The documentary film is an honest, sincere and moving engagement with the experiences of four characters, and a home they have left behind in a country ravaged by war. While war and the Syrian identity are never mentioned explicitly, the allusions to them are loud and clear, further reminding the viewer how lasting the effects of something as traumatic as this can be on the collective unconscious of an entire set of people. By interacting with people's fear of death, oblivion, ageing, separation and longing, past and present, a homeland left behind and the relentless efforts of finding and making a home in a new country, away from the shores of familiarity and comfort, the film presents its intentions in a notable manner. While the subject matter is inherently intense and heavy, it concludes on a note that might leave the optimistic viewer with a sense of hope. The film closes with the idea that we are prisoners of our own thoughts. Would it be too far a stretch of the imagination to say that if you then allow yourself, you could perhaps free yourself from these self-afflicted incarceration walls? Maybe it is in the idea of this freedom that the true triumph of hope, as well of the narrative itself, lie.

Invisible Jails | Short Film Nominee

A man wakes up late into the day, attends a phone call, or perhaps listens to a voice memo, and then immediately steps out to get groceries, followed by cooking an elaborate, sumptuous meal. The routine continues on loop, bleeding into the following day, and then another. The only thing that changes is the menu, but the activities leading up to it are unchanged. The rest of the house remains silent and empty in unison with the seemingly lonely life of the protagonist. At the heart of the narrative, lies heartbreak and pain, and the tying of them with the food that is cooked before the viewer every night. The final result exhibits earnestness in terms of sharing its ideas. However, it could have gained from a little more tightness in its progression as well as control on the various technical elements.

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