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

The short narrative, equipped with a unique voice, deeply engaging and unsettling at the same time, takes us into Quincy’s world and his harmless, but strangely dedicated eavesdropping on his elderly neighbor. 

Along with these events, there is also something deeply absurd that forms the hinterland of the film’s landscape - the unexplained and spontaneous combustion of people. Quincy’s world is hurled into chaos when his neighbor meets the same fate, leaving behind her dog, Matt. 

As a conversation is attempted on grieving, battling the inhibiting voices within, reconciling the arbitrariness of life and somehow making sense of a world that seems to be falling apart, the narrative forms an organic whole, presenting itself to the viewer to further interact with. Amidst it all, there is a generous smattering of comments on a culture that is consumed by consumerism, it’s distorted ideas of beauty, fitness and outward appearances, often taking the form of completely ridiculous suggestions from different parts of the world. The aforementioned ideas are allowed development with the employment of sophisticated camerawork and surrealist storytelling, ensuring that the film succeeds in making a lasting impression on the viewer.

Wait For the Dog | Short Film of the Day

At first glance, it is easy to choose comedy as a suitable category for the film since humour does come across as an overarching entity in the narrative. However, give it a few more moments, and you soon realise the folly. It is a romance, yes, but one which is surreal in nature, it is embellished with mystery, intrigue, foreboding, echoes of fantasy and an experimental approach to share its story. The biggest success of Tots N' Pots lies in managing to intertwine all of these elements in a seamless manner. The effortlessness of the plot is further enhanced by an appropriate choice of actors that bring their performance to the screen with notable ease, ensuring that the viewer has no other choice, but to be fully convinced of their reality and emotions. Another noteworthy aspect is, of course, the story. Two lovers are fellow ceramicists at a facility where they find themselves being pulled in opposite direction by their seniors. Their contrasting approach to the course of event comes to voice the apprehension of the viewer as well. However, while they may be navigating the uncertainty of their career and relationship, what will their fate truly be?

Pots N' Tots | Short Film of the Day

The complexity of some experiences demand more than one medium for an expression. The short film is clear evidence of the same proposition as it ropes in poetry, dance, and the written word itself which forms the body of the narration. In addition to this, it includes a performance that suddenly finds itself in a place in direct contrast with all the lyricism, vastness of setting, and fluidity expressed so far - the confines of a drab corner, marked by its pale greys, where two people sit discussing a letter. The entirety of the narrative becomes a movement predominantly towards this moment in time, one that stands for not only a conflicted relationship between a son and his mother at a microcosmic level, but also the experience of understanding your identity. The idea of home and belonging, and what it truly means to have the same tied to the identity of your parents, or more specifically, as the title suggests, a mother, then becomes the concern at a more macrocosmic level. The film exhibits sophistication in its forward motion, as each of these thoughts is brought to life on screen, allowing the plot a cohesive structure. In the process, it further enables the narrative to share its intentions with an emphatic clarity while coupled with a surreal flow of images all along that more than fulfil their aim of communicating the meaning behind them.

Mother/Land | Short Film of the Day

A man and woman sit across the table from each other on a date. The woman is clearly uneasy in the circumstance, not really enjoying the manner in which the conversation is unfolding. The situation is plain and direct, and yet, before the viewer can conclude it thus, the most strange development occurs within the plot - the presence of an unexplained television set that haunts the protagonist. 
 
Alongside this seemingly omnipresent entity, Meg’s love life moves ahead, but not in a direction desired by her. After several attempts to avoid her date’s calls, she reluctantly agrees to meet him again, while the foreboding presence of the screen continues to become more overwhelming. 

Whether you want to read the narrative as a parable of modern day dating, insecurities, acceptance and identity, or a woman’s inability to say no, or of a person seeking comfort outside heteronormative structures, it could perhaps mean all or none of them. Consequently, if one were to attach their own meaning to each symbol and metaphor, ‘Loom’ would be a difficult film to unpack, and thus, it should be consumed as the surreal ride it is, marked not only by elements of sci-fi and psychological horror, but also the absurd when you least expect it.

Loom | Short Film of the Day

The music video is a stringing together of images that acquire an almost dreamlike quality in their progression. 

As disparate elements are presented thus - a strange couple showing signs of violence that steps out from behind a curtain in the middle of a field, a teenager screaming into endless space while driving around in circles, alcohol poured all over a car and a near-dead man singing, looking directly into the camera, the narrative weaves itself before you. There is alcohol, violence, predominance of imagery associated with eyes, and perhaps a potentially brutal murder tied into a single unit within the story. 

Much of 'Corrosiff'’s message is the symbolism and metaphors it offers, while the voice continues singing of the dirt and the forever circular movement. However, the flip side of symbolism and dreaminess is that it may hinder the lucidity of the message itself, sometimes even triumphing it. The music video, therefore, can be appreciated with the same approach, making sufficient room for unanswered questions from the plot.

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