Meow!
There is a cat somewhere on the streets of the city; answering to the name of Meow!, it is lost and it is missed by its owner, placing posters nearby then waiting by the phone for news of a sighting, sat in the bathtub in the back of the primitive launderette she runs out of the back of the public toilets by the river.
Drying mismatched socks while the television talks to itself in the background, a call comes through, but the message is garbled; is it information or is it the same strange man who she has seen hanging around, unmistakable despite his disguises, taunting her again or perhaps trying to lead her somewhere…
Written and directed by Corpse Flower’s Michal Vojtěch and Ariel de la Garza Davidoff and starring Paige Janey Thomas and Raphael Ruiz as the unnamed characters with a small four pawed supporting role for Albert, Meow! is an abstract short film which obscures itself in dialogue-free performances and odd behaviours, the actions undertaken inexplicable.
The Eastern European city setting, presumably Prague, giving a feeling akin to a cold war mystery thriller of malleable and manipulated personalities, of a secret underground movement which holds the effigy of the cat as an icon, with Meow! the “third man” who is sought but does not appear until the final moments and refuses to cooperate as expected or hoped for, the film is a puzzling question rather than an answer but at least offers the comfort of a fuzzy face, content in his independence.
Meow! is currently playing the festival circuit
