There are short films I find to be great because they are about me and situations I encounter and relate to. Sometimes they are about me, but are fantastical situations I cannot relate to, and thus it is fun to live out those scenarios vicariously. Often they they are not about me though, and they extend my empathy for others by placing these strangers in familiar situations, emphasizing our similarities. But it is a rare treat indeed to be placed in a world with people and situations that are both foreign, that unmoor me from bearings, and expand my world. Boneshaker is one of those films. 

Despite being set in the US, Boneshaker explores a world I’m unfamiliar with, the deep South of the country and its tent revival religious community. It isn’t about that though. What it is about is in fact slippery to pin down—fair warning for those with a sensitivity to indeterminate plotting, but Boneshaker is impressionistic narratively, forcing atmosphere and tone to carry much of the film’s 13min runtime. Fortunately the film nurtures these aspects with such aplomb that even for those who find the story inscrutable, the experience is a treat. 

Most smart readings of the film take off from Bodomo’s personal statements about the film, drawing from her lived experience as a African who grew up as a nomad—bouncing from Ghana to Norway, then Hong Kong, before making it to America. As a result, she describes having “always felt homesick for a home I have never had, nostalgic for a place I have never visited.” This sense of dislocation is woven throughout the film via its family and their interrelations. Modern medicine butts up against religious faith, but the permutations of that faith are strange and foreign; a blending of immigrant experience with a backwoods faith healing Christianity that is peculiarly American. Innocuous moments like the Father asking for directions from a group of armed white hunters signal an overall sense of searching, but perhaps not belonging, that suffuses the short. 

Shot largely handheld on 16mm film by DP Joshua James Richards, there is an immediacy of presence that is palpable, and helps that ambiguous subtext take center stage. The stunning Louisiana scenery and its golden glow are a perfect pairing for 16mm, and create a lush visual experience that simultaneously reinforces the sense of nostalgia that Bodomo describes wanting to achieve. 

Created at NYU Tisch via its MFA program, the film received a fair amount of press in 2013 when it played Sundance and SXSW. Its young star was soon to be Oscar nominated, and had already been attached to an eventual Oscar-winning film, 12 Years a Slave. Bodomo was back on the festival circuit the following year with Afronauts, an alternative history of the 60’s space race, where a group of African exiles try and beat America to the moon, a film Bodomo is currently adapting into a feature. In support of that goal, she has been welcomed into Sundance’s nurturing arms, having been accepted to the Institute’s prestigious 2016 Director’s Lab (alongside site alum Kibwe Taveres) as well as receiving an artist support grant. 

Sharp-eyed viewers will note that this is the second day in a row we’re featuring a short film presented by NOWNESS. The online video portal, which is owned by fashion giant LVHM, is increasingly pivoting from its longtime fashion focus by adding more and more festival shorts to its programming mix. This is perhaps indicative of a recent leadership change at site, where Anna Higgs was brought in as Creative Director earlier this year. Higgs previously worked at Channel 4 in the UK, where she was a key figure in supporting Random Acts, one of the world’s premiere commissioning programs for independent short form. Additionally, Short of the Week contributor Katie Metcalfe, a programmer for Sundance’s short film section, was recently brought in to the site as a Video Commissioner, and is responsible for picking this one up. Great work Katie! We whole-heartedly endorse NOWNESS bringing more great festival narrative shorts to online audiences.