Peter Naylor’s The Beachcombers is a 7-minute film based on a poem by Jon Lawrence and narrated by Emilia Fox. The poem, an ode to childhood and parents who populate them, narrates the story of Bronwyn and her father’s beachcombing routine and the ways people leave themselves behind for others. The film is a visual… Continue reading The Beachcombers: A Collection of Treasures
Author: Indie Shorts Mag Team
The Burglary: Entry into a Realm of Nightmares
Michael Richard Houghton’s The Burglary is a trip into the psychological realm of the mind. Confined within a cramped apartment, the Lynchian film explores a specific claustrophobia through the story of a man reacting to a burglary. Played by Tom Rainn, Seth K. (perhaps a reference to Kafka?) walks into his apartment, practically sleepwalking. He… Continue reading The Burglary: Entry into a Realm of Nightmares
Sofa Surfer: What a Night Without a Home Can Do
Michele Olivieri’s Sofa Surfer is a drama about a homeless man with nowhere to go for the night. Thirteen minutes long, the film follows him as he tries to stay off the streets and stay sober. It is the middle of winter. Rob (Tom Dayton) usually circulates between his friends’ and acquaintances’ homes for shelter… Continue reading Sofa Surfer: What a Night Without a Home Can Do
Land of Nod: A Refiguration of Jeanne d’Arc
Josh Massarotti’s 12-minute Land of Nod briefly portrays the eve of Joan of Arc’s execution, directly referencing the 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc. Featuring only Jeanne and one member of the Church, the film takes a more modern approach but does not abandon its roots. The sole Inquisitor (Reece Mitchell) appears as a… Continue reading Land of Nod: A Refiguration of Jeanne d’Arc
The Changing Room: Tapping into the Reliable Horror of Mirrors
Sam Evenson’s The Changing Room is a 4-minute horror within the confines of a changing room. The cramped quarters made terrifyingly vast, it assumes the shape of nightmares. Featuring a woman who crosses over to an unauthorised area in a store, the film weaponizes voyeurism as its source of horror. The unnamed woman (Jamie Taylor… Continue reading The Changing Room: Tapping into the Reliable Horror of Mirrors
Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy
James Cleave combines romance with science fiction and puts a dark spin on it with the 21-minute Sometime Else. Premised on a therapy session that the protagonist attends, the film delves into his psyche to unfold a series of events in the attempt to find answers. Though a thriller, the film starts off in a… Continue reading Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy
Mei: Living with Mental Illness and an Unsympathetic Family
Leanne Bailham’s Mei, co-written by Bailham, Barbara Vonau, and Cat Watson, depicts the struggle of the eponymous character with depression while doing her best to keep up appearances for her strict mother. The opening sequence presents a disjunctive portrait of Mei through a series of closeups. Her hands, her hair, her reflection in a mirror,… Continue reading Mei: Living with Mental Illness and an Unsympathetic Family
Let Tomorrow Be: Love and Duty Collide Again
Peter Nogueira’s Let Tomorrow Be unfolds a drama between two siblings, one an official of the law and the other, a criminal. The two worlds come together with only disaster as the predicted result, yet when the characters waver on this predestined path, uncertainty takes rein. Cara Ward (Samantha Valletta) is a cop. Weighed down… Continue reading Let Tomorrow Be: Love and Duty Collide Again
Graduation: Two Pairs and Shenanigans
Robin Wang’s Graduation is a short that finds humour in what started out as a gloomy evening. Four people at a dinner table–two boys and two of their parents–sit discussing the future now that one of the two have graduated. What neither parent knows is that both boys are unhappy about the move. It becomes… Continue reading Graduation: Two Pairs and Shenanigans
Wei-Lai: The Place of Tenderness
Robin Wang’s Wei-Lai deals with a complex issue growing out of culture and identity. The eponymous character, a Chinese-American is faced with the contrast between sore points of growing up within a Chinese family and what he sees as the shiny American one. When Wei-Lai (Arthur Zhang) is hit by his parents (Eon Song, Zhan… Continue reading Wei-Lai: The Place of Tenderness