The short film is the most beautiful and brilliantly executed engagement with the notions of memory, time, nostalgia and the familial space. As the protagonist shares his technique of packing, one passed on to him by his father, he takes the viewer deeper into a moving, poignant narrative, marked by the same minimalism as that of its parent text by Ron Koertge. Before you even realise where you have located yourself, the story has already managed to engage and involve you beyond the point of no return. The visuals use stop-motion animation in a skilled and sophisticated way, marking transitions in the narration of the protagonist's past experiences by vividly surreal images. The film ends with a beautiful metaphor allowing the negative space to be a comment on the gaps in communication that may have potentially been part of the protagonist's relationship with his father, as well as being a potent marker of what truly came to define their equation - the art and technique of packing.

Negative Space | Short Film of the Day

The short film attempts a lot of things and succeeds at all of them most gloriously. The narrative is an engagement with the transience and impermanence of things in so many ways. It foregrounds the inexorable passage of time felt in every moment of it, further emphasised by the voice of the narrator, overflowing with a gravity that will set the pace just right for the plot to develop. The film is also a visual feat achieved most effortlessly by the seamless weaving together of a sprinkling of live action visuals with stunning animation. Primarily using the location of a beach the protagonist grew up on, the sand in itself becomes a character, the medium of narration, taking the viewer by the hand on her journey. There is still so much more the film engages with - female friendships, the forever forward moving path of life from childhood to adulthood, an underlying strain of homosexuality, the relationship between the past, and the present and the unreliability of memory. Guaxuma does a stellar job of tying it all together, without making it look like a laborious task, and before the viewer can realise it, they have covered a huge distance within while seemingly partaking in the experiences of the protagonist.

Guaxuma | Short Film of the Day

The narrative of the film makes the most judicious and notable use of camerawork, coupled with sound, to conjure its story. A pre-teen girl is navigating ideas of sexuality, trying to locate her own relationship with her body and desire. Part of a household that is ravaged by divorce and parents who refuse to see each other eye-to-eye, she finds herself turning to books, peers and her own lived reality. Since the film is set in 1983, of course all this information is not simply a few web searches away on her smartphone. It's important to mention the year of the story also because it does a wonderful portrayal of a world away from the internet and technology, making the viewer forget that there might actually exist another reality. What stands out the most is the film's unique exploration of the sexual desires of an age group that rarely makes its presence felt in mainstream art and media. Add to it stellar performances by the young cast, and there is nothing in How Does it Start that will leave the viewer unimpressed after their engagement with the film.

How Does It Start | Short Film of the Day

Set in a seemingly idyllic corner of Tunisia, the film deals with a subject that is far from it. It is as intense as some of its first visuals, those of a sheep that has violently been attacked by a wolf. A shepherd and his sons carry the carcass home to an unexpected turn of events - the return of one of their family members from Syria. However, it does not end there, he is accompanied with a young wife who refuses to remove her niqaab. One of the many successes of the film lies in the manner in which the viewer is introduced to a household in a part of the world they may perhaps have no prior knowledge of. Yet, even an outsider feels at home with the culture brimming with its complex familial equations, gender dynamics and the nuances they carry with them. Another notable aspect of the film is its approach while interacting with a hyper-localised experience. This ensures that it becomes universal in nature for the audience. The visuals are accompanied by masterful camerawork and a pacing that allows the story to stretch its limbs with just the right poise and sophistication, taking the form of a powerful piece of art that would stay with you long after you're done watching it.

Brotherhood | Short Film of the Day

Zoo is a notable union of a powerful story and equally strong visuals to supplement it. In terms of technique, the film follows all the rules of sound, music and camera angles to create an atmosphere of suspense, uncertainty as well as to mount action, and yet, it does not come across as pedantic. The storytelling, instead, is marked by efficiency and seamlessness. While the narrative raises potent, urgent questions about a desperate need of the hour, the approach adopted for the same is simple, making its message all the more impactful in the face of complete absence of garish devices or tools. 

The film is a comment on racism, drawing the viewer's attention to a conversation specifically around police brutality that shook the world and made it sit up the past year. However, it should be noted that it brings in personal experiences, ensuring that it is not simply a macrocosmic narrative about a white and a black man, but also of two people with their own internal, individual struggles and frustrations. Further, the manner of treatment of this dissatisfaction offers a sharp contrast. For instance, a white character, who comes from a space of entitlement owing to his racial identity, is convinced of being allowed the opportunity to inflict violence on another with impunity, even in the face of all calmness and rationality received from the other party. 

Your dissatisfactions are perhaps then allowed to find expression in the violence and cruelty you inflict on others if you are of a certain race, lurks the subtle comment within the folds of the film; like in a zoo where we are all animals, waiting to give in to our bestial sides under the right circumstances. Or worse, since the existing hierarchy is engineered to dismiss the marginalized further to a realm defined by the absolute disregard for their life. 

Though the technique and visual approach of the film has already been appreciated, it is important to mention the same again. The film deliberately drops visual cues regarding what is to come. For instance, it is a beautifully ominous shot of our protagonist peering into a store while metal rods make their presence felt against a glass window, making the scene suggestive of incarceration, a prison. It is precisely after this moment that the tone of the film changes. The plot moves from personal, localised struggles of debauchery and petty thefts to a thematic concern that would come to raise potent questions about systemic racism and oppression. It is especially important to invoke this particular visual image at this juncture because it further asserts the film's title - the reality of a world where a black man is born within the cage a festering society has already chosen for him. 

Additionally, there is an emphasis on the fierceness of youth which is allowed to you depending on your racial identity. The body language of a white man before a potential figure of authority offers a disturbing juxtaposition with that of a black man. 

Within the body of the film rest several significant comments while it continues to maintain its crispness throughout. There is a portrayal of how mindless violence often leads to a cycle of hatred, an action-reaction equation, a cause and effect. One attack on the oppressed can sometimes lead to a retaliation the oppressor did not expect. The film does not take sides regarding this reaction, it only presents it to the viewer in an objective manner. 

What is especially notable about the final product is that it manages to bring in all of these concerns (and more) to encourage a pertinent discussion on the reality of existence determined by your racial identity. The same is achieved organically, without stumbling or using cliches or sentimentalism as crutches. It is indeed in this confident assertion of its thoughts, the consequent clarity of the message and the eventual realisation of these intentions that the success of the film lies.

Zoo | Short Film of the Day

The story of Uproot is of loss, tragedy, financial trouble, growth and above all, family. Delving into the many nuances and complexities that come to constitute a familial structure, the film packs a complete product in its short duration. It achieves it all by way of a single conversation one afternoon between a woman and her brother. The performances are undisputedly one of the strongest aspects of the film. This is in close competition with the visuals which make wonderful use of light, shadows and a limited physical space of primarily a single room. The camera stays static as the woman moves in and out of the room, trying to take stock of the damage done to the house, and in turn, to her brother's emotional health and life in general. On the face of it, the narrative is simple - it's one sibling trying to convince another to move on, to not let grief pull themselves in too deep. However, look closer, and there is more - there is regret, a fallen plant with a broken pot as a beautiful metaphor, but also careful hands, gingerly putting it back together. There is anger, but also a desire to grow, and above all, there is love and a sense of hope.

Uproot | Short Film of the Day

To say that the film is poignant would be an understatement. What would be apt instead is to call it an accurate portrayal of the raw, visceral fear of being a colored person in a predominantly white nation, where racial identity could mean vastly different things in the same, seemingly mundane situation. The film’s glorious success lies in communicating this without explicitly spelling out any of it. The entire action of the narrative comes to revolve around a single phone call, structured most expertly to engage the viewer even before they realise it. Soon, you find yourself unwittingly becoming part of the emotional unraveling of a mother as she breaks down over the safety of her son. In that moment, she is any and all of us who have ever found their security threatened simply because they belonged to a specific gender, race, religion or nation. If the purpose of art is to disturb and lead to reformative action, this film is art in the truest sense. Insightful, meticulous and brilliant in its exploration of the identity of the marginalised, the Other and the discriminated against, the film does an impeccable job of disorienting your deepest sense of order and safety, introducing you to a disconcerting reality in the process.

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