Short documentaries carry challenges of their own. Besides having to offer the compelling narrative of an incident that cannot be fictionalised even for creative pursuits, the story needs to be told or retold in a manner that is convincing, engaging and if possible, hard-hitting. Yucong Chen’s Unfinished Lives succeeds at all of that and more.… Continue reading Unfinished Lives: The Tragedy Of A Family Recounted
Category: Reviews
Faulty Roots: Teens, Friendships and Morbidities
Faulty Roots, an 11-minute feel-good drama about Lola, a teenager with clinical depression, whose life is changed just that much for the better because of a rekindled friendship, hits all the conventional beats of its subgenre but manages to get its central character just right. Directed and starring Ella Greenwood as Lola, the film is… Continue reading Faulty Roots: Teens, Friendships and Morbidities
Leave Us Here: Storytelling Of Another Kind
Director Tari Wariebi’s Leave Us Here is unique from its opening frame. And, that is not limited to just its narrative style, but cinematography too. Sans dialogues, the short (5:33-minute) in all manners of cinematic conventions spells novelty. A story of a grandmother and her granddaughter, Leave Us Here is a dramedy of sorts, except… Continue reading Leave Us Here: Storytelling Of Another Kind
I Make Good Sounds At Parties: Monologue Of A Socially Awkward Loner
This one feels personal; a personal shout-out to all those bashful, struggling individuals out there – not so much the party poopers, or the wallflowers, but the ones that desperately want to fit in and can’t. If you know someone like this, watch I Make Good Sounds At Parties, with empathy – for director Amanda Prager’s 8:14-minute… Continue reading I Make Good Sounds At Parties: Monologue Of A Socially Awkward Loner
Terms & Conditions: A Web-series For Those On Their Second Innings
Ever wondered what puts the dampener on your dreams? Don’t know if you are up for it? Have the years passing by made you dread your age? If so, all you need is a healthy dose of Barb Cohen, a 60’s-something, inimitable Jewish woman who doesn’t pull any punches. With her hilarious, to outright eye-grabbing… Continue reading Terms & Conditions: A Web-series For Those On Their Second Innings
The Fat: A Laugh Riot Over Stolen Goods
36:55-minute in duration, director Nick La Marca’s The Fat has plenty going for it. A wonderful cast, memorable music and a hilarious story for the screen. Written by La Marca, Jackson Shipman and Allan Weedman, the short is a playout of all things that can go wrong, but with a wicked sense of humour. Marvin… Continue reading The Fat: A Laugh Riot Over Stolen Goods
Everything I Learned Came From The Television: Harnessing The Potential Of Sci-Fi For A Simple Message
A sci-fi, Everything I Learned Came From The Television (EILCFTT) ensures its metaphorical nature is not lost on the audience. Jeremy Stewart’s 15-minute film focuses heavily on building on the idea of TVs and, by extension, media consumption being corruptive influences that can gain mastery over your intellectual autonomy. Perhaps because of this, the film’s… Continue reading Everything I Learned Came From The Television: Harnessing The Potential Of Sci-Fi For A Simple Message
Biggest Things: Serenity Of The Little Moments
Writer-director Micah Henry and co-writer Cassidy Waring make a concerted effort to drive forward their 12-minute Biggest Things with dialogue, and to their credit, the dialogues do take the audience by surprise with its thoughtfulness. But Biggest Things remains, nonetheless, a mixed bag of ambitious ideas that work just as often as they don’t. There… Continue reading Biggest Things: Serenity Of The Little Moments
Tsunami Falls: Acceptance In The Face Of Inevitability
Tsunami Falls emphasizes the tragedy of its story by utilising the dichotomy between personal regret and a natural disaster. Indeed, flashbacks of a life dotted with unhappiness while a calamitous wave takes shape in the background is the recipe of panic-inducing, breathtaking spectacle. And while the production values of Tsunami Falls are practically flawless, the… Continue reading Tsunami Falls: Acceptance In The Face Of Inevitability
Kendall’s Dream: The Toxicity Of Pageantry
Victoria Hagni’s 7-minute fantasy Kendall’s Dream works as a metaphor to demonstrate the terror of being exposed for an unforgiving world’s judgement and ridicule over beauty and whether one meets the arbitrary standards set for it. Hagni’s film is additionally striking for its young protagonist; Kendall (played by Kendall Langley), barely 12, and already grappling… Continue reading Kendall’s Dream: The Toxicity Of Pageantry