By Joe Montague, Publisher & Senior Editor, Riveting Riffs Magazine

 

Short films are an art form that often goes unappreciated by most of us, however, most of us have benefited greatly from short films which sometimes appear before the feature film or often are viewed on television when a broadcaster has a time slot that is too small to run a regular program.  They come in all shapes and forms and bring us laughter, they educate us and sometimes they are entertaining animations. This past weekend at the ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto we had the opportunity to watch Parent Teacher Night with a screenplay by Lucy Filippone and Stephen Roscoe, who also served as the Producer and director respectively.  The film was placed just prior to the feature film Why We Laugh: Black Comedians On Black Comedy, so the Filippone / Roscoe short benefitted from great exposure.

 

Hopefully those in attendance will realize that there were some technical issues that were not inherent to the film, but due to the cinema and / or the individual operating the film projector. Nevertheless the experienced filmgoer will have seen this project for what it is, a well directed and well produced piece of art, which is highly entertaining and drew much laughter from the audience as they no doubt relived their own experiences of attending Parent Teacher Night.

 

Canadian actress Michèle Duquet was cast in the leading role as the teacher, Ms. Appleton and she was absolutely brilliant!  Ms. Duquet has a natural comedic flair that is neither gimmicky nor is it campy, but comes across as authentic. The film’s opening alternates between seeing a boy’s shoes unwillingly being dragged down a hallway, presumably by his parents, and towards the room where his teacher (Ms. Duquet) is readying herself for the monumental meeting with the little “monster” and his mother (Lucy Filippone) and father (Tony De Santis).

 

Despite Ms. Appleton’s attempts at diplomacy the Cecco family prove to be quite a handful for the teacher and Duquet does a superb job of portraying the natural progression from putting on the appropriate smile so that mom and dad Cecco can feel good about their little brat Dante played by Noah Lehman, to the point where we are sure that Duquet’s Ms. Appleton is about to explode and tell the Ceccos just what she really thinks.

 

The four actors in this film all do a wonderful job and Noah Lehman, unlike some child actors, never overacts (or sometimes they are directed in that fashion) and he stays within his character. Lucy Filippone is as hilarious on screen, as she is congenial off screen. Tony De Santis does well in his role as both the outraged father and the outrageous father.

 

This is not a short film by a group of artists and a director trying to establish a name for themselves, as this is a seasoned group and their experience is evident. Stephen Roscoe is an award winning director and Lucy Filippone has appeared in feature films and made for television films including Gotti. She also appeared in the sitcom Married With Children and on the dramatic series Street Legal.  Michèle Duquet has appeared in a number of major films including; Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, Three Men and a Baby, as well as television films, such as; Dead Husband (John Ritter, Nicollete Sheridan), Suburban Madness (Sela Ward) and Say Nothing (Natassja Kinski).  She has also appeared on numerous television programs; Street Legal, Goosebump and La Femme Nikita.

 

Photo: Michèle Duquet

April 2010

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