One of the most beautiful flights of fancies are born during the most mundane tasks, like taking the subway for your daily commute. However, translating these images on screen and ensuring that strength of their dreamy visions is not lost is no easy task. A Circle Line Train triumphs over the same obstacle most efficiently, leaving you with stunning visual storytelling. When coupled with a complementary voiceover, the world that is conjured for you truly makes one wonder - is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Inspired by the iconic Queen song, the film takes us into parallel realms that the protagonist, Zarah, inhabits - what is and what could have been. The powerful contrast brings to life a world of vast expanses of nature, the indomitable spirit of the same finding an echo in the existence that the protagonist herself leads, moving from one adventure to another, to places unseen, to dreams that were once unrealized and lovers that were once forgotten and unknown. Whether the duration of this journey is years, months or simply the few minutes of a train ride, it remains redundant, even if momentarily so. At the same time, if it is a world of limitless skies and oceans, it is also one of personal demons, addictions and a haunting past. It is amidst all of this that Zarah is located, and yet, the circle line train never meanders from its route, Zarah never forgets to open her eyes from the dream she was having, to carry on with her fixed path and way of life in the city of London.

A Circle Line Train | Short Film of the Day

The short film employs sci-fi with humor, as well as drama and violence, to construct its world for the viewer. It presents to us a protagonist who finds himself stuck in the rut of a colorless world. 

The oppressive mundaneness ensures that there is only one escape from it all - the realm of virtual reality where his existence is diametrically opposite to his lived reality. As his dissatisfaction grows with the latter, emphasized more by the former, a complete unraveling awaits him at the film’s climax. The conclusion that follows further presents the audience with an unsettling turn of events. Though not devoid of a few hiccups, the narrative’s journey to these plot points, supported in equal measure by the screenplay and the chemistry defining the performances, is constructed with sincerity, alongside the attempt to entertain and involve the audience. 

When it comes to the fate of the protagonist, would his VR escapades take him closer to who he is, to eventually overcome the many obstacles of a life he completely hates, or would it further catalyze this unraveling? The answer is very quietly nestled within the conclusion.

Outlet | Short Film Nominee

‘Kamen’ is a brief glimpse into the rut a man is stuck in, something which could be the lived reality of anyone who finds themselves entrapped within a capitalist machinery of mundane, and perhaps even oppressive, repetition. The unnamed protagonist simply wears a mask to offer this sense of relatability to the viewer, to suggest his story could be the story of any viewer. 

Through his misadventure of missing a train, his desperation to catch it evident in the mad rush he makes after it in his formal attire, all of this is portrayed for the viewer. Locating the protagonist in an urbane reality, the message is driven home further. However, ensconced within all of these elements is an invincible moment of freedom, which is achieved by the smallest of actions, the narrative suggests. Notably, the entirety of the plot unfolds within an experimental space, while employing efficient visuals.

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