The film locates itself in an empty diner, save for a couple and a curious stranger who watches them from afar. As the couple discusses their internal dynamics, the issue of one of them not giving the other enough attention, a horizon of expectation begins to form before the viewer. However, before this thought can go any further, the stranger’s presence becomes too overwhelming for either of them to ignore, and in an even stranger progression of events, he joins them. 

As the conversation now begins to move amidst the three of them, a tight script, marked by something deeply disconcerting right under the surface, takes shape. Thus develops a story of relationships, the secrets they harbour, and how fidelity and the very idea of attention can mould them. No one can be trusted in this realm. 

The narrative presents a single, crisp moment and closes a little too soon, definitely leaving the viewer wanting for more. With its seamless screenplay, skilled performances, and chemistry, it is easy to overlook a slight inconsistency within the sound department.

It would be interesting to see the story delve deeper into the lives of the characters in a longer project in the future.

Star Night | Short Film of the Month

The film’s reality is one of complexities and nuances, and yet, the ideas are presented to the audience with unmissable ease and clarity. The narrative straddles a sense of the past and the present. 

A woman is swiftly losing her grasp on her memories, forgetting more than she can remember. The fear and heartbreak that this flow of events ushers in is mapped against a beautiful, bright summer where a young woman is the constant companion of the older, ageing one. 

Through the interactions of the two, perhaps the woman’s interactions with her own self, we are presented a thoughtful realm of stories, the pain of separation, even if sometimes it is the very cost of existence itself, and the pressing, urgent need to let go, if one is to truly accept the inexorable movement of time. All of this is constructed with a visual landscape that is evocative and skilled in its control and all that it conveys. The screenplay and the performances only serve to strengthen the film further, alongside a tonality and approach to writing and storytelling that should definitely be engaged with further in more such endeavors.

Everything in This World Is Exactly What It Is  | Short Film of the Month

As a woman sits with crystals, trying to ascertain what they could bring into her life, the film paints a beautifully dreamy landscape, one that is constantly shifting, but forever maintaining the tonality and approach of the narrative. 


It talks of happiness, sadness, and courage, the words accompanied by the soft sounds of a trumpet and mandolin all along. The thoughts are presented as fragments collected from conversations and interviews, woven with this lovely musical reality. The narrative pronounces how more often than not change leads to something beautiful. 

The film presents its soulful interpretation of the many shades and whimsies of life, while staying true to the horizon of expectation regarding its form that is created in the title. It becomes a reality that is realised within the narratorial flow and progression itself, while also leaving the viewer with a celebratory sense of hope.

Open Form  | Short Film of the Month

The film is a hilarious and fully entertaining take on an unspoken rule of society, and how it comes to define an exchange between the protagonist and one of his friends. The question in the film’s title is what gets the ball rolling. The protagonist’s initial reply to it is commonplace and perfunctory…until it’s not. 

Next follows a barrage of truly terrible things that have happened to him in a short duration, ensuring that the caller, his friend on the other side, is caught off guard and completely unsure of what to say when someone replies to this mundane greeting in a manner out of the accepted norms. 

The thought thus presented is meaningful and honest, but it never becomes didactic or burdens the narrative. It also eschews needless frivolity. This ensures that the film keeps the viewer involved throughout, even if at the expense of the hapless protagonist.

How Are You?  | Short Film of the Month

The film opens during a crucial night in Lucy and Banks’ lives. After having worked at a diner for many years and harboured a deep hatred for its griminess and all things hellish that it stands for, tonight is the night they burn it down to the ground and head for the mountains. As they prepare to tie up the loose ends before starting the life that awaits them, the entry of an unexpected character changes everything. 
Montgomery has driven long hours, eventually crashing his rental car outside the diner, to at last have the meal he has looked forward to, and some more. The ensuing exchange is marked by a characteristic outlandishness that imbues the film with notable texture. The storytelling becomes metaphorical as it talks of burning down something that holds you back from an ideal, or in the case of Lucy and Banks, an idyllic life. While the fate of all three of them hangs in the balance, the film further comes to be defined by a seamless visual progression, expert performances, and unlikely moments of humor that only serve to accentuate the skill and tonality of the end result.

Danny's Diner  | Short Film of the Month

School principal Nina Valentinovna could not be prouder as she sits before an interviewer, sharing her thoughts for a news channel. She talks of her star pupil, Pyotr, a maths genius and a child with special needs. 

The principal extols her school’s values and how they train their students to always uphold them, while eschewing topics of conflict and social turbulence. However, as Valentinovna overlooks a crucial truth about the impact of a war and violence-ridden society on children, and how it translates into their own equations and dynamics, and instead only offers empty, clinical facts which might mean very little in the real world, another parallel reality is unfolding outside this interview. 

Young Max becomes a focal point in what follows, presenting a very incisive glimpse into how children operate within their spaces away from the adult world. A skilled screenplay that portrays this, coupled with expert performances that strengthen the film right till the very end, ensures that the narrative offers a hard-hitting commentary on innocence, and more shockingly, on the cruelty that can thrive within the same realm. The apathy of adults, or worse, their personal ambition mixed with casual indifference, further adds an emotional layer to the storytelling, all of which together present a story that is sure to stay with the viewer for a long time.

Crease  | Short Film of the Month

The film does a remarkable job of tying something as dark and disturbing as substance abuse and its many devastating consequences with the innocence of childhood and its fantasies. The story opens with the mingling of two very contrasting images in the same vein. 

Our young protagonist Samir plays with his toys, his voice overlapping with the sobbing of a woman, and the visuals of broken glass. His immediate reality is defined by alcoholism and substance abuse of his parents, and the consequent neglect that it leads to. 

The child is quick to take comfort in fantasies that the adult viewer knows will probably never come true. The film’s biggest triumph lies in how skillfully it portrays this contrast and paints a heartbreaking world by simply using a child’s perspective as its primary storytelling tool. The screenplay is constructed with equal care to ensure no beat or moment is left underutilized, driving its message home with impact and clarity.

Night Games | Short Film of the Month

The narrative introduces us to two lovers and a realm marked by separation, intimacy, and unmistakable vulnerability that ties it all together. The film and its namesake music album take audiences on a meaningful journey that is mapped and crafted with thoughtfulness and meticulous care. 

The several tracks taken from the same album conjure metaphors of love, relationships, heartbreak, acceptance, and loss. These are coupled with an intrinsic presence of nature, of thunder and lightning, of the vast expanses of the sea and the sky to further echo everything the narrative intends to convey. The rhythm of the music is tied to the emotional ups and downs of the protagonist, alongside being located within nature's many moods and hues, as if nature itself is the third character present alongside the lovers. 

The camerawork and the visuals it paints are equally and competently supported by the vocals that become an overarching, defining element of the film. The screenplay and the visual grammar employed are stunning not simply in terms of aesthetics but also the emotions they evoke. Consequently, the final result becomes a seamless union of skill and thought, with a deep authenticity of emotion and its expression.

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