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

Calling this animated documentary anything less than the most beautiful delineation of two immutable truths of human existence - pain and death, would be a gross underestimation. At its conclusion, it won't be wrong to expect an overwhelming deluge of emotions, but one which is cathartic in nature. Nguyen deserves further appreciation for interacting with a film type, an animated documentary, which anyway is an ignored field of filmmaking, and thus does not boast of too many reliable fixed templates to turn to for inspiration. Yet, the filmmaker manages to offer the most seamless union of animation and live action.

 The film shares the story of three characters and their encounters with death and the grief that followed in its wake. The narrative employs stunning animation to portray them. The timing, pacing, the manner in which the three parallel narratives are placed and inter-weaved with each other, allow the overarching story of the documentary to truly come into its own, be all that it can be, and more. 

As colours and visuals bleed into the screen space, invoking a surreal reality of loss and heartache, inseparable from each other, a life of distractions, intoxicants, escapism and the eventual moving on is conjured for the viewer. The moving frames and lines become the most accurate representation of the transience of memory and the uncertainty of revisiting another's experience through their narrative. In the process, Apart manages to push the boundaries of animation to present a moving, poignant and surreal interaction with its subject matter.

Apart | Short Film of the Day

The documentary follows the lives of two siblings, Juliette and Howard, living on Isle de Jean Charles.The reason it is important to introduce the viewer to this particular island is because, owing to climate change and its disastrous effects on the environment, it is simply a sinking mass of land, declared to be in a state of emergency by the US state of Louisiana. The two teenagers are amongst those who are the first "climate refugees" of the country, to be relocated with their family as well as the other inhabitants of the island. It is through their story, one that hides an intense struggle underneath the surface of everyday, mundane activities, that the film invokes a powerful narrative. It succeeds especially for it manages to make the urgent concerns of climate change a deeply personal issue. It is no longer about faceless people in an unknown part of the world, instead it is about regular kids and their kin living in a neighbourhood probably no different from yours. The wonderful camerawork and the seamless edit allows it to be a story of childhood, memories of the past, growing up and everything else associated with the idea of home. While the siblings try to cling to their sense of familiarity and security, despite all the obstacles life has thrown their way, their safe harbour has been declared uninhabitable by the government, forcing them to leave it all behind. Yes, the film is poignant and deeply moving in the manner in which it shifts the anxieties surrounding a macro issue to a very micro level, but it is also so much more for it tells a story that is becoming increasingly relevant in contemporary times.

Lowland Kids | 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.

One Of Us | Short Film of the Day

Starring Emily Mortimer, the short film is an endearing and heartwarming story of an immigrant woman, Hanka, living in North Dakota. As she attempts to open the doors for another family, fleeing the persecution in Cambodia, the film adopts a sophisticated manner to allow itself to unfold. The narrative is structured in the form of visuals that correspond to Hanka's voiceover of the letter she is writing an organisation, painting the most ideal picture of North Dakota for a potential refugee family. The story-telling of the film is its biggest strength, along with Mortimer's heartbreaking performance, reminding the viewer that even in times of utmost hate and cruelty, kindness will always reign supreme, that people's hearts indeed are like the North Dakota sky, endless and massive, and filled with a desire to protect each other. The visualisation of the letter gives the viewer the most succinct and complete glimpse into Hanka's life, a woman who herself has undergone the trauma of having left her own country in the face of hostility. Despite grappling with obstacles in her own familial and domestic life, there is a determination to at least allow one more refugee family the same opportunities which were allowed to her. It is this single-minded desire to help and be kind and reach out that elevates Hanka's character as well as her story immensely, allowing the film to be a much-needed reminder of the power and the importance of love in contemporary times.

One Cambodian Family Please for My Pleasure | Emily Mortimer | Short Film of the Day

The title of the film is a wonderful prelude to what is to come - the delineation of the many aspects of a person's relationship with their hair, especially if they are fond of them. On the face of it, the story is a simple one - a little girl waking up on a special day, and excited about working on a favourite hairstyle. As she flips open an iPad, a video tutorial of the coiffure she has chosen awaits her. Soon, the father is also roped in into her struggle, accentuating the absence of her mother, leading the viewer to assume estrangement or a recent death. The narrative is effortlessly weaved, striking the right emotional chords with its audience, with just about the most balanced sprinkling of humour. However, it soon unfolds to reveal a darker reality, where a person's love for their hair comes to stand for several things - perhaps a battle with terminal illness, the road to recovery and eventual hope. It also represent's a woman's understanding of her beauty, with or without a beautiful mane, while also engaging with single parenting. Add to it a much needed, non-stereotypical portrayal of cats as being indifferent, but not devoid of affection as is in the case of the Satan spawns they are made out to be... and voila! The film becomes an endearing, touching and heartwarming experience.

Hair Love | Short Film of the Day

Taking the viewer into the life of Mamadou K, the documentary maps his experiences and daily lived reality as an illegal immigrant in France. Having escaped a fate of violence following the murder of his father and brother, he seeks refuge and safety in the European country. The film is an insightful engagement with what it truly means to flee your homeland after finding yourself in mortal peril, and try to carve yourself a reality in a new, potentially unwelcoming land, where your mere existence is outside the ambit of legality. The subject in itself is a complex one, requiring an intelligent handling of its several nuances, to allow the narrative to be a well-balanced product. The film is a sincere, dedicated attempt to achieve the same, and succeeds in presenting to the viewer the story of Mamadou which is plagued by the memory of a family left behind, a sense of longing and separation, and a suggestion of the cost he may have had truly had to pay to save his life. In an exile where streets are lined with fake souvenirs of capitalism, where it takes the loss of friends and loved ones, along with an absolutely uncertain fate, to carry on living an unperturbed existence, even if fleetingly, the documentary conjures the fragility of an experience that is marked by an elemental disconcertment and the futility of human effort.

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