This year, the Crazy8s film festival shooting schedule was even more intense than usual. That’s because the jury-selected filmmakers who created six short movies over an eight-day span had to do this during a pandemic.

Last week, the Straight covered two of those films: Luvia Petersen’s science-fiction drama, "iDorothy", starring Carmen Moore and Hiro Kanagawa as a married couple grappling with a troubled past; and Rachel’s Rose’s “Tryst”, starring Shayn Walker and Anesha Bailey as a Black married couple in the late 1970s coming to terms with the husband’s desire to cross-dress.

“Great stories, universal stories, told from different perspectives is what’s really resonating with our jury these days,” Crazy8s Film Society co-executive director Erin Mussolum told the Straight by phone. “I think this year’s crop of stories are all very different, different perspectives but universal stories that anybody can relate to.”

The Crazy8s Online Gala Screening Showcase and Virtual AfterParty takes place on Saturday (May 1). According to Mussolum, the opening will be unforgettable.

“We’re actually taking the whole party to an online platform called Gather,” she said. “And you’ll be able to kind of move yourself around like in a video game environment.”

According to Mussolum, this presents opportunities to watch cocktail demos with some lavish liquids, take in a live DJ, and even swim in a pool. “It’s going to be quite an interactive and fun environment,” she promised.

And if your avatar doesn't want to spend time with another person's avatar, it's possible to go somewhere else at the party.

Here are the four other short films at this year’s Crazy8s, which is supported by film unions, Telefilm Canada, Creative B.C., and other organizations linked to B.C.’s movie and television sector:

Baba

Written and directed by Jay Kamal, this emotional and lush film focuses on a 12-year-old boy of mixed ancestry named Samir, played with exceptional aplomb by Kingston Gomes. He’s coping with the death of his kind-hearted father, Malik, played by Abraham Asto, amid all the grief that’s been inflicted on other family members.

The cinematography is another starring character in “Baba”, conveying the death rituals in Islam and Christianity sombrely yet without draining colour from the film. The choice of sets—a church in Surrey and a cemetery in New Westminster—showed astute judgement on the part of the director and crew.

Asto, Helena Marie (who plays his wife, Diana), and Gomes get plenty of chances to shine in the many close-ups in this short film, which serves as a lesson not only in funeral rites but also in a child’s resilience.

Crumbs

This film appears to open as a warm family drama, with a father reading a bedtime story to his son Shiloh. But things suddenly take a terrible turn when the mother appears on the doorstep of a funeral home. Dad is dead and all hell is about to break loose.

That’s the setup for codirectors Jessey and Cody Nelson’s creepy tale of a young boy with an imaginary friend who is about as fixated as Dirty Harry on frontier justice. The intense soundscape and darkened images create a sense of gloom that’s reinforced by virtually every character who appears in “Crumbs”.

The acting is what you’d expect in a horror film: mostly two-dimensional characters who each occupy their roles with a sufficient amount of rage and distress. The stepfather, played by Jeff Gladstone, is a villainous piece of shit. And over time, “Crumbs” becomes quite compelling as Shiloh, played as a teen by Zebastin Borjeau, finds his voice in the face of abusive schoolyard bullies and a family dynamic that would suit Stephen King just fine.

There’s no Carrie-style crescendo or any Shining example of Jack Nicholson glaring menacingly through the wall. But it’s still disturbing enough. And it’s likely to keep most viewers stuck in their seats until the conclusion, if for no other reason than to learn how this thriller ends.

Cuello

Sebastian Ortiz Wilkins’s “Cuello” has a catchy bit of text at the beginning. In Spanish, it reads “Siempre hay tres versiones en una historia, la de un lado, la del otro, y ha verdad.”

Translated: “There are three sides to every story—one side, the other, and the truth.” And this story, which opens with hapless people being ordered to keep walking on a darkened highway, is inspired by real events.

What comes next in the English-subtitled film is a mix of sexual passion infused with a touch of religion and some family fun. But just as the audience starts to relax, things get ugly again.

It's Mexico at the height of a drug war—and that's the only industry that will allow some husbands to put food on the table.

Kidnapping, violence, and a whole lot of tension infuse this darkly shot film in which a man’s life hangs in the balance. Cinematographer Diego Lozano’s shooting style reflects the horror of life for Mexicans in certain parts of Mexico and the hope of a family man just eager to survive.

But life is cheap—and the director isn’t going to let you forget that with all the headlights at night, shouting, and urgent commands from armed desperadoes. Pulsating sound design and rapid-fire editing add to the suspense.

In light of all of this, how this film ends just might come as a surprise.

Mom vs. Machine

Director and writer Tesh Guttikonda shows what happens when a mother, played by Nimet Kanji, becomes redundant in the age of artificial intelligence. When she visits her adult son’s elborately designed man cave, she discovers that he can 3-D-print all the biryani he wants with a voice-activated machine.

Oh, the heartbreak for an Indian mother—especially after she learns that her self-centred and high-strung son, played by Praneet Akilla, has programmed his grandmother’s special biryani recipe!

The man cave is bathed in electric reds, shimmering purples, and metallic greens, making Mom appear as redundant and old school as a 1930s elevator operator.

“It’s like we don’t live in the same house anymore,” the grief-stricken Mom complains at one point to other mothers over Zoom.

At times amusing, and on other occasions poignant, this tale benefits from Kanji’s polished performance. It’s also kind of campy for those with a hankering for that.

However, the futuristic film might not be as ridiculous as it seems, given the onslaught of technological change. It’s something to keep in mind the next time you have a desire for homemade pakoras.

Come to think of it, they’re even creating artificial-intelligence programs to write newspaper articles. So it’s not just mothers who are on the verge of becoming obsolete.