Ridgefield International Film Festival 2019: A Love For Pizza & Horror Abound

I have a sweatshirt at home I nestle into during the cold winter months that reads,” All I Need is Pizza and Horror Films.” I found myself craving this sweatshirt during my time at the Ridgefield International Film Festival as I nestled into their cozy barn setting, indulging my delights with a homey documentary on the history of New Haven, CT, and a perfectly unsettling set of horror shorts.

Pizza, A Love Story (Gorman Bechard)

If you are a Connecticut native, especially if you live in or reside around the New Haven area, there is one question that seems to find us all: Pepe’s, Sally’s or Modern? If you live here, you have most likely tried at least one of these Apizza locations, whether it be one of the satellite locations or home base – most likely after a very long wait in line just to get in. Pizza, A Love Story examines this unique love of New Haven style Apizza, one that has spread country wide.

With a series of “Lessons” , presented humorously to both those in the know and those who are not, Pizza, A Love Story introduces, defends and convinces audiences not only of the love for a Apizza that has been around since 1925, but persuades them to give each a try. Wrapped in nostalgia and history, this documentary is a mouth-watering delight you will find hard to ignore. I know – my fiancée and I went out to New Haven that very Saturday to attempt to try them all!

Pepe’s Apizza has been the leading pizza place in New Haven, founded in 1925, and ranking number #1 all but one year on the countries’ most loved pizza lists. They are a staple and a name synonymous with New Haven and in many ways Connecticut. As the documentary looks deeper into its founder, as well as his wife and the pizza box they created, there is a love for the dish and the patrons it feeds.

Breaking off from the Pepe’s family is Sally’s Apizza, commonly referred to in film and Television – usually for the secret telephone number they would give out to close family and friends to bypass the line. Even Mr. Burns from the Simpson’s has the inside scoop. Michael Bolton, Frank Sinatra and the Clintons, whose frequented while attending Yale, are some of the most famous patrons that have walked through their doors, solidifying the must have Apizza taste.

Most recently, Modern Apizza has come to become synonymous in New Haven, making the debate for which Apizza is better that much harder. There is question on whether their Apizza is the reason the Curse of the Bambino was finally broken – after the members if the team had eaten there before the World Series, giving them their own mark on history.

There is history in these Apizza joints, both with the world around and within the city of New Haven. Pizza, A Love Story is edited to perfection, with testimonials that speak to a true passion for Apizza and for these restaurants that have become more than just a place to eat. Pizza, A Love Story is perfectly crafted for all to love – whether you are from CT or not.

Meat Eater (Jared Callahan)

Meat Eater was the only short I had the chance to see at RIFF that left me craving more, left me wanting to know the who, the what, the where and the when. Beginning with a young woman hiding in the woods, afraid for her life, time counting down, there is an instant height of emotions, a confusion as to what is going on. There is no build up, audiences are literally thrown into the woods with this woman.

As she begins to run, the world she is in quickly expands, another woman entering the picture. While they seem to both initially be fleeing, it then becomes a question of what kind of horrors are lurking in the woods, or in the homes one might find safety.

There was so much more I wanted from the short, its 3-minute run time too short for what I was craving. While this could be a downside for the film, it also speaks to its success: in 3 minutes, I was captivated and wanting more. Based on this short alone, I would venture to see what other films director and writer Jared Callahan brings to screen next.

The Orchestra (Curtis Matzke)

Have you ever seen a single light left on in a theater? Have you ever heard of this? While thought by some to be superstitious, it is believed that if you leave a light on – just a single light – in a theater, the spirits that inhabit will stay away, especially the mischievous ones. Similarly, it is also believed that this light keeps some of those spirits happy and contented – a light in the darkness. If only someone had remembered this for The Orchestra.

IN his latest short, director and writer Curtis Matzke brings to life the horrors of theater, when superstition is ignored and you find yourself alone within the expansive space and silence of an abandoned theater. There is a joy and an excitement that launches off screen the moment The Orchestra begins to play. Knowing this is a horror short, and time is constrained, viewers will know it will not be to long before the intensity sets in and fear begins to take hold.

As a young woman enters a dark theater alone, she sits, waiting. After a few moments, she takes the time allotted to herself to practice, to bring tranquil music to the silence that fills the empty space. As she begins to give into the craft she has mastered, something else begins to take hold, chairs moving, footsteps drawing closer. In a crescendo of fear, an orchestra begins to play, out of key and far from in sync. The woman, terrified, screams for them to stop, silence immediately returning. As her clarinet rolls away, stopping suddenly as though blocked by an unseen force, she pushes through her fear resulting in unforeseeable consequences.

Personally, I would run, from the moment the wind gusted through my hair, I would have been out. The woman, however, stayed, taking everything in, almost paralyzed by fear. There is a mischievous nature in the way the conductor walks, the purposefulness behind his steps. I found myself holding my breath, knowing that the climax was around the corner at any second. If you have a chance to see this short, make it a priority. The tension and fear is not one to be missed.

Below A Dark Wood (Bill Slovick)

The loss of a loved one is a feeling that can consume the spirit and the mind. Living in a constant memory of what once was, many times finding physical representation in the items left behind, moving forward is seemingly a near impossible task. Time warps, and our understanding of truth becomes lost in time.

Below A Dark Wood is a short film, from director and writer Bill Slovick, that takes a deep examination, in a short amount of time, at this concept of loss and grief – and the powers of the mind that disallow us from letting go. With his lover deceased, a young man is swept into an isolated grief, with only his dog to comfort him. He is surrounded by the home he once shared, isolated by deep woods that allows no escape from the depths of his own mind. As time seems to alter around him, he begins to find confusion and insanity, surrounded by mementos of his lost love and a life that is permanently changed forever.

There is a surrealism in the editing and the composition of the short. With no dialogue, audiences are faced with only imagery and their own interpretations. Below a Dark Wood is a short that will definitely translate differently for each person who views it, each seeing something different. While many see isolation and grief, I saw murder and insanity. While he grieves his lost love, I instead see a manifestation of grief and regret. As he morphs into the one he has lost, there is an inquisitive nature that begins to build inside of me, wondering if his love is buried beneath the tree, if he is the one that put her there – the dog the only witness to what truly happened.

Below A Dark Wood finds its strength in its ambiguity, allowing itself to reach a larger audience and provide an emotional impact. Director Bill Slovick is not telling audiences what to see and what to think, rather leaving it up for interpretation – the multiple interpretations this short is sure to elicit.

Find out more about the Ridgefield International Film Festival here.