Sundance 2025: Pasta Negra; Somebody Cares; En Memoria; Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites

We’re back with the second half of Sundance’s Short Film Program 2. Here’s a look at a Spanish-language fable, a crime comedy, dystopian sci-fi, and a Khmer-language story about a dead woman and her Queer grandson.

Pasta Negra (Jorge Thielen Armand)

Three generations of women (Monica Zabaleta García, Grieber Acosta Hernández, and Lesbia Aurelina Lopez) and a baby traverse the lush Venezuelan wilderness, under trees and over creeks, until they reach the Colombian border. They only have enough money for two of them to go across, so La Abuela (Lopez) stays behind with the child. She waits silently, patiently for her family’s hopefully safe return.

With little dialogue and impactful locations, Armand tells us the story of this family and their struggle mostly through their actions and expressions. Though their words are infrequent, Pasta Negra finds strength in that silence. It’s an impactful fable of sacrifice, perseverance, and what we do for our families.

Somebody Cares (Julien Lasseur)

After snagging some snacks from the convenience store, Barry (Shawn Parsons) is set for his birthday plans: a lonely night in. Those plans are quickly derailed by Vince (Cjon Saulsberry) who botches the attempted hit and opts for kidnapping instead. Turns out, Barry owes a lot of money, and it’s time to collect.

The shortest film of the program, clocking in at five minutes, this Coen Brothers-esque crime comedy is tight, funny, and never misses a beat (even the Fargo reference lands as its own joke).  Written by Brian Grogh, every line punches up the last, and Lasseur and Director of Photography Kyle Smolic pull off some really cool shots. If this story were to continue in five-minute bites like this, I’d subscribe and watch every episode.

En Memoria (Roberto Fatal)

Sol’s (Frédérique La Tour) quinceañera is coming up. A fan of metal music, she’s eyeing black invitations and a black dress, which her mother Luna (Leslie Martinez) finds amusing. As they nail down decisions, there’s a knock at the door: An agent (Jennifer Rader) arrives to perform Luna’s exit interview. She defaulted on her student loans and made a heavy sacrifice to have them absolved. Would you do the same?

Co-written by Fatal and Ali Meyers-Ohki, En Memoria is a tragic sci-fi tale that very easily could have been a Black Mirror episode. The dystopian aspects unfold naturally, allowing you to try to piece it together before the big, heartrending reveal. This trio of women all deliver remarkable performances, particularly La Tour, and the script by Fatal and Meyers-Ohki maximizes the drama and emotion of this short’s all-too-brief runtime.

Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites (Chheangkea)

Enjoying a peaceful afterlife, Nai (Saroeun Nay) prepares for her family’s arrival on Tomb-Sweeping Day, an annual tradition where the family comes to the cemetery, cleans up the loved one’s resting place, brings food, and other rituals. She sits and observes her family, who can’t see her, and learns her favorite grandson Meng (Bonrotanak Rith) is being pushed to become engaged to Pech (Sokun Theary Ty) and their family is meeting hers that night. While his family seems ecstatic for this potential union, Meng is reluctant and Mai notices. As Meng is teased by his family for being unmarried at twenty-nine  and wearing a woman’s bracelet (one of Nai’s), it becomes apparent that he’s Queer, but hasn’t come out.

Nai decides to tag along on the family trip so she can keep an eye on Meng, and what follows is a touching portrait of someone who feels like the outsider of the family and the unconditional love shown to them by their late matriarch. There’s immense pressure from both families for the couple to make it official, and Meng’s distress and anxiety are palpable. Amidst the drama, there’s also moments of love and tenderness and even some levity from the karaoke and dancing. Written and directed by Chheangkea, Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites is a lovely short that you may play favorites with yourself.

Check out more of Film Inquiry’s Sundance 2025 coverage here!