The film exploits its economy of dialogues to a huge extent and disturbs the viewer deeply in the process. Reminding you once again that supernatural is not always important to invoke a deep sense of horror and chills that run down your spine, threatening to consume your being, the film instead employs the darkness of the human mind. It simply rides on objects found in any average household - sewing pins and brooches - to terrify the viewer. There is no direct act of overt violence, mind you, beyond the image of a man tied to a bed. There is also no ostentatious camerawork or gimmicky plot devices to hook the viewer to the narrative. However, what the film achieves is something far deeper and darker. It shows the complete collapse of a familial space, a structure we are traditionally conditioned to see as a source of warmth and safety. It drives its characters to points of selfish acts from where there is no return in the name of preserving their lives. Based on a true story of a woman who had harmed her family in a similar fashion as the protagonist of the film, Nose Nose Nose Eyes is the stuff of nightmare even fans of horror were too scared to ask for, but were rewarded with it anyway.

Nose Nose Nose Eyes | Short Film of the Day

As the name suggests, the entirety of the narrative is about a single day in the protagonist's life, rather only a couple of minutes. The tight, handheld opening visuals do not immediately give away what the story is going to be about. It takes its time gradually drawing you in, and revealing itself in a beautifully careful and calculated manner. The film deals with deep emotions, but adopts the most quiet and nuanced tone for their expression. The sense it invokes is of a soothing experience, despite the moving nature of the subject at hand. The story is going to be about a young woman who has come to a place with her girlfriend for an important event, the viewer soon realises. She walks into a music store where the only other person present is the owner. The narrative then unfolds to reveal the poignant thought that forms its premise, essentially a story of the many complexities of love, yearning, loss and perhaps a reunion? Despite its brevity, the story encompasses several emotions in a wholesome, complete manner and takes its audience along, allowing them to participate in the experience of its characters. It maintains its pace most effortlessly, further supplemented by the performances, chemistry of its characters and sophisticated camerawork.

This Perfect Day | Short Film of the Day

The narratives which are hyper-localised in an honest fashion somehow achieve an element of universality, won't you agree? This documentary short film goes ahead to prove the same point through the story of a mother-daughter duo in Colombia. The film locates itself in a Colombian settlement close to a patch of mangroves. As the local community harvests the piangua shellfish from the area, the narrative becomes a story of a mother preparing her daughter for the same task. However, amidst it all, a major foe remains to be conquered - the little girl's fear of water. The biggest strength of the film is its story which is endearing and poignant in equal measure. The delineation of a mother leading her daughter through this rite of passage in the face of all fears and apprehension is handled masterfully by the film. The smooth execution further allows it to successfully and subtly draw attention to a small community's efforts to work with the resources in their environment in a sustainable fashion. This is accompanied by overcoming the little obstacles in their day-to-day to life, allowing Dulce to be a moving story about human bonds and the environment in general, and a relationship between a mother and her daughter in particular.

Dulce |Short Film of the Day

Still Love You is a powerful and beautifully-handled directorial debut that offers a poignant and insightful exploration of a mother-daughter relationship, in particular, and the overall makeup of the equation that could perhaps apply to mother-daughters everywhere, in general. The film opens with a shot of a woman applying red lipstick, perhaps getting ready for an important date. The situation is revealed to be far from that as she impatiently awaits her daughter's baby-sitter, while squeezing in little chores in-between all along. 

When 'Mimi' finally arrives, revealed to be the protagonist's mother, the tone shifts markedly. Along with being a single mother, the protagonist is a dancer at a gentleman's club - not the most ideal circumstance, according to her mother. Consequently, as the difference of opinions takes the form of several disagreements in the conversation between them, on top of the urgency to make it to her appointment in time, the scene now comes to be defined by anxieties, disapproval of each other's life choices, offers of help which might come across as patronizing, and some more. And yet, a daughter cannot help, but go back to some of the same patterns she shared with her mother, when it comes to raising her own daughter. 

 The same thought becomes a lovely thematic concern for the narrative. As it continues to develop, there is of course a second act waiting to follow the stressful drama of the first half. Lights are softer now, the physical space is tidier, assumedly in alignment with a calmer mental space as well, and the sound of arguing voices is subdued. It is simply in this contrast that the film's primary motivations are laid bare for the viewer, leaving them with an intensely emotional, skilfully-crafted final result at the end of it all.

Still Love You | Short Film of the Day

The scene is set for a Christmas party when the host realises that her mother has been missing for three hours. Additionally, the story of a recent engagement of a peer and clues about her whereabouts are explored parallelly. The film offers a convincing and sincere exploration of familial ties that consist of high-strung relatives, sibling tensions and identifying and locating familial dynamics of care and concern despite all conflict. It further does a notable job of providing moments of comedic drama despite the tragedy that might potentially be unfolding for the family. Additionally, it is refreshing to see an all-female space that makes no attempt to make its presence felt, but simply exists as an attempt to invoke a normative reality that an otherwise male-dominated screen space might unwittingly omit.

Kim Bush’s Abduction | Short Film of the Day

A mother-daughter relationship can often be a dynamic fraught with intense conflict and emotional complexity. A filmmaker dealing with such an issue would then have to tread the line between being authentic to the equation, and ensuring, at the same time, that their endeavor does not devolve into sentimentalism, melodrama or a space of banality. 'Awaken' achieves the former notably, and several factors, all skilfully handled, enable it in the pursuit. 

 Rakhi, played beautifully by Parminder Nagra, finds herself torn by professional demands and her duties towards her own family, while trying to find a safe space for her mother who battles Alzheimer's. It's interesting to see director and writer Leena Pendharkar to bring in mental illness into the foray, an aspect of the story which holds the potential of elevating it, if handled well, or taking it down a very different road, if not. The filmmaker explains the reasoning behind the decision. 

 

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/mwTXizvl.png" /> 

<h2>"I wanted to explore how a daughter, who is already lonely and isolated, copes with her mother having Alzheimer’s disease. It is an incredibly tough disease, it robs people of their past and memories. Then if someone has a parent with this disease, it’s like they lose so many little things — conversations, past moments, love, and eventually, that support. This is what I wanted to explore in 'Awaken'—a woman is alone and isolated, but finds a tiny moment of connection with her otherwise “gone” mother." </h2>

The film perhaps then becomes about that one moment of awakening, the horizon of expectation having already been set in place by the title, that leads Rakhi to finally come to terms with the tough choices she would have to make not only as a daughter, but also a wife and professional in a high-stakes job. The mother she once loved, one capable of uplifting her, is now gone, leaving behind only a shadow of who she used to be. As heartbreaking as it might be to be chasing a past that will never be a reality again, it is in this very acceptance that lies the force capable of keeping Rakhi's life from collapsing, whether or not she realizes it right away.

<h2> Nagra explains her quandary further, "Like many working women, Rakhi is trying to be a master juggler. She is trying to be a daughter, mother, wife, businesswoman all at once. She simply wants everyone to be happy, and on top of it all, not having her sister to lean on is even more difficult. Even with these people all around, there is a sense of isolation. A feeling of having to do it alone when all you want is to be supported." </h2>

She indeed wants to be supported - by a sibling we never hear or see on screen (suggesting her blatant absence from Rakhi's life), her husband, and even her mother. However, what eventually awaits her is the truth that it is only a part of her own self that will truly allow for smoother sailing ahead. In that sense, Rakhi's story, located in a predominantly all-female space in this moment constituted by her mother, sister and herself, also becomes the story of several women who might be waging similar battles. <h2>Nagra adds to it in the following manner, "I think the story puts the lens on a difficult subject - how it’s tough for families to understand such a thing. It’s not an easy job being a carer, making it hard to see out of that box when you’re in it, which is why it's important to pause and take in the whole view."</h2>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/8GxMXGpl.png" /> 

Pendharkar too agrees that even though the narrative might have allowed Rakhi a single moment of finally finding that strength and ease in her mother, who may have been an integral part of it all in the past, she is aware of the absolute need to move on from this transitory comfort. "We see that her mother might have been her support system, and just for that moment, she is, but once that moment is over, Rakhi has to return to making some very tough choices, with very little help or support from her sister and partner." 

The filmmaker affirms that such a story of longing for that single instance of union with a loved one becomes even more stark in the failure to attain it, especially in contemporary times. In her case, a real life experience taught her this, along with the reality of a pandemic-stricken world. "I’ve watched my husband cope with his mom having the Alzheimer’s disease. It is heartbreaking, and we definitely miss those little things, like a meal cooked by her, or her funny jokes. I think as we age and grow older, we forget those tiny things our parents provide us, and the strange ways in which they support us. I made this film before the pandemic, but it feels so relevant right now as many people are far away from their loved ones or haven’t see them in a long time", she concludes.

Awaken | Short Film of the Day

The film is a heartfelt conversation between a mother and her unborn child, one that she lost. As the visuals reimagine an existence of what-could-have-been, the viewer is taken into a world of substance abuse. Along with drawing attention to a severe problem that plagues society, the film also invokes an emotional reality. It is marred by a decision gone wrong, the manner in which it affected not just the woman, but also a life that was inevitably linked with hers, and the consequent crushing burden of guilt. The protagonist's battle with the trauma and grief is allowed portrayal on screen, until the eventual caving in to the weight she has been carrying all along. The film does a notable job of using color and filters to bring to life just the right atmosphere and ambience for the world it has intended to present to the viewer. It is a product marked by vision and a strong attempt at realizing and executing it, especially by way of beautiful visuals.

Seabreeze | Short Film Nominee

The short film is an exploration of dysfunctional familial relationships and the relentless struggle to not let them spirit away into apathy and indifference. The opening visual makes the viewer sit up in their seat and truly pay attention, and that is when the film seems to be doing its job well. The narrative is honest and sincere. However, despite it, it runs the danger of being predictable, and losing the tautness and uniqueness it had promised at the start. On the whole, the film is an endearing watch about a senile father, a broke brother and a high-strung sister trying to keep it all together. Would their's be a road trip that stays with you after you're done watching it?

Daytime Noon | Short Film of the Day

The thematic concerns of ‘Beyond the Yard’ are complex and compelling. It is the story of a mother and her daughter who find themselves especially isolated from the rest of the world due to the ravages of mental illness. The former battles depression and hoarding tendencies, leaving very little space, literal and metaphorical, for her daughter’s existence. 

The aforementioned isolation, as well as a sense of emotional clutter, are portrayed using visuals of a house brimming with heaps of discarded things that now lie forgotten. These are coupled with vast outdoors where the daughter is simply an insignificant entity that can be overwhelmed by the emptiness around her any minute. 

Along with physical and emotional isolation, loneliness and despair, there is further a subversion of roles where the daughter has become the caretaker. Instead of being allowed a childhood and its effervescence, she has to fill in for the absentee adult in her life. The film endeavors all of this, and some more in its short duration. It would be preferable to see a longer, more slow-cooked version of its characters and their many dynamics for the story to truly come into its own.

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