Do you want to watch a series of strange short films meant to disconcert and unsettle the viewer? If the answer is yes, then MODES series is for you!

I was intrigued by the description of the first collection of short films from MODES 1 to play this year. “Sensory experience is heightened, questioned, and examined through different forms - a challenge to submit to the artist.” I often seek out the more unusual films on offer at VIFF and this program gave me the opportunity to see seven short films which were weird enough to fit that bill.

The first three films were abstract and experimental. For the most part they were monochrome. Because these lacked a narrative structure the sound design was more obvious and more important, immersing the viewer further into the images on screen. I particularly liked Umbra, though I had no idea what was going on other than atmospheric and unusual shots of the natural world. Interbeing was perhaps the most baffling—a kind of thermal optics for body heat seemed to be used as a visual effect in order to show glowing bodies and pulsating handprints after contact.

The Stroker was a complete shift, as it was fiction and told a story. It was very funny. In it, a young woman walks through a hip London co-working space, touching the employees on the arms as she passes them. This ‘wellbeing program’ soon becomes a point of office friction. While I would not want to be touched by ‘the Stroker,’ the film does point out our discomfort with anything deviating from the norm.

L'Étoile de mer (The Starfish) is a surrealistic dreamscape which reminded me of Man Ray and Luis Buñuel. It combines elements like bright-coloured objects and weird grainy black and white underwater shots. I discovered that this film by German director Maya Schweizer actually used some archival material from those artists.

The final film, Stay Awake, Be Ready, is an evolving streetscape story set in Vietnam. The shot moves from a distant vantage point of a street corner, to up close and personal with some cafe diners and an unexpected injury.

I look forward to more MODES programming next year!

There is one more screening Wednesday, October 9, 2019 at 8:15 PM at the Vancity Theatre. MODES 2, with six different films, plays Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 6:00 PM at the Vancity Theatre and Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 9:15 PM at Vancity Theatre.