I attended the Etheria Film Festival, a festival of short fantasy and sci-fi films made by women, on Saturday. I figured I'd post my reviews here. Note that I had a work conference during the day, so missed the screening of "We Are All Cylons." Some of these films have aired at other film fests (I know that The Stolen was at DragonCon, for example), and you might be able to find some of them online, as well. I've tried to keep my reviews short, befitting the films themselves.

Fantasy half:

Seamstress - Gracie Otto (Australia)

This was my least favorite of the bunch, less because it wasn't interesting than because it was much, much too long. It ran nearly twenty minutes, and would have been so much better at about ten. Still, some nifty visuals and an interesting concept, at least, with some nice uses of voyeurism/male gaze.

Oowie Wanna - Bridget Palardy (USA)

This was a blast, basically a silly musical mashup of Labyrinth and afterschool specials in which a little girl who is teased over her birthmark goes through a laundry machine into a magical world. The little girl (Lily Silverstein) is adorable, and Karen Black plays one of the two magical women she meets on the other side.

Prita Noire - Sofia Carrillo (Mexico)

A surreal, twisted stop-motion animated fairy tale. It has a little trouble figuring out how to end, but short films can get away with that.

She Wolf - Francesca Reverdito (Italy)

The shortest film in the set, it's a cute one-twist movie, basically the cinematic equivalent of flash fiction.

The Maiden and the Princess - Ali Scher (USA)

This was the standout, by far. Of course, it helps that Scher got Julian Sands and David Anders. But Scher's writing is a nice mix of zany and sweet, as she tells the story of a little girl realizing that she'd rather kiss girls instead of boys, and the storyteller assigned to set her "straight."

The Hunter and the Swan Discuss Their Meeting - Emily Carmichael (USA)

(This one aired at Sundance and can be seen online.). It's a fun twist on classic fairy tales, with a few nice bonus twists tossed in later on that keep it moving. Probably my second favorite.

The Stolen - Karen Lam (Canada)

A short, dark film that's too short to get into without spoiling. It was largely predictable, but again, a short film can get away with that to some extent. Still worthwhile.

The Red Hood - Danishka Esterhazy (Canada)

This one closed the fantasy portion, and was gorgeous. It's technically not fantasy, but it uses fantastical references and tropes in its dark storytelling. Also, it has amazing narration. The director was there for a Q&A, which I only caught half of (two hours of movies means my bladder eventually says, "enough"), and I'm definitely interested in seeing her other films (which are also fairy tale-inspired).

Sci-fi half:

The Provider - Brianne Nord-Stewart (Canada)

A nice mix of comedy and horror set in an alternate early '50s USA after the Japanese retaliated for the atomic bomb. Some nice gruesome bits mix with dark humor, and the retro setting is one I enjoy a lot.

Undetected - Kristen Anderson (Canada)

Another nice mix of a creepy tone and some humor. Two sisters walk away from a broken-down car and find a farmhouse, but the brother and sister who live there are very, very wrong.

Laura Keller - Maureen Perkins (USA)

This had Amber Benson and Martin Starr in the leads, and not surprisingly, it was a slicker (as in, higher production values) movie than a lot of the other ones. It was also one of the non-humorous entries in the sci-fi section In an overpopulated future, all women are implanted with birth control chips, and a select few each year win a lottery to allow them to remove the chips. Benson plays a nurse at one of the removal centers, with Starr playing her husband. They both long to have a kid, and decide to buy another couple's right-to-bear. This didn't quite go as far into some of the moral issues as I'd have liked, but was still engrossing and well-crafted.

Imminent Danger - Alana McNair (USA)

A nice absurdist end-of-the-world bit, with some Fifth Element-like bits, and just a lot of good, funny moments. A low-level employee of the company that maintains a future version of the threat level chart Homeland Security used to use accidentally pushes the button that takes things to "end of the world." Hilarity ensues, complete with a running gag about shadowboxes.

Kaboomtown - Jakqui Schuler (USA)

This is the other serious one, and it's great until it peters out completely. The setup is sci-fi at its most ridiculous (aliens implant something in all humans, and humans now have to go through a bureaucratic six-hour application process to live every twelve hours or they die), but my general take on sci-fi is to accept the premise and focus on the story, which was short, stark, and often brutal. The ending was a little too abrupt, and it felt like the creator had an awesome idea that couldn't be resolved, but in a ten-minute film, I could deal with that.

Slashed - Rebecca Thomson (Australia)
Yes, it's a movie about slash fiction. And it's a blast. Basically, a woman who works in a doctor's office (writing slashfic most of the day) and a patient who reads a lot of slashfic encounter each other. Hilarity ensues, particularly in the depiction of the slashfic itself (and the low-budget fandom that inspires it).

Volcano Girl - Ashley Maria (USA)
A cute and very well-produced movie about a government-sponsored superhero who loses her job and is forced to move back home and deal with her bratty little sister. Really well done, and one of the few shorts that had potential for a longer piece (or a web series).

Bonus: The world premiere of the extended ten-minute trailer for the currently-untiled George Takai Documentary - Jennifer Kroot (USA)

Oh, my! (Seriously, it was ten minutes of largely-unedited footage of George, his husband Brad, various celebrities, and info about his life in an internment camp, his marriage, his costarts, etc. Yes, I want to see the whole thing now, dammit!)

Overall, it was definitely worth my $15 and the time I spent. Do keep an eye out for any of these films (and their directors) if they end up screening locally or online.