Following a week after the latest instalment of ‘The Male Gaze’, NQV Media’s gay shorts collection, the ‘Upon Her Lips’ series continues with ‘Day Dreaming’. In this new release, four lesbian shorts have been collected together from Basque, Mexico, Spain and France, exploring freewheeling young women as they navigate romantic experiences and encounters. The series continues to show the lesbian experience from lots of different angles, supporting the idea that not every lesbian follows the same path.
Opening with Maider Oleaga’s ‘Thirst’, this instalment jumps into a burgeoning romance between 17-year-old friends Izaro and Clara. The two young women work at a children’s summer camp and an unexpected, and passionate, kiss makes Izaro see Clara differently. It’s a gentle tale about getting to grips with new feelings and sensations, something that happens to us all as we’re finding our feet during our teenage years. It’s a fairly sweet meditation on coming-of-age and eases you into the collection.
Mexican film-maker Nancy Cruz Orozco explores similar ground in her short ‘April’s Last Memories’. April (Victoria White) and Camila (Ari Albarrán) are best friends who have grown up together and aren’t sure how to handle their obvious attraction to one another. When April’s family announces they will be moving, the two girls realise their chance to understand their attraction may pass them by. Orozco captures the uncomfortable scenario of acting on feelings before you understand what they mean, and she handles the subject matter with sensitivity.
The third short is French film-maker Nina Bouchaud-Cheval’s ‘Enlightened’ explores a young woman’s sexual awakening as it coincides with complex grief. Zoe (Zoé Adjani) escapes her painful family life by spending time with travellers where she meets, and grows close to, the rebellious France (Clémence Boisnard). When Zoe’s father dies suddenly, the two girls hit the road to organise a traditional Romani wake, and they navigate their burgeoning attraction to one another along the way. This is a classic tale of two different worlds coinciding and unexpectedly finding a common ground.
The final short is Spanish film-maker Cintia Ballbé’s ‘Andy and the Other Woman’. This one is about Andy (Alba Brunet) who is in three open relationships. Her girlfriend Marion (Raquel Ferri) suggests that pay a surprise visit to Andy’s two other partners, and as you’d expect the night takes some unexpected turns, including Andy sprinting across Barcelona after leaving a dinner party. There’s more humour in this short than the others and I wish it had been a bit longer so we could learn more about Andy and her complicated love life.
‘Upon Her Lips: Day Dreaming’ is a solid collection of shorts that explores love in the modern age and the different ways in which it manifests. There’s no clear standout here among the four, with all of the shorts of a similar standard. This series continues to shine a light on those film-makers you may not otherwise discover and there’s certainly plenty of food for thought.
Cast: Angela Echaniz Oyarzabal, Izaro Nieto, Victoria White, Ari Albarrán, Zoé Adjani, Clémence Boisnard, Christophe Grundmann​, Romain Guillermic, Alba Brunet, Raquel Ferri, Sara Diego, Betsy Túrnez Directors: Maider Oleaga, Nancy Cruz Orozco, Nina Bouchaud-Cheval, Cintia Ballbé Certificate: 15 Duration: 83 mins Released by: NQV Media Release date: 30th October 2023 Buy ‘Upon Her Lips: Day Dreaming’ now
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