Bridging the Gap is a Scottish Documentary Institute initiative to encourage the emergence of new documentary film makers, now in it's thirteenth year. At this year's festival they presented four short films, directed by women and with the views of women to the fore. The four, ranging from ten to fifteen minutes in length, mixing intimate fly on the wall footage with narrative voice-overs from the subjects of the film.
Swan explains the changed relationship between a transgender woman, and her daughter, since she came out and began her transitioning. Her relief at finally being able to be the person she always knew she was, and the reaction of her daughter to seeing the man she'd known as Dad start to change. It's a beautifully matter of fact treatment of the topic, with both generations why their relationship had improved as a result. But while the daughter has now stopped using Dad as an appellation, she can't yet, if ever, call her Mum. Despite that she bought her a Mother's Day present, perhaps the warmest indication of how well their relationship had adjusted.
Where We Are Now shows life living with a severely autistic teenager. Small details bring home the unending struggle to maintain normality - food scattered on seemingly every surface, endless washing of floors and stairs, a padlock on the fridge door. With the daughter now sixteen there's the added worry of caring for someone with the body of a young woman, but, in many respects, the mental age of a toddler. The girl loves trampolining, music (much to the relief of her mother), and sticking her arms out through the neck-hole of her sweater. There are plenty of moments of laughter and connection. But underlying it all is the mother's greatest fear - who will care for her girl when she is no longer able to, or dies? Who loves her then?
Silent Laughs is by far the funniest of the quartet, unsurprisingly given the subject matter. Leah is a deaf woman trying to break into stand up comedy. The film switches back and forth from her everyday life to the pre-show nerves, and performance, for a newcomers night at the Stand Comedy Club here in Edinburgh. She performs in sign language, with an interpreter vocalising her words. Her set goes down well, and signing is a natural language of comedy. Heart warming.
Finishing off we had The Review. Perhaps you have to be a parent to appreciate it, but the central issue seemed trivial in comparison with those above, and I found this the least engrossing film of the group. Voiced from a mother's point of view, we see events leading up to a decision whether her teenage son would continue to play for his football team, or be dropped. I found the boy, and his siblings, largely unintelligible, so I may have missed something. But not much. In the end I think he was kept on, but by then I'd lost interest. Nice spaniel though.
A promising mixture overall.
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