Donkey
2023 · 16m · USA
Directed by Matt Kazman
Genres: dark comedy, drama
Tones: darkly comic, melancholic
A struggling actor who moonlights as a Shrek impersonator at children's birthday parties receives an emergency call that his father is dying—and must confront his withdrawn family during his lowest personal moment while still in full green costume.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Struggling actor in full Shrek costume visiting his dying dad. The fact that this holds the bit without deflating either register is the entire reason it works. Trust the Shrek.
Kazman holds an absurdist Shrek-costume visual premise against authentic familial gravity without deflating either register — the SIFF Audience Award and LES Best Narrative Short confirm the tonal balance lands. Punch-Drunk Love is the honest reference.
Short of the Week, Vulture coverage, SIFF Audience Award + Best Short, Lower East Side Best Narrative Short — 15:42 of a struggling actor in full Shrek costume during a family death scene is a tonal high-wire, and the festival evidence says Kazman walked it. This is the kind of indie comedy I push hard.
Reviews
Kazman is simply one of our great comedy directors.
Festivals
- Seattle International Film Festival 2023, Audience Award for Best Short
- Lower East Side Film Festival 2023, Jury Award for Best Narrative Short
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023
- IFF Boston 2023
- Florida Film Festival 2023