I'm Short, Not Stupid Presents: 'Skin'

What do you do when you fall for a pretty girl? Pretty much anything. Maybe you stalk her a bit, scope out her interests, find out her likes and dislikes. Bat a couple eyelashes and invite her to throw rocks against a wall. Skin, by Jordana Spiro, captures that struggle, but as an almost voyeuristic portrait of a boy and girl, Spiro transcends a simple young coming of age-of-love story and highlights our innate struggle to understand one another. If that sounds super corny, it's not meant to be. In fact, the film is quite unsettling.

The boy, a young taxidermist, longs to connect with his fantasy girl but instead stays distanced from her. Shy, reserved, and hopelessly unaware, he stays silent and observes. As the object of his eye though, he learns of the love she has for her dying dog and in an attempt to swoon her he makes a concerted effort to come out of his shell.

Unlike films that hold your hand, Skin manages a real sense of honesty through reliance on everyday moments—gestures, quirks, words (though very few). It isn't until halfway through the film that the boy, who appears in every scene, speaks. Spiro directs the two first-time child actors to beautifully understated performances, where despite their different backgrounds, their characters connect on a purely visceral level. As Spiro depicts the world around them, or rather the family around them, she illustrates how children's will can be forced into our rigid existence, one ruled by class, tradition, ego, and more. Maybe this is a side effect of a hardening heart, but the earnestness of these children is what makes the film. It's heartbreaking to imagine all of the times we could've done something good or worthwhile if only we weren't so easily pressured by outside forces. The film is called Skin and it depicts just that, skin being just a mask we wear to protect and hide our true and desired identities. Beautiful and haunting, relatable and moving, Jordana Spiro is a talent to watch, so watch Skin for the next 12 minutes.

Jordana Spiro is relatively new to directing by way of acting ( The Good Wife, Trespass). She has directed three short films, Skin being her most recent. The short premiered at Sundance Film Festival and went on to play at SXSW, AFI, Palm Springs, and more. In 2014, Sundance tapped her for their Screenwriter's Lab as she hashes out her debut feature script entitled Night Comes On.

Jeffrey Bowers is a tall mustached guy from Ohio who's seen too many weird movies. He currently lives in Brooklyn, working as a film curator. He's the Senior Curator for Vimeo's On Demand platform. He has also programmed at Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.