The films in the Short That Are Not Pants’ fifth program deal both with power dynamics and the dissemination of messages. And each short deals with the latter differently, sometimes even coming magically towards the characters we see on screen.

Caoimhe Clancy’s Coco Dreams of Blue uses flashbacks to show the mental state of Clodagh (Edel Murphy). Her sex life is interfering with her work life. Murphy’s performance has nuance, making this short the best in this program.

Next up is Erica Scoggins’ The Boogeywoman (Katherine Morgan), who doesn’t appear for most of the short. Instead she’s the topic of conversation for teens like Sam (Amelie Hoeferle). They believe that the monster hunts girls during their first period. Polished, capable work.

Then there’s Melanie Charbonneau’s Lunar-Orbit Rendezvous. Daniel (Frederic Lemay, also the short’s screenwriter) dresses up as an astronaut, Claude (Noemie O’Farrell) as a tampon. There’s a charm here even though these characters are cynical.

Like Lunar, Stephanie Ong’s Freedom is also a Francophone film, it’s the first of two animation films in this program. It’s about a goat rebelling from their owner, an innately silly topic. And it rips off too much from Matisse’s aesthetic for me to like it.

Next up is Christopher Yip’s True North Strong, which occasionally uses cellphone footage to depict the Alt-Right. No sorry, it’s about the rise of white supremacy in Central Canada, spiking after the Danforth shooting. Innately bad for giving these people exposure.

Thankfully, we move on to Nata Metlukh’s Pura Vida. This reminds me of a rougher Keith Haring in a good way. Here, four New Yorkers take a tropical vacation that goes sideways, and it’s as surreal and as fantastical as possible.

The program ends with Francois Ruiz’ Sorry, Sea. This shows a continuous pan of the Mediterranean. We also hear Slimane Dazi recites a poem of someone who failed to cross that body of water. This decontextualizes that topic, but it doesn’t take away from the quality of the other shorts.

For more information on the fifth Shorts That Are Not Pants program go to https://shortsnotpants2019.eventive.org/schedule/shorts-program-5-5d9f4297f04cff00317e55a6.