Nickel Night 5

By Alyson Samson

The final night of the Nickel was a sold out show! Amongst some of the eight films, the night opened - much like the first - with a live score. Mick Davis and his guitar accompanied Roger Maunder’s Super 8 short film Water, Water, a 3-minute black and white, cut-in camera exploration of waterways, from ocean to glass.

This, followed by blow for blow laughs as we enter the ring - well, the kitchen - with a couple who take their mental sparing match to the next level with Sunday Punch. Broadcasted live on “Domestic Fight TV,” this couple’s bickering is cheered and jeered for all to see.

In stark contrast, the next film, The World is Burning was practically a tourism ad for Newfoundland. With a solemn undertone of his grandfather’s death, Brian returns to Newfoundland from Toronto and realizes he wants to stay. Suspected that his grandfather was killed by coyotes, Brian explores the woods hunting coyotes, and is seduced by a simpler, more traditional life. He is a man of few words throughout the film, which is okay when the musical score was as enthralling as this one, featuring banjos and throat singing.

Festival coordinator Matt Wright’s film, Phantom Ring, takes a comedic look at cell phone addiction, as a man is glued to his phone and misses life — and love, right before his eyes.

The crowd was in an uproar for the final film, Infanticide. In a world where you’re only allowed one child per family - that is one child at a time. The film starred Krystin Pellerin and Justin Nurse as pageant parents have to keep starting over striving for the perfect child.