Two more new films for you this week in the NSI Online Short Film Festival.
Rusted Pyre, directed by Laurence Cohen, is a chilling tale of friendship. Don’t watch it alone, in the dark or with children present.
The film follows Ginny and Sally as they venture out in the middle of winter to a secluded, abandoned old car to share ghost stories. And then, gulp, things take a terrifying twist. The filmmakers describe Rusted Pyre as Mean Girls meets Ginger Snaps. Yikes.
Laurence says, ‘My personal goal was to simply serve the needs of the story and make a kick-ass, spooky tale that was entertaining, gripping and included a gutsy and bold ending.’
Our second film, Lie Down and Die directed by Kyle Sanderson, is a bitter-sweet comedy about a young man’s will to live in a world where all his family members have died bizarre deaths.
I’ve known Kyle since the days of NSI FilmExchange when his short film Fire Hazard made the final of the NSI National Exposure Amateur Movie Contest, scooping awards for Best Film from Manitoba and Best Actor.
Kyle says, ‘I had recently read a great short story of the same title in McSweeneys by author Seth Fried and thought it would be a perfect fit for a short film. I loved the idea of using the main character’s overly exuberant imagination as a catalyst for his emotional acceptance at the end of the film.
Also, there were explosions, fires, severed limbs and underwater knitting. Who could argue with that?’
