Bo Zhang’s Bubble is the product of a happy confluence with theatre. The story of a woman choking on a plastic-riddled life, the film is strongly grounded in theatrical methods and therefore uses mood and emotion to drive its narrative. There are no dialogues in the film. In fact, there is no other character besides… Continue reading Bubble: The Real and Theatrical Drama of Plastic
Tag: Private
Silver & Gold: Five Episodes of Capers with Colleagues in Crime
Alonge Hawes’ Silver & Gold, a five-episode heist series, follows four thieves in their various crimes and capers while developing bonds that supersede their jobs and natures. The first episode of this ambitious crime thriller series,titled The Birth Of The Cool is a 16-minute introduction to the main players involved: two teams who join up… Continue reading Silver & Gold: Five Episodes of Capers with Colleagues in Crime
Joined by Fate: The Meeting of Intersecting Paths
Christina S. Sledge’s Joined by Fate is a 39-minute documentary narrating the story of her romance and marriage to her spouse. Employing a talking heads style, the subjects trace their journey from childhood to marriage, dotted with a series of coincidences that look like fate in retrospect. The narrative alternates between Edward and Christina, the… Continue reading Joined by Fate: The Meeting of Intersecting Paths
That’s Just Rocks: Coming Back to Childhood
John Strelec’s That’s Just Rocks is the story of a man getting reacquainted with himself after waking up with amnesia. Through its comedic form, the film tries to attune the adult’s perspective with that of the child’s innocence and naivete. Herman (Strelec) wakes up with a bleeding head and no memory. With all of Forrest… Continue reading That’s Just Rocks: Coming Back to Childhood
With Joyful Ring: Depression in the Time of Christmas
Gary Karapetyan’s With Joyful Ring is a 12-minute Christmas short meant to directly address the senses. The protagonist, a middle-aged widower, reaches into his memories of his deceased wife to rediscover joy during Christmas, a holiday they loved and cherished. The film tries to address the five senses to illustrate the rebirth of a feeling… Continue reading With Joyful Ring: Depression in the Time of Christmas
Overwatch: The Death of Everyday Life in War
Aaron Cohen’s Overwatch is an 18-minute drama centred on the lives of its characters, wrapped up within a very immediate war. Largely stationary, the film carves out a space for the personal while the war makes itself felt dangerously close. The first few minutes of the film is mobile and filled with action. The camera… Continue reading Overwatch: The Death of Everyday Life in War
Yesod: A Sci-Fi Telling of the Past, Present and Future
Nizar Nassar’s Yesod is a 26-minute sci-fi set centuries into the future. A wasteland dominates the frame. A solitary man negotiates the unforgiving landscape to continue surviving when little else has. But when company comes knocking, is it with his doom in tow? Having done away with dialogue, the film expresses itself wholly with its… Continue reading Yesod: A Sci-Fi Telling of the Past, Present and Future
Boomslang 3: The Blood, Disdain and Snobbery Continues
The third instalment in the Boomslang series, Justin Schwan’s Boomslang 3: Your Future takes the viewer back to the titular Erik Boomslang, returned fresh from a murder. This time, the victims of his scorn are a psychic and her assistant. The stage is set before Erik (Ryan Vincent) dives into the scene. A psychic (June,… Continue reading Boomslang 3: The Blood, Disdain and Snobbery Continues
Up and Down: The Unravelling of a Routine and the Self it Protects
Luke Masella’s 9-minute Up and Down is an astute character study of its protagonist, a man who might as well be the only person existing in the room. Obsessed with fitness and bulk, the young man appears to drown out everything else besides his own self-image. The man (Aaron Latta-Morissette) is shown in the middle… Continue reading Up and Down: The Unravelling of a Routine and the Self it Protects
A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose
Spencer LeGros and Alexander Hinsch’s A Letter From Home delves into the life of trauma that war veterans return to, and a program whose modest efforts have the potential to make significant change. Mainly featuring the program founder Jason Graven, the documentary portrays the founding of Task Force 20 as the culmination of a series… Continue reading A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose