Short Cuts film fest to kick off Oct. 20 in Norwalk

JIB Productions, producer of the lunchtime theatre series Play with your Food, will launch the second season of the Short Cuts Film Fest this month. Curated by CT Post film critic Joe Meyers, Short Cuts will be screened in two parts: Thursday, Oct. 20 and Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Garden Cinema in Norwalk.

Short Cuts was initiated to showcase the rarely-screened short film genre.

"Novelists have always had the freedom to work in the short story form," said Meyers, "but filmmakers rarely get the chance to make anything other than feature-length movies. Short Cuts will explore the short films of directors who have won great acclaim with their standard length movies. In each case, we get to see how these talented artists rise to the challenge of being much more concise than they are in their more famous films."

On Oct. 20, three films will be screened beginning at 7:30 p.m. In between making "Melvin and Howard" and "The Silence of the Lambs," Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme directed the charming 1982 short film, "Who Am I This Time?" from a short story by Kurt Vonnegut.

A newcomer to a small-town community theater troupe (Susan Sarandon) falls in love with the actor who is playing Stanley (Christopher Walken) to her Stella in Streetcar.... When she realizes her co-star is nothing like the man he becomes on stage, she devises an ingenuous scheme to the keep the sparks flying. J Demme also directed "Philadelphia," "Rachel Getting Married," and "Swimming to Cambodia."

Winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, the British film "The Lost Thing" by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann is a heartwarming story of a young boy and his experiences after finding a lovable strange thing on the beach.

Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman star in Wes Anderson's "Hotel Chevalier," a 2007 entry in the New York Film Festival. A short prologue to "The Darjeeling Limited," "Hotel Chevalier" is a heartbreaking history of love. Wes Anderson also directed "The Squid and the Whale," The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and was an Academy Award Nominee for The Royal Tannenbaums.

Films to be shown Nov. 17 include: "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," by the pioneering New York City-based female independent filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver. Silver won recognition with her 1975 debut film "Hester Street," about Jewish immigrant life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The following year, Silver showed she was just as sensitive to the lifestyles of well-heeled WASPs when she made this acclaimed 49-minute film adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Fresh from "Nashville," the marvelously eccentric Shelley Duvall plays the title role, a mousy young woman whose whole life changes because of one haircut. Silver also directed "Crossing Delancey," "Chilly Scenes of Winter" and "In the Presence of Mine Enemies."

"Vincent," by Tim Burton, is a stop-motion short film narrated by Vincent Price, about a boy who pretends to be Price himself. Burton is well-known as director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Sweeney Todd," "Ed Wood," "Batman Forever," "James & the Giant Peach," "Mars Attacks!," "Sleepy Hollow," "Planet of the Apes" and "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory."

Winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, "God of Love" by Luke Matheny, follows a lovestruck, lounge-singing darts champion who finds his prayers are answered -- literally -- when he mysteriously receives a box of love-inducing darts. Assistant director of the film is Westport native Nick Ordway.

Short Cuts is produced by the not-for-profit JIB Productions, Inc., a producer of performing and visual arts programs well-known for its lunchtime theatre series, Play With Your Food. Also in JIB's upcoming line-up is Seasons Readings, a holiday inspired program of short plays, stories and surprises by award-winning authors Ann Patchett, David Sedaris, Frederick Stroppel and more. Seasons Readings will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8 at the Greenwich Arts Council and on Thursday Dec. 15 at the Westport Woman's Club at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $30, include post-performance eggnog and dessert.

The Garden Cinemas is located at 26 Isaac St., Norwalk. Tickets are $25 and include the films, free popcorn, dessert and a post-film discussion with Meyers. Seating is limited. Tickets are available online at www.jibproductions.org or by by calling 203-293-8831.