Equal Opportunity

A short comedy directed by Rick-kendy Noziere, written by Noziere and Francesco Nuzzi and starring Amani Alnababteh, Nezim Mmegwa, Miguel Zapon and Nuzzi.

Three HR managers, Emma (Alnababteh), Jack (Mmegwa) and Marc (Zapon) are sitting in a boardroom. They have been told by their boss (Nuzzi) to wait there for further instructions. Soon, he contacts them via the phone and through the speaker, he informs them that five people are being considered for a top role in the company and in fifteen minutes he will be meeting with a potential investor and during that time, it is up to the three managers to decide which of the five candidates should get the position.

So the three managers get to work. They have the candidates' resumes and relevant paperwork All five candidates have qualifications of equal standards. How will they decide then? They attempt to do that by considering the applicant's race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disabilities. They contemplate whether the company has certain staff shortages that involve these traits, for instance, whether an Asian woman should be hired because the company has few (or none) of such individuals. In other words, instead of work experience, they focus on characteristics that can be used to discriminate, with the obvious goal to show that the company is against discrimination. So Emma, Jack and Marc discuss, question and argue what is the trait that stands out the most (if there is one) and should a decision be made on the basis of how significant a person's characteristic is or because the company does not have an individual with a specific trait? As the three of them sit and analyse all this, it makes an interesting conversation that has its fair share of humour.

Regarding the technical aspects of this seven-minute short, commendations go to the use of split screen and the light-hearted music by Kevin Lynch adds to the atmosphere.

Alnababteh, Mmegwa and Zapon portray experienced office workers, who are of different races. Emma appears to be from the Middle East and comes across as considerate. Jack is an African-American and gives the impression that he is the most serious one in the room. Marc is a guy who looks Hispanic and is more cheerful that the other two. One thing these three seem to have in common is that they cannot decide which trait should matter the most. Although Nuzzi only acts via brief voice work, he manages to present the head of the company as a narcissistic man.

It is intriguing to see the way this film explores how people are perceived because of of traits involving race, gender, religion etc. and asks whether some traits are more significant than others. The story has a lot to do with discrimination and equality and appears to be pointing out that a people should not be appraised for job positions based on the characteristics mentioned above.

A viewing that is amusing and, more crucially, rather thoughtful due to the subjects that it deals with.