My Best Friend Depression
The Defy Film Festival began its long (and getting longer), strange trip almost a decade ago. The weird-little-fest-that-could established itself as a haven for short films and experimental cinema way back in 2016. Since then, Defy has built a reputation for celebrating boundary-breaking moviecraft, and as the fest returns to East Nashville to celebrate its ninth edition this weekend, Defy remains dedicated to showcasing the unconventional and the surprising on screen.
This year’s selections include genre-bending feature films and documentaries, along with blocks of visionary shorts, video art installations and other inventive movie displays sprinkled throughout Studio 615. Defy co-founders Dycee Wildman and Billy Senese build their programming from an annual open call — and Wildman reports that this year’s crop of submissions brims with cinematic absurdity. There’s plenty of dramedy to go around, as well as two categories of experimental shorts and local selections that put Nashville filmmakers on the big screen.
My Best Friend Depression gets high marks for its artistic photography, inventive score and generally excellent ensemble acting. Former Nashvillian Heather LeRoy writes, directs and stars in this semi-autobiographical portrait, filmed in Nashville, of a woman and the titular diagnosis. LeRoy is a creative magpie — in addition to her all-around filmmaking, she’s also a photographer who’s done stand-up comedy. Her debut feature is a look at modern love and modern medicine. It’s at its best when the actual filmmaking appears to be as chaotic as the heroine’s life: LeRoy marshals cacophonous conversations between multiple characters into consistently funny scenes that sizzle with firecracker timing; and some of the funniest line readings and visual gags feel like improvised gems that made the final cut. These pops of lighthearted, fresh energy bring a critical balance to a movie that is shot in black-and-white, drenched in shadows, and dramatizes a disease that counts suicide as a symptom. But it’s a comedy. Detroit-based thereminist and composer Via Mardot’s antique goth scoring supports the spooky noir vibes on screen. And while I was watching the film, I was reminded that Nosferatu is really just a love story. In its more nightmarish moments, My Best Friend Depression can feel like a horror film. But it’s a comedy.
Elisabeth Donaldson is a local filmmaker who also has a writer/director/star hat trick at Defy. We all know modern dating is a horror movie, and that horror movie is “Ghosted.” Donaldson’s short is big on tension and style, delivering something like Fatal Attraction, but set in that garage where Reservoir Dogs’ Mr. Blonde tortures Officer Marvin Nash. All the performances are strong here, but Donaldson burns brightest in this dark comic character study electrified by her bold acting and throwback glamour.
"Ghosted"
Nashville filmmaker and musician Aaron Irons’ Chest is a found-footage horror film based on the eerie local legends he heard while growing up in East Tennessee. Among these tales was the spine-chilling story of two hunters who stumbled upon a mysterious chest hidden in a cave behind a waterfall. Chest was Irons’ first feature and made its Nashville debut at Defy back in 2022. Now the filmmaker is back with his sophomore project, Jeffrey’s Hell. Chest enjoyed an award-winning festival run and is currently streaming on Tubi. Irons planned to follow up on the film’s success by making a documentary about the legends that inspired the movie. The product, a pseudo-documentary, is a labor of love that Irons was piecing together during a year spent hiking and caving in Appalachia. Jeffrey’s Hell was edited from Irons’ camera after his “disappearance” in 2023. Chest fans will want to see this meta-spinoff, which reads like a meditation on Southern folklore, creativity and madness.
“The Streetlight” is the poignant story of a sentient street-corner lamp that makes a new friend when it convinces a stranger to take it on a tour of the city. Director Sophia Parella’s short film is a warm and funny examination of how our community connections can broaden our horizons and show us the world in a new light. I love the effects here, and hats off to actor James Milford. He plays the protagonist, Hudson, bringing soulful gravitas to his interactions with his inanimate co-star.
Warren Fischer’s “The Serena Variations” is a short film about obsession and artistic perfection that will strike a suspenseful chord with fans of Darren Aronofsky titles like Pi and Black Swan. A young violinist struggles to gain the respect of a domineering composer, but as her fingers find assurance on the strings, her mind begins to fracture. Fischer blends the mythology of legendary violinist Niccolò Paganini with a psychedelic tea ceremony and lots of ambiguous sexual tension. The result is a story about teachers and students, masters and apprentices. “The Serena Variations” is about limits and what lies beyond them, when adoration becomes paranoia and ambition turns to madness.
“Lollygag” is a great short for a hot summer afternoon spent in the cool darkness of a movie theater. Tij D’oyen’s poetic tale is about summertime voyeurism, swimming pools, sex and chocolate bonbons. It’s a sensual story about a boy who has it all and the girl who lives next door. “Lollygag” is funny — until it’s as dark as night swimming. And it’s emblematic of this year’s Defy program’s absurd combinations of love and death and maverick filmmaking.
Visit defyfilmfestival.com for times, tickets and passes, which include Defy’s famous after-parties. They’re hosting an 18-and-up drag performance on Friday night and a horror-themed dance party on Saturday.
