Insightful, sharp and subtle are the three words that most aptly describe the documentary film and its subject matter. The execution is calm and exhibits a maturity that allows it to be an impactful product without demanding attention vociferously. The film engages with a needle exchange facility in California that also gives basic medical aid and assistance to those whose bodies have been affected by substance abuse. The narrative succeeds at being calm, yet deeply forceful in making its point simply because it does not strive for an overarching meaning for its existence, but instead tells its truth as it is. The subject is powerful, the story hard-hitting. The camerawork is simple, but precisely what this particular story needs. The images are chosen intelligently to allow the narrative to disconcert the viewer without being sensationally graphic. It further engages with health and survival with the right balance of being clinical and non-participatory, yet sensitive. Staying completely honest and sincere to a particular event or occurrence makes it all the more poignant and moving which is what The Clinic achieves most effortlessly. Through an objective representation of an aspect of the society we inhabit, it provides a meaningful narrative about life and existence.

The Clinic | Short Film of the Day

This 2D, hand-drawn animation by Pixar is a wonderful union of two very disparate characters and how they finally find a common ground for companionship. The film is an exploration of instinctive distrust we often inculcate within ourselves without realising it. This is coupled with an engagement with vulnerability as well as unexpected friendships. Along with it all, the film also gives a glimpse into animal abuse, while effortlessly busting myths about pit bulls being dangerously aggressive. The story is of a kitten and a pit bull, the former extremely apprehensive of the latter in the face of all his attempts for them to be friends. It is finally an act of kindness that brings them together and thus begins a deeply endearing tale of the two overcoming the obstacles in their respective paths. There is fearlessness and trust that the characters find in themselves, aided by each other in the most heartwarming ways. And it is in overcoming these internal hurdles that their true victory lies, suggests the narrative with its conclusion.

Kitbull | Pixar | Short Film of the Day

When you are done watching ‘He Won’t Belong’, an emotional resonance lingers. In the loss, grief, and trauma the narrative portrays, even in how the visuals wrap themselves around all of these sentiments, the lingering remains omnipresent. 

The film is the story of two strangers, Theo and Connor, stumbling across each other in the most unlikely manner. The former finds the latter wandering alone by the side of the road during a storm. The chance encounter, however, leads the two, and the viewer along with them, down a path of deep emotional truths, sometimes painful, sometimes disturbing, but forever demanding to be felt and acknowledged. 

The authenticity of the voice with which the film is constructed remains loud and clear. Additionally, it presents an approach to queer storytelling that explores the nuance and complexity of personal journeys that is often easy to overlook. The performances bring to life a remarkable portrayal of vulnerability as they explore ideas of love with heartbreaking honesty. The visual progression is equally stunning, painting for the viewer an image that will stay with you, linger, as it may, long after you are done watching the film.

He Won't Belong   | Short Film of the Month

The film opens on a quiet note of a calm voice-over weaved with a blank background. This, in no, way prepares you for the events that are about to unfold, deliberately taking you in a direction opposite to what may have been assumed so far. When a woman introduces you to a man, the first instance is to let yourself be deceived into this being a love story. On the contrary, it would be a story of violence, hurt, and most importantly, of a panic attack. 

The moment the viewer finds themselves located at the heart of Lisa's desperate attempts to bring herself back from a panic attack using sense grounding, most skilfully employed within the body of the narrative, little do they realise that they have already been sucked into the story beyond the point of return. The narrative then follows a non-linear, back and forth movement to conjure the past events that led to this intensely emotional moment for the protagonist. 

As the drama is built gradually, tactfully withholding and revealing information in turns, it is evident that we are headed towards an inevitable disaster. It is indeed in the realization of this lack of control in stopping the forward motion towards a potential catastrophe that the true success of the film lies. It further makes a pertinent, emphatic comment about violence and abuse in intimate equations and relationships, eventually leaving you with a conclusion which, though disturbing, is tinged with poetic justice, and for the morbid viewer, perhaps even with a strange sense of satisfaction.

Sense Memory | Short Film of the Day

When one talks of domestic abuse, the first instinct is to imagine a heteronormative couple and the many travails of their life. This is the idea that Oh, Brother subverts to bring to life a highly dysfunctional relationship of two brothers, Malcolm and Philip. The characters are portrayed as being cut-off and isolated from the external world, continuing their grim existence within the confines of their house, with its bareness and the mementos of a shared past enhancing the texture of the story.

 The narrative offers an interesting dynamic by way of the equation of the brothers, aptly portraying for the viewer how an abuser isolates their victim from the rest of society, ensuring there is no other source of comfort or refuge available to them other than the dysfunctional and grotesque presence of the abuser themselves. In the film, however, things come to a head in the most unexpected manner when a stranger breaks into their house. 

 The ensuing butterfly effect throws Malcolm and Philip's world into absolute chaos, altering the course of their relationship forever. The storytelling, in the process, acquires a relevant tone and approach to the delineation of abuse and the twisted co-dependence of such an equation. However, is there an upper limit up to which it can be pulled and tugged before it snaps into two? The film presents a conclusive answer.

Oh, Brother | Short Film Nominee

The short narrative is a weaving together of poignant stories inspired by real life events in New Delhi, India. One story after another, The Undefeated introduces us to the harrowing experiences of children and women from vulnerable backgrounds in the capital city and nearby areas. The experiences invoke physical, sexual and emotional abuse, portrayed in a sophisticated, sensitive and powerful manner.

 Each story differs from the previous in its aesthetic approach, while still subscribing to the same pace and overall tonality. The animation matches it all, allowing the stories to communicate what they had set out to convey in the first place. Despite the heaviness of the thematic concerns of the final product, it manages to conjure an indomitable sense of hope. This, in turn, serves as a reminder that while exploitation and oppression might often come from the very space which should have been a source of protection and comfort, there is also a sizeable number of people working towards sheltering those in need. 

 It is precisely this overarching message about each individual's ability to make a change of the proportion and intensity that their own life permits, that becomes the thought the anthology of stories leaves you with.

The Undefeated | Short Film Nominee

When the viewer is first introduced to the eponymous protagonist, little do they realize what is truly in store for them. A peppy man is on his way to work as a nurse at an old age home. At the home itself we are introduced to three characters, each of which he finds a way to torture while maintaining the same peppiness we had been introduced to earlier. 

The film is an endeavor to employ satire and an element of the absurd to present a very relevant message, one about the neglect and abuse of the elderly. Its desired approach is defined by dark humor to portray it all. Additionally, there is a stab at playing around with the edit, with quick shots and tight frames to conjure it all. 

The narrative moves swiftly between emotional states, creating a disorienting, heady cocktail of something mean and nasty unfolding before you. It invokes concern in the viewer regarding the characters we see around the protagonist, but much like the characters themselves, the viewer too is at the mercy of the many cruel antics of the protagonist, watching them develop in quick succession as the film begins and concludes as instantly as it had begun.

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