Crude Oil is the most bizarre splash of colours, amalgamation of sounds and tying together of visuals. It is glorious in its surrealism and the many hues and shades it employs to share its story with the viewer. Essentially, the film is about female friendships and the potential toxicity they can harbour. It is also about superpowers, useless or useful, but definitely made pointless when they are put to use to end FOMO or get extra olives on a pizza. The narrative does wonders with its edit and sound, ensuring that the viewer is in for a dreamy ride (disconcerting or not). It gives visual representation to memories, thoughts and anxiety, allowing you to be an intricate part of the protagonist's experience. The film also offers a portrayal of controlling relationships and the potency of realisations. As the protagonist completes a journey of struggling with ideas of self-worth, facing the nature of her relationships with seemingly the two most important people in her life and finally realising the horizon of possibilities before her in an angry outburst, the film proves to be a deeply involving interaction significantly unique and refreshing in its tone and approach.

Crude Oil | Short Film of the Day

Based on a short story by Stig Dagerman, The Man Who Wouldn't Cry is a wonderful union of pastel colors, satire, absurdity, the skewed standards of society, and a hapless protagonist who finds himself at the receiving end of it all.
After the passing of a famous actor, Henrietta, an ad agency is consumed by their public (and perhaps borderline histrionic) display and expression of grief. To the viewer, this expression remains markedly superficial and disingenuous, meant more as a performance and outward appearance than bona fide sorrow.
 Martin, an illustrator at this agency, does not subscribe to the said practice. Needless to say, this does not sit well in a world that is determined to make everyone part of the same herd, be it in the form of social media opinions, or the reputation of an ad agency which eventually comes to pivot on Martin's grief (or the lack of it thereof). 
 As the film portrays all of these thematic concerns, it comes to exhibit unique storytelling and a refreshing, exciting approach. There is further a mirror held up to those disconcerting aspects of society that are so resolved to make someone grieve, a man who is deeply uncomfortable with sharing his emotions in the presence of others, that they indeed force him to the point of tears, albeit for reasons far beyond their comprehension. The world of the film is beautifully constructed, with each performance exhibiting finesse and sophistication. This is tied with the dreary reality of Martin's world, not vastly different from our own of social media updates and online documentation, delineated through the choice of fun, perky shades, but those that only serve to accentuate the contrast between Martin's internal and external reality further.

The Man Who Wouldn't Cry | Short Film of the Day

The film presents to us three seemingly unconnected narratives that glimpse into the lives of characters who would be anywhere but where they are. 

A man goes to a restaurant to read. After finding himself distracted at home, he literally physically moves himself from his immediate circumstance, and yet, here again, there is no sense of belonging to be found. A state of emotional unhappiness follows him, irrespective of the change in his physical space. The same is true of a young woman who wakes up with a start only to spend her first few waking moments doomscrolling on her phone. The movement that might have the potential of making either of the two feel even remotely better thus seems to be an internal journey, as opposed to an external, literal movement. 
The third circumstance is of a little girl who is entrapped in a world constructed by adults with virtually no power of her own. While adults might spew unsolicited life advice, her eyes remain wide with the inability to make sense of a world she finds herself located in. 
Without a single thread that emphasizes the explicit coherence of the three components of the narrative, a lot is left up to the viewer to take away from the film. Or perhaps the film’s job is to simply present disassociated, disconnected characters locked in a world of mindless consumption as well as creation of content. The emptiness and vapidity of it all indeed seem to be the underlying message of the film, the thread to tie it all together. Though the performance, screenplay, and narrative-building, all are achieved with skill and seamlessness, the obscurity inherent to the narrative might not be for every viewer. The door is left open for them to approach and interpret it in their own manner.

The Jokes | Short Film of the Day

Right at the onset, with simply its title, the film sets the tone for several ideas pertaining to identity, beauty, and how we perceive ourselves, while also hinting at insecurities. 'Mirror' does not present a straightforward approach to these ideas, and instead, leaves it up to the viewer to make what they will of this tale which is marked by humor, unexpected moments of tension, and the plight of the protagonist amidst it all. 

Strange messages have been appearing on people’s mirrors all over the world, messages of encouragement, validation, and support. And yet, Dale’s message is far from that, it’s more of an attack on his personality. As he grapples with its meaning, the story takes the viewer down some very interesting paths. 

Is the film about Dale’s struggle with intimacy, and how he eventually overcomes it in an unexpected manner? Or is it a story of his deep unease with his own body, and its desires and wants, not without its undercurrents of homoeroticism, and is it only when he is able to make peace with all of it that a negative message finds a positive articulation in his life as well as the film? Or is it about none of this but an underlying threat of violence that takes him to a disconcerting corner, to an experience that he has sanitized for worldly consumption, giving people what they want to hear? 

The film raises all of these questions and answers none, and it is in these grey areas that it attains completion and becomes an entertaining, involving endeavor in storytelling.

Mirror | Short Film of the Month

When a disillusioned, overworked production assistant finds himself in the most unlikely situation one day, a story belonging to the realm of the absurd begins to unfold. ‘Mayonnaise’ presents a world which starts off as being extremely authentic to the space of a film set, more specifically, a food commercial, but soon devolves into a ride the viewer has just not seen coming. 

Once again, filmmaker Eli Spiegel’s (‘Stain’) voice and tonality dominates, presenting Sam’s bleak perspective regarding his career prospects, and his turning to Sarah, a young but seemingly successful producer on the commercial, in an impatient bid to figure out some sort of a career trajectory for himself. 

The first and the second half of the film, however, come across as disparate parts, unable to present a lucid link that ties them cohesively. Though the approach of the film is unique in its absurdity, it might leave some viewers wanting for a better cause and effect equation within the narrative. Either way, the end result remains deeply entertaining, brought to life with finesse as well as commendable performances and effortless chemistry between the actors.

Mayonnaise | Short Film of the Day

Two unnamed characters sit knitting in the heart of a non-descript wilderness. There is nowhere they've come from, and there is nowhere they need to be, and there indeed is no Godot that they wait for. While one’s deft fingers move smoothly across the needles and yarn, the other’s struggles are endearing and amusing in equal measure. However, her sole companion is far from amused at her inexpertise and is more than quick to express her annoyance and dismay. 
The film weaves itself with a sense of effervescence and humor, and yet, undercuts the frivolity when you least expect it with a sudden, jarring image of violence. The union of the two sentiments, of ease and adroitness with struggle and overpowering difficulty, becomes a crucial image, handled with skill. The visual grammar is employed remarkably to paint this experimental, absurdist, colorful space for the viewer. 
While the scene before you can conjure several metaphors depending on the viewer, the film presents, in no equivocal manner, an uplifting moment of warmth and companionship, enhanced in its portrayal by the chemistry of the actors. An entire spectrum of emotions is intertwined into the pattern, as the title, one about a knitting technique, offers a heartwarming metaphor for everything that unfolds within the film right up to its conclusion.

K2 Tog | Short Film of the Day

The most interesting word in the title of the film vis-a-vis what it presents to you has to be ‘passion’. The protagonist of our narrative is called Pluto, but it is truly his passion, and the many forms it takes, that become its real driving force. 

A long-take paints Pluto’s chaotic, exploitative world of a film set for us. The story does not shy away from exploring all aspects of the absurd with its larger-than-life approach to storytelling, exaggerating and mocking in equal measure, while perfectly adhering to the confines of its universe. 

In the process, the film also exposes the several layers of dysfunctionality and toxicity that professionals undergo within the media space. However, at no point is this critique burdened with maudlin righteousness or overly sentimental attitudes of any kind. The mingling of humor, parodic and irreverent, with its core message, presents an impactful portrayal of the film's ideas. 

The screenplay and performances together offer a seamless overlap which further allows the film to successfully convey all of this while both engaging and entertaining the viewer. The bizarre realm portrayed before us continues to unravel, devolving into absolute mayhem with every passing moment, but would it truly lead to the realization and fulfillment of Pluto’s passion? The question remains at the heart of the narrative and offers an answer at the end in a shocking manner, alongside being infused with humor that is consistent with the tonality of the rest of the film.

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