notes of humor and wonder more cynical shorts stay away from. The boy, Nigel, is played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed, on Game of Thrones); his father is played by Mackenzie Crook (Orell, also on Game of Thrones). Director Stone’s sometimes frantic style may remind you of the work of Terry Gilliam.
Not all of the longer Dust shorts are as successful. Dedalo, directed by Jerónimo Rocha, is a horror/sci-fi piece in the tradition of Alien. It’s more like a demo reel than a satisfying story. It does show Rocha can direct artfully lit and carefully paced suspense, but little more. It’s worth watching Dust’s less successful presentations in pursuit of the better ones, and I’ll be checking their site on a regular basis.