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

‘Prazinburk Ridge’ brings to life a poignant true story from the First World War, and does so with tools that completely eschew sentimentalism, a characteristic that often weighs down stories dealing with similar subjects and themes. On the contrary, it presents a sophisticated, moving narrative about the courage of Douglas Clark, a celebrated English football player who was enlisted in the national armed forces during the War. 

Intrinsic to the narrative are ideas of resilience and bravery, even in the face of mortal peril. However, what works most beautifully when it comes to the narratorial progression, ensuring each of these emotions and sentiments is allowed the attention it deserves, is the animated treatment by the one-man crew of the film. 

An Impressionistic visual style of dynamic boundaries, devoid of harsh, fixed lines, portrays the film’s reality for us. Despite the grimness of the subject, the loud riot of colors before you keeps your attention engaged throughout. The filmmaker’s intentions are painted using a 3D graphics tool, Unreal Engine, further exhibiting a true triumph for animation storytelling, while also ensuring that this particular narrative that hyper-localizes itself to a single moment during the First World War, stays with you long after you are done interacting with it.

Prazinburk Ridge | Short Film of the Day

The film locates itself in nineteenth-century England where the sexism and other restrictive social norms of the Victorian era ensure that women’s potential and intelligence are dismissed with casual indifference and misogyny. The woman the narrative engages with is Ada Byron Lovelace, the mathematician known for writing what is considered the first-ever computer program. 

The performances and world-building both are achieved with seamlessness to bring this reality from two centuries ago to life. It tells an important, often overlooked story of a woman’s seminal role in the world of technological advancements, and does so with an unforgettable protagonist. 
Through Ada’s drive and relentless perseverance, even in the face of terminal illness and imminent death, the film shares a compelling piece of history. The end result, though not entirely seamless in narratorial progression, presents a story marked by skill and earnestness, and one that expertly conveys everything that it had set out to.

Ada | Spotlight

The film, significantly aided by Paul Michael Bergeron, the author of 'Sarobia: Sanctuary for Human Beings, Birds, and Animals', gives you a long and insightful glimpse into a particular chapter of history. Sarobia is a vast expanse of flora and fauna that extends for as long as the eye can see along the Delaware river in Pennsylvania. Now, to understand its significance, it is essential to be acquainted with the history of the estate, which is precisely what the short film does - making the viewer familiar with the space in a manner they might not have anticipated. Owned by Robert Restalrig Logan, the last-remaining, direct descendant of James Logan, William Penn's seventeenth-century secretary in Colonial America, the place was once infamous and notoriously known for debauchery, witchcraft and sometimes even cat-worshipping. The short film, however, breaks down the ludicrousness of each of these assumptions, to instead reveal an endeavor realized by Logan and his wife, Sara, giving rise to the portmanteau Sarobia, that would eventually come to become a haven for artists, theatre troops, book binders, animals of different kinds, and so on. The film's narrative has especial relevance in contemporary times where Sarobia is now undergoing a restoration of sorts by volunteers, after having seen decades of abandonment and dilapidation. Once a thriving art colony, an estate that was unusual and quirky, but interesting and perhaps even inspiring in several ways, the sanctuary had been denied recognition or maintenance of any kind for years following Logan's death. A subject like Bergeron thus becomes the ideal voice to introduce the uninitiated to Sarobia, while his passion and affinity translates beautifully on screen, making the film successful in conveying its intent.

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