A prominent feature of abusive relationships is gaslighting; and the inevitable consequence of being gaslighted is an utterly destabilised sense of self and confusion. Joe Benedetto and Alison Stover’s 23-minute drama The Four Walls of Charlotte Moreland explores the day-to-day of surviving and recovering from such a trauma. The opening scene lays out the story.… Continue reading The Four Walls of Charlotte Moreland: Accurate Portrayal Of Abuse And Recovery
Author: Indie Shorts Mag Team
Sunday’s Child: The Significance Of Acceptance
Somewhere between the two major scenes of Maisie Richardson-Sellers’ Sunday’s Child (co-written with Charlotte Casey) is an emotionally transitory scene for Esi, the protagonist, played by Chauntice Green. She is on call with her mother, a religious woman, and the conversation, sought in a moment of loneliness, shifts into something which Esi cannot hope to… Continue reading Sunday’s Child: The Significance Of Acceptance
His Name Was Gerry: Processing Grief With Fireworks And Heartwarming Lightness
Peter Lee Scott’s His Name Was Gerry opens on a grim scene. A boy processing the death of his best friend. It is a violent process, involving several smashed pieces of furniture. But this is meant to be a comedy; the rug is pulled out from beneath you soon enough. It is heralded by a… Continue reading His Name Was Gerry: Processing Grief With Fireworks And Heartwarming Lightness
Country and Courage: On The Lives And Histories Of U.S. Veterans
Rodney Roldan’s 41-minute documentary, Country and Courage, is intended as a tribute to American military veterans on the occasion of Veterans Day. Featuring four soldiers, two veterans and two in active service, the film attempts to raise awareness about military life and the aftermath, mainly tackling PTSD. It uses Shakespeare to drive the narrative forward,… Continue reading Country and Courage: On The Lives And Histories Of U.S. Veterans
Échale Ganas: Documentary Of Survival, Success And Family
Like the man himself, Échale Ganas: The Villa’s Taco Story is bursting with energy. The 30-minute documentary following Victor Villa and his pop-up taco stand, directed by Yumeng He, is as much about food as it is about home, and as much about entrepreneurship as about building community. Tying it all together is systemic inequality,… Continue reading Échale Ganas: Documentary Of Survival, Success And Family
Pragma: Love, Technology And Further Complicated Questions About Choices
One would not necessarily expect to be moved by a film about finding love through big data, and one would be wrong. Director Ellie Heydon achieves everything she sets up Pragma to be: funny, weird, oddly profound, and surprisingly moving. Written by and starring Lucy Heath, the 20-minute film weaves in these elements with skill… Continue reading Pragma: Love, Technology And Further Complicated Questions About Choices
The Gallerist: Memories Of A Gothic Romance
In his short film The Gallerist (written by Jesse Newman), Adam Holoubek invokes memory in all its subjective form. If one were to sum it up, lingering is perhaps the word that describes it best. Whether it is in touches, stares, sensation, or the very pace of the film, there is a lingering feeling to… Continue reading The Gallerist: Memories Of A Gothic Romance
Elijah’s Dance: Fragmented Recounting Of The Beginning Of A Dictatorship
Elijah’s Dance explores the consequences of the loss of home primarily through the lens of fear, going one step ahead to depict the resultant loss of mental autonomy. Written, directed and featuring Cooper Wood, the 9-minute film even uses comic-esque illustrations (also done by Wood) to narrate its intergalactic tale of colonisation and collapse. Mainly,… Continue reading Elijah’s Dance: Fragmented Recounting Of The Beginning Of A Dictatorship
Speed Dating: A Charming Rom-Com On The Pains Of Dating
For those single for a long time, it can engender an obsessive fear of never finding love and a concurrent obsessive search for love. For the protagonist of Meghan Artes’ stop motion animation Speed Dating, Ava, this has resulted in giving a chance to a more efficient method: speed dating. The film opens with a… Continue reading Speed Dating: A Charming Rom-Com On The Pains Of Dating
L.U.N.A.: The Combined Power Of Evil And Technology
What director Blake Vaz excels at with the 10-minute horror L.U.N.A. is building up a truly gripping atmosphere of suspense. Centred on a field tech and the house she visits, the film swiftly and efficiently sets its gears into motion, developing a sense of trepidation by turning the camera into a silent, unseen (and very… Continue reading L.U.N.A.: The Combined Power Of Evil And Technology