• Home
  • About Us
  • Submit Article
  • Write for Us
  • Contact Us
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of FameNew
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Live TVBeta
  • Submit Short Film
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
  • Home
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of FameNew
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Live TVBeta
  • Submit Short Film
No Result
View All Result
Indie Shorts Mag
No Result
View All Result

Reparations: On Empathy And The Legitimacy Of Being

Sristi Gayen by Sristi Gayen
23 Mar 2020
in Reviews
0
Reparations - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Historical racism against black people and anti-semitism are brought together on one plane in the form of holocaust survivor, Howard and young, black academic, Michonne. Gregory G. Allen’s 11-minute drama Reparations brings up raw topics, asks uncomfortable, conflicting questions, but above all, tries to retain its humanity and remind the world of its own. 

Set in the home of Holocaust survivor Howard (Ed Delia), the film stays focused on only two characters, and there still was not enough time to unpack everything that Allen’s film could be and is. Opposite Howard is Michonne, interviewing Howard as research for her paper on reparations. The film takes place in the last of a series of interviews between them. 

Reparations - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

This is a moving film in many, many ways (Beth Perry and Chris Doney’s oft-mournful score is a sublime contributing factor to that), but it sparks questions for the ambiguous subtext of the questions its characters conflict on. The approach it takes instead is to let it hang, giving the audience the option either to forget about it or think about it, much like how real life works. Michonne barely controlled anger at the world is focused on: the camera closes in as she breaks her pencil while debating with Howard over why black people deserve reparations. There is no conclusive answer to the question, and the film does not come back to it again.

ConversionAILeaderboard - Indie Shorts Mag ConversionAILeaderboard - Indie Shorts Mag ConversionAI - Indie Shorts Mag

The film is intercut with Jazzmen Lee-Johnson’s animation to depict Howard’s past; it is arguably the film’s most potent elements. As the audience begins to learn more of Howard’s past, Reparations’s empathy comes to the fore. Michonne’s discovery of one of Howard’s doodles uncovers long-buried parts of his life; the rough etched pink triangle is a sombre reminder of its road from a badge of shame to one of pride. In this manner, Michonne can be viewed as the face of this world’s hard-earned evolution while Howard, who kept the doodle of a boy with the pink triangle buried and believes he was punished with a barren woman, is the reminder of the old days. 

Reparations - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Delia makes his character a real person (Allen’s grounded screenplay certainly helps); Howard is a fully rounded character, he has his idiosyncrasies, ideas and distinctive mannerisms, something that transcends the character from merely a personification of a grisly story into a real, very real person who is coloured by his experiences, the good and the ugly. 

#ShortFilmReview: Reparations: Are you sure you are done living your past? Click To Tweet

Watch Reparations Short Film Trailer

'Reparations' is not yet available online for public 😕

Want to get notified when 'Reparations' is available online to watch?

Get a one time email and SMS when 'Reparations' is available online for the public. We will remove your data from our system once we sent out the notification. No Spam!

First Name
Last Name
Your email
Phone Number
Tags: PrivateReviewShort Film Reviews

Get real time update about this post categories directly on your device, subscribe now.

Unsubscribe
Previous Post

Jitters: A Pained Meditation On Love And Life’s Meaningfulness

Next Post

Life On Set: A Sardonic Take On The Show Business

Sristi Gayen

Sristi Gayen

Related Posts

I AM - Documentary Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

I AM: Strong Tribute To Pioneering Queer Artists

11th April 2021
Geronimo - In Flight - Documentary Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag
Reviews

Geronimo: In Flight: Documenting The Results Of Transformation

10th April 2021
Next Post
Life On Set - Short Film Review - Indie Shorts Mag

Life On Set: A Sardonic Take On The Show Business

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

From Editor’s Desk

Editor’s Picks: 2020’s Flashback In One Go!

Editor’s Picks: 2020’s Flashback In One Go!

Sponsored

  • Recent Reviews
Facebook Twitter Instagram

About Indie Shorts Mag

Indie Shorts Mag is a publishing agency that works within the ‘short film circuit’. We review short films, documentaries, music videos and web series, amongst others. We stand out amongst the short film review sites for being multi-diverse & global in our platform and reach.
Our team works tirelessly to help promote, publicize and market your short films that deserve the shout-out! Besides reviews, we host film festival news as it’s a known fact that the film festival buzz is unmissable and we ensure you aren’t left behind!
We aspire to form a niche for ourselves as the ‘short film magazine’ that remains the hub for filmmakers & their audience.

Popular Topics

  • Announcements
  • Articles
  • Crowdfunding
  • Editorial
  • Film Festival News
  • Film Festivals
  • India Edition
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • News
  • Online Premiere
  • Post-Production
  • Pre-Production
  • Reviews
  • Short Film
  • Short Film Competition
  • Short Film News
  • Tutorials
  • Web Series

Indie Shorts Mag on Instagram

Follow Us On Instagram

© 2015-2021 Indie Shorts Mag

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Film Festival News
    • Short Film News
  • Reviews
    • Short Film
    • Documentary
    • Web Series
  • Hall of Fame
  • Tutorials
    • Pre-Production
    • Post-Production
  • Live TV
  • Submit Short Film

© 2015-2021 Indie Shorts Mag