Kurt Kuenne is one of many talented filmmakers who do great and sometimes fantastic work that still never quite break into the mainstream. Last year he received the most attention so far in his career with the documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, in which Kuenne chronicles the life of his friend Andrew Bagby for the sake of Zachary, Andrew’s son by way of the ex-girlfriend who murdered him and then fled to Canada. “A film worthy of comparison to Errol Morris’s seminal The Thin Blue Line” according to The Village Voice. I won’t review the film here, only say that it is perhaps one of the most wrenching, personal documentaries I have ever seen.
What’s also worth seeing are Kuenne’s short films, two of which are available on Youtube. The first one, Validation, stars TJ Thyne, most known for his role on the tv-show Bones. The other one, Rent-A-Person, stars James Haven, most known for being Angelina Jolie’s brother.
It’s cool seeing two short films whose stories intersect, but what is most impressive is how the two films manage to embrace high melodrama yet have a three-act structure that does not take the usual turns. It’s whimsical without being annoying; very sweet and upbeat without being cloying. Together they’re a half hour of your life well spent.
Dude, I can honestly say that I love COIT Tuesdays.
First The Ants. Now…this.
Awesome short film, that first one.
Thanks so much for bringing that to our attention.
Really well doen, and it offers up emotions so completely that it’s difficult not to get caught up in it when she ***SPOILER ALERT*** turns and finally smiles and he drops everything he was holding. Very nice.
Thanks! I like the first one best, as well. How it spun a story from a pun and how Thyne is just so damn sympathetic.