The film preoccupies itself with a moment fraught with extreme tension and anxiety, yet subdued and muzzled by layers and layers of familial dynamics and etiquette. Young Jade arrives at her grandmother's birthday party, but the event is marked by something oppressive, something far beyond the realm of the child's comprehension. 

Jade will meet her half-sister Katrina for the first time on this day. The constant sense of unease never truly leaves the adult equations either, and located at the heart of all this is the alienation and anxiety Jade experiences, without the ability to articulate or even process all that unfolds. 

 
The short film does a beautiful, earnest job of portraying the many nuances and undercurrents that lurk in the unsaid things. Eschewing sentimentalism, or any kind of overt emotional outbursts or exclamations, the realm is conjured for the viewer. The visual grammar, as well as the silences, tied together most seamlessly by the immense vulnerability of its young protagonist, complete and deliver the film to the audience.

Half  | Short Film of the Month

‘Kamen’ is a brief glimpse into the rut a man is stuck in, something which could be the lived reality of anyone who finds themselves entrapped within a capitalist machinery of mundane, and perhaps even oppressive, repetition. The unnamed protagonist simply wears a mask to offer this sense of relatability to the viewer, to suggest his story could be the story of any viewer. 

Through his misadventure of missing a train, his desperation to catch it evident in the mad rush he makes after it in his formal attire, all of this is portrayed for the viewer. Locating the protagonist in an urbane reality, the message is driven home further. However, ensconced within all of these elements is an invincible moment of freedom, which is achieved by the smallest of actions, the narrative suggests. Notably, the entirety of the plot unfolds within an experimental space, while employing efficient visuals.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links