★★★★ Written & Directed by: #TitusUpputuru Starring: #RiyaaArora, #HurmatAliKhan, #VyomYadav, #AnuragJain Short Film Review by: Taryll Baker HarperCollins India’s latest short film includes a guessing game and a mysterious parcel. When two men are taking a road trip, one begins to tell the other a story about a parcel and the woman who received it. He also mentions that the woman dies later that same day. What follows is a turn of events and a reveal that I don’t think many would expect. Beginning with a beautiful soundtrack and a shot of a closed book on the dash of a car, the mystery kicks off. We’re introduced to the two men, Ali and Ved (performed by Hurmat Ali Khan and Vyom Yadav respectively), and shortly after, the woman (Riyaa Arora) who receives the parcel. Almost instantly, you’re thrown into a story that begs many questions. With sublime cinematography and subtle performances from the small cast, it’s incredibly easy for the viewer to settle in for the ride. At around the mid-point the film really becomes interesting, as the man begins to ask deeper questions. As a viewer you’ll start thinking a lot harder and perhaps even work it out, but the intrigue is great enough for you to continue on, because just maybe, you’re wrong. The aforementioned cinematography by DOP Lakshman Anand captures the sprawling streets of India with intimacy, staying mostly inside the car but showcasing the vibrant colours outside the windows. There are even some visual clues as to what’s really going on, if you were to pay close enough attention. As the thrilling Parcel draws to its close, you’re left with a shock. Perhaps you weren’t thinking this was how it ends after all. Before the credits roll, we’re left with a message: “When you read a story, do you write one in your mind?” - After all that preceded, I think the answer is a resounding “yes.” What Titus Upputuru created with Parcel was a stroke of genius for HarperCollins. A superb way to promote storytelling in book-form. Not to mention the wonderfully textured score by Rupert Fernandes, which blissfully flows from one scene to the next, changing slightly with the mood set by Ved’s wild guesses. Who doesn’t love reading stories and making up the details in their mind? Most of the time, your ideas are vastly different from those of the author, but there’s fun to be found even in that.

★★★★ Directed by #QuentinDupieux Written by #QuentinDupieux Starring #JeanDujardin #AdeleHaenel Film Review by Hope Madden What makes a good midlife crisis? What gives it swagger? Physicality? Style? Maybe a little fringe? Deerskin. Oscar winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) is Georges, a man willing to pay an awful lot for a jacket—so much that his wife locks him out of their account. No matter, Georges will just hole up in this little French town, learn how to use the digital camera that came with his purchase, and spend some quality time with his new jacket. If that sounds absurd, it should. You’ve just stumbled into the one-paragraph synopsis of the latest bit of lunacy from filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. As he did with 2010’s Rubber (a sentient tire on a cross-country rampage), Dupieux sets up one feature-length joke. It’s funny, though. Again the filmmaker draws hysterically deadpan, even confused performances from the many nameless characters supporting his leads. Adèle Haenel (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), playing town barkeep and would-be filmmaker, offers a wily and enjoyable counterpoint to Dujardin’s earnestness. Aside from a couple of utterly priceless Dupieux flourishes, it’s Dujardin that sells this film. He’s deeply committed to the wildly wrong-headed internal logic of the film and the character. There’s an underlying sadness to it, and the willful obliviousness required of a character so willing to commit to a plan as ludicrous as Georges’s. He’s wonderful. Deerskin is also slyly autobiographical in a way Dupieux’s other films are not. An odd duck wants to follow his vision (in this case, the obsessive love of a deerskin jacket) and make a movie. Creative partnerships and collaboration, while possibly necessary, also soil the vision and make the filmmaker feel dumb. No one understands him! Or maybe they do and his ruse is up. No matter. He still has killer style. #HopeMadden

★★★ Directed and written by #FloraTennant Starring #IsobelLaidler, #AllyNiChiarain, #JackCooperStimpson Short Film Review by Jack Bottomley What is madness exactly? Some might say it is Joker-style anarchy, some might say it is filling your bedroom with Andrex in a time of crisis, and some might say it is something each of us encounter in our life’s pursuits...especially those of the heart. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness”. And this seems especially relevant in discussing writer/director #FloraTennant’s Scottish comedy short We All Just Want To Be Mad. This visually arresting Kick-starter aided short, shot in the picturesque Lhanbryde in Scotland, is a rather engaging film about eccentricity, madness, freedom and how the three can get mistaken for each other. Starring #IsobelLaidler as Arabella, the film focuses on this young woman as she stays at the isolated family home, which is all very familiar. Attending social gatherings and watching the people partying, her inner thoughts and feelings keep rising to the surface and in her interactions with Fred (#JackCooperStimpson) and Eve (#AllyNiChiarain), she comes to find a release, an appeal and a freedom. With its arthouse inclinations, its limited, poetic and sometimes ambiguous dialogue, and its lingering sequences of natural landscapes, high etiquette housing and decor, We All Just Want To Be Mad is sometimes a film that does feel to say very little for long periods of time. As you continue watching, you do find yourself engaged but distant to its meaning, and regularly wondering when the point will arrive, luckily it does and while it is essentially a far simpler point than the film’s construction might have you believe, it is still a meaningful one. This film, from its welcome female point of view, is an engaging look at how eccentricity is not equal to madness (through some purposely irregular imagery) and how pursuing your feelings and thoughts is sometimes called madness but is actually most liberating and fulfilling. Indeed madness could be nearer compared to living out the same routine on loop. The characters are moving parts to this message and thus are not always memorable (though Ally Ni Chiarain leaves an impression) and while you don’t always quite grasp all of them entirely, Isobel Laidler’s lead is compelling. She keeps you watching, and it especially helps that the film has a fourth wall breaking quality to it, as it brings you into this regal world, which is all too procedural to its protagonist. That being said, and even though Tennant should be applauded for taking a far more artistic approach to her comedy, and while her direction allows the breathtaking imagery to do its work, it’s perhaps cinematographer #XeniaPatricia who steals the show here, with some sublime work that absolutely does the trick and creates a wonderful backdrop to this short feature. Accompanying costume work by #FreddieAnderson also provides striking and involving dressing to this interesting film about high society, love and relief. I enjoyed We All Just Want To Be Mad and while I did come away thinking I may have missed something (and indeed I may have), I still think it was a very sumptuously shot piece of craft that revelled in its “madness”. After all, Aristotle said “no great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness” and Tennant’s film uses those touches rather well to illuminate her very human point. #JackBottomley

★★ Directed by: #NeoBryce Written by: Neo Bryce Starring: #GabrielDoromal, #Loisa Short Film Review by: Corey Bulloch "Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends.” The above quote was the tagline to the final season of the HBO show Six Feet Under, a series that explored themes of death, life and family and the endless struggle to make sense of the finite time and meaning with have together on this earth. When I think of death I always think of that tagline, how all that exists is bound by that one rule; it will end. I will die, my friends will die, this planet will perish and millions of years from now the stars will explode and nothing will be left, everything ends. However while everything will end, not everything ends at once as writer-director Neo Bryce explores the aftermath and routine of those left behind by death and the existential questions that arise in trying to make sense of the loss of a loved one. Bryce’s narrative structure consists of two strangers meeting outside a funeral home by chance, attending wakes for their family members at the same facility and slowly they share personal details of their experiences, thoughts and frustrations. Unfortunately, Bryce can’t make Condolence engaging or compelling with its characterisation or dialogue, it’s caught between overly sentimental and rehearsed. The characters feeling like mouthpieces for Bryce’s viewpoints of grief and death rather than their own beings whose connection drives the film forward. Though nothing really pushes the film forward, as it remains with the two characters on the bench the whole runtime and their “breakthrough” feels insincere and unearned due to the lack of emotional connection to their issues. I regrettably know first hand what these characters are experiencing and if Bryce is pulling from real-life experience for his script that emotion just doesn’t come across. The performances from Gabriel Doromal and Loisa have interesting chemistry, mostly low key exchanges that never gets overly melodramatic and they do sell that initial connection that forms between the characters. We are all bound by death in some form but Condolence just doesn’t have enough in it to justify its runtime, as the connection between the two doesn’t evolve beyond the initial meeting. They have similarities with frustrations with families and personal guilt over their deceased but Bryce doesn’t direct these performers well enough to make them stand out against the underwhelming visuals. Condolence mostly focuses on the two characters sitting on a bench, one is smoking, one is drinking, there is minor action within their monologues but as the film goes on, the interest behind to wane. Initially, Bryce’s use of music and framing captured the character’s isolation and disconnection to the formality of grief makes the film quite interesting but its all to brief as the static wide and close-ups of the bench become a haze to the audience. Background audio drowns out some dialogue and certain close-ups are either suffering from pixel degradation or have been altered with a filter to mimic film stock, there are clear points in the filmmaking that break the immersion. Well-intentioned but poorly executed, Neo Bryce’s exploration of grief and connection doesn’t reach the heights or insight he intended. These are broad ideas and philosophies he wants to explore and the film takes a casual approach in how these characters emotionally connect to the material leaving Condolence a disappointment to audiences who should connect to the film the most. #CoreyBulloch #shortfilm

★★★★ Directed by #Jeff Barnaby Written by #JeffBarnaby Starring #MichaelGreyeyes #ForrestGoodluck #KiowaGordon Film Review by Hope Madden It’s 1981 on the Red Crow Indian reservation and white people have lost their damn minds. Since it is 1981, no way they know it’s zombies. Sure, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead came out in ’69, but the genre doesn’t really take off until later in the Eighties. No, they have to figure this out for themselves – no meta commentary, no preconceived notions. It wouldn’t help them anyway because Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum is a zombie movie with a twist, which he uses to his advantage to subvert your knowledge of the genre. Traylor (Michael Greyeyes) is having a busy morning. He had to shoot his ex-wife’s dog, his sons have both been arrested, Sugar keeps calling the station because his woman’s sick, and Traylor’s dad needs him to come see something down at the store. It’s always nutty like that right before the zombie apocalypse, though. Although, to be honest, Blood Quantum often works a little more like 30 Days of Night and Stakeland – both vampire films that riff on zombie tropes—but the filmmaker utilizes Romero when it makes sense. Barnaby takes common horror themes and bends them to serve the film’s purpose as an apt allegorical nightmare. It’s the combination of social commentary and intimate family drama that makes the film memorable. Blood Quantum would have been interesting solely on the basis of “plagued up Opies” invading indigenous space—sometimes wrapped in infected blankets, even. But the film derives its real strength from a more intimate struggle. Yes, a diseased white population threatens to overwhelm and destroy the folks of the Mi’gMaq reserve, but Barnaby’s focus is internal. Whites are a mainly nameless burden, a privileged but parasitic condition of life. Traynor and his boys need to take care of their own shit if they want to survive this. Greyeyes offers a level performance to build around. Kiowa Gordon brings sinister charm to the bad boy Lysol role, balanced nicely as favorite son Joseph by The Revenant’s Forrest Goodluck, (“He killed my boy!”) Better still are longtime character actor Gary Farmer (love him!) and relative newcomer Stonehorse Lone Goeman as a couple of guys who’ve lived through a lot and bring rich if not always valuable perspective. Performances are not always exceptional, and you would not call this a feminist effort, but the underlying wry, weary wit separates the film from anything else like it. There’s also an excellent use of resources – minimal sets maximized results: claustrophobia, tension, horror.  Barnaby’s spare but effective use of animation is another reason Blood Quantum delivers a vital new perspective for the genre. #HopeMadden

★★★★ Directed By: #MikeGallant Written By: #MikeGallman #AndrewChapman Starring: #AndrewChapman #MeganHughesJones #Sherlyn #StephanieTolev #NeilAffleck #LawreneDenkers Film Review by: #ChrisBuick Chris (Chapman), a young man still hopelessly in love with his ex-girlfriend Brooklyn (Hughes-Jones), agrees to accept her invitation of an all-inclusive getaway to Cancun to celebrate New Year’s with her and her parents. But Brooklyn is no longer the girl he once knew and as she runs away from her demons down a path of self-destruction, Chris finds himself having to pick up the pieces and after meeting a local girl, has to decide what it is he wants his life to be. The Duchess of Cancun is a film that first and foremost, manages to maintain a fantastic aesthetic all the way through. Aside from the fact that it has the stunning Cancun as a backdrop to begin with, each scene seems to pop with brilliant colouring, from the sun-drenched hotel exteriors to the clever contrast of the darkened yet still vivid Mexican night scene, always emphasising the right levels of drama or emotion (or both) where needed. In terms of the cast, before even beginning to discuss the merits of our two leads, special mention must be made above all else to a terrific turn by the brilliant Stephanie Tolev as Chris’ sister who’s total screen presence in minutes could perhaps be counted on just one hand but nonetheless absolutely steals the show, with a kind of wit and humour that’s just a given to the naturally funny. Of course, this is not her story and her limited screen time is understandable, but it is still a shame we don’t get to see more of her. Sherlyn is also pleasing to watch as local girl Ava who is the catalyst for Chris’ internal conflict, however the other main players Affleck and Denkers as Brooklyn’s parents are less effective, with Affleck especially being nothing more than an overly aggressive and brutish template of a man we’ve seen countless times before. Thankfully though, there is joy in watching our two stars play out this very unorthodox love story. We do absolutely get the sense that these two know each other inside and out, and the chemistry between Chapman and Hughes-Jones is at times electric. They also manage to bolster the interesting sensation that we’re never quite sure whether we should be rooting for them or not, a feeling the film seems to want to provoke throughout wherever it can. One might find themselves rolling their eyes at their ignorance, especially towards Chris who is often just too damn nice for his own good, but as soon as things are then on the up you can’t help but hope for their future, even though you know we shouldn’t. The writing can be quite smart quite often, mainly in the dialogue between Chris and Brooklyn which gives a real authenticity to their relationship. Certain lines or attempts at humour don’t land, and others fall hard, not to mention there are a few moments of awkward dead space. Also, the film could easily stand to lose at least twenty minutes if not a touch more of its runtime as it seems to re-visit previous story beats. But the film does get its integral emotional moments right on the money every time which gives the film its heart, not to mention delivering on its well-earned ending. Although it could do with some trimming, The Duchess of Cancun boldly sets itself out to be different and what we get is an enjoyable drama that weaves a unique yet on many levels still relatable story of love and anguish. #ChrisBuick Watch the trailer here:

★★★★★ Directed by: #JPGifford Written by: J.P. Gifford Starring: #HarryDuffWalker and #MayalaniMoes Film Review by: Bruna Foletto Lucas The Man in the Suit Movie Review Starring Harry Duff-Walker as Joshua and Mayalani Moes as Kate, The Man in the Suit is a psychological-thriller written and directed by J. P. Gifford. The film opens up with Joshua at the beach, he has been stabbed and is having problems breathing. The story, then, is told through his experiences, but as a “narrator”, someone who is letting the audience know what happened, but not necessarily narrating it, he is unreliable – we cannot trust his point-of-view of what truly happened as he keeps being contested by Kate. To heighten the mystery, Joshua lives through snippets of moments that are repeated and contradictory. Kate forces him to remember the real events and makes him question his own memories. They are too painful, however, and despite having seen them a hundred times, he does not want to relive them. Just before breaking down, he says to Kate, almost as if pleading her to stop - “just because I remember what happened doesn’t mean I want to relive it” – the trauma shown here is partly due to Duff-Walker’s brilliant acting, but through perfectly applied cinematic conventions as well. In a story like this, where we are invited to feel alongside the main character, it is of the utmost importance that the cinematography and the sound come into a consensus with the narrative. And here, the story mixes diegetic sounds, such as the waves on the beach, with nondiegetic, ominous score that augment the underlying psychology of the film. The close-ups on Joshua’s face during his flashbacks and his own constructed scenarios illustrate that the problem is in his mind which furthers his feeling of loneliness and entrapment in his painful past. The location wherein the film was shot is perfect – the grandiosity and emptiness of the beach, when contrasted with the white cliffs, put into evidence Joshua’s own emptiness and lack of purpose. Joshua falls to his knees and looks at the ocean as if watching his memories – on one hand they are beautiful and peaceful, but on the other they have the power to overwhelm and drown him. Not coming to terms with what happened, though, is literally killing him – whether by a real assault or by his own harmful unconsciousness. The characters speak of the “end of the world” as something that has happened and that Joshua has been the sole survivor of. Again, Gifford constructs the film ambiguously and we can interpret this “end of the world” in two different ways: either the world has truly ended and that would explain Joshua’s desolation, or we could take it as something that has happened to Joshua that has left his world crumbling, and that he has survived – although barely. Nevertheless, by having these pieces of the puzzle, we can make up a narrative that best suits us as individual members of the audience, which I think tells a lot about the brilliance of Gifford’s short. The Man in the Suit is a story about trauma and how a person can be haunted by it, struggling to move forward without coming to terms with one’s past. Watch the official Movie Trailer

★★★★ Directed by: #MoezSolis Written by: #MoezSolis Starring: #BrandiNicolePayne, #LizSklar, #MikeBash, #MichaelJamesKelly, #SantiagoRosas, #CoreyJackson, #JulieDimasLockfeld Film Review by: Darren Tilby ‘How can a filmmaker or an artist commit severe crimes against others and still garnish the love and respect of his community? Do the ends justify the means because he brought something beautiful into the world?’ Writer/director, Moez Solis’ query, is a fair one. Only in February of this year did Roman Polanski, a convicted child rapist, win the Best Director Award at France’s national César Awards, causing Adèle Haenel and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) to walk out in protest. And there have been many more instances over the years of filmmakers abusing their influence and exploiting others for personal or financial gain. So where do we draw the line? Well, in the Mentor, we see Nilah Williams (Brandi Nicole Payne), a young wannabe screenwriter/filmmaker, desperate to make her first feature but struggling to break into the industry. She’s had to be strong-willed over the years and makes no apologies for her persistent demeanour. But she needs a mentor; someone to get her into the industry and show her the ropes. Her lucky break comes when, by chance, she bumps into her idol – a famous but arrogant female director called Claire Adams (Liz Sklar) – and manages to score a day’s mentorship. But things take a turn for the worse when, seemingly out of nowhere, the pair are kidnapped by masked assailants in an apparent play for money, power and fame. The movie’s enigmatic cast comprises some very colourful characters. Quite literally as the kidnappers all wear rather bright bird masks and go by names like Mr Pigeon and Mrs Hawk. And honestly, at times, their mannerisms can come across as a little farcical and the acting, as a whole, lacks emotional clout. Except, it has to be said, for Sklar, who has no problem showing her fear or her anger in a fiercely (apparently) dominant display. However (and this is a big however), I feel the lack of emotion and more laughable aspects of the other characters is fully justified by the narrative and a result of the ending plot twist, rather than a consequence of subpar acting. Obviously, I don’t want to discuss these spoilers here, and ultimately, it’s up to the viewer to decide, but for me, this makes a lot of sense. The Mentor explores the power struggle between writers and directors and producers, as well as questioning the ethics of art in general. Solis uses a (very) meta-narrative approach to look into the cutthroat world of filmmaking, and it’s an approach that may not work for everyone. It indeed lacks nuance, but I have to say, I rather like it. There’s real intelligence in how the movie is layered - it’s actually a bit of a thinker. One in which little hints are scattered about within its 70-minute runtime, and definitely worthy of repeated viewings. There are problems here, without a doubt, and it may not be for everyone. But I’m really quite fond of it. I like the depth, and I like that it isn’t apparent until the end just how much the film has going on. It implores the viewer to watch it again, and at just over an hour-long, that really isn’t too much to ask.

★★★★ Directed by #JosephArcher Written by #SamToller Starring #Ryaan Ali, Kainan Tenkorang, Dean Smith, Ben Jones, Sam Toller Short Film Review by Jack Bottomley It can be hard to review ruminatory work, as these stories often leave you to piece together the plot (if there even is a firmly established one) and some characters can be an absolute enigma. Contrary to that, they can be about a core subject but leave you to think on that subject with an interesting, often artistic, story or the way it’s filmed. Workshop, backed by London-based mental health movement Thrive LDN and National Youth Theatre, is a piece of filmmaking like the latter. And it is one about a very important matter, especially in these worrisome and isolated times. The film, shot in black and white, with impressively restrained but still revealing and thoughtful cinematography by #NathanFord, focuses on a workshop with four young men. As these guys partake in the group activities under the aid of their workshop leader, they come to reveal some of their own fears in their fight with mental health. Workshop is very much like a charity advert and I mean that with the greatest respect. It is shot as though it were a stage play, with its single location and characters whom are not really expanded beyond the activities they partake in and the resulting group dynamic and personalities we see develop during these. Making a point about how grey this world can seem, the film’s closing statement leaves you thinking and makes a strong point regarding how we can all see things differently, especially when struggling with mental health. Like some of the animal aid or child abuse charity advertisements or short films, this is a well filmed and conceived idea and makes a strong statement, while also harnessing a hopeful edge. The young men in the film, #RyaanAli, #KainanTenkorang, #DeanSmith, #BenJones, #SamToller, are great and highlight the film’s humanity, as it shows a diverse small group of young men, all in an equal light. This issue knows no boundaries, and this film commendably shows how we are all living in a grey world, one all of us experience differently but through connection, that world can start becoming more colourful. This is suggested by select use of colour in the film, which (as everything from Schindler’s List to Sin City has shown us) is a striking narrative and thematic tool. As is the closing atmosphere summoned by the gentle music by #JodieGrayer and #DeanBonning. The film does address mental health as a whole, as evident by its closing sentiment, but is centred in this instance on men’s mental health, which is an especially problematic and important area. In my experience, mental health is hell for anyone but with many men, they are further unhelpfully encouraged or ordered to “shake it off” or “get over it” and a film like this is a welcome project. Workshop is a film more, like therapy itself, concerned with revelations through being yourself and is a reflective take on an important and dangerous subject, one affecting more and more people and aggravated by various situations, especially ones like the one we are all experiencing at the moment. As director #JosephArcher’s film plays out, you are thinking about such things and while #SamToller’s script does take time to have a laugh, Workshop is an aesthetically powerful statement on mental health and how it changes people’s observation and experience of the world around them on many levels, even a visual one. #JackBottomley

★★★ Directed by: #JosephArcher Written by: #JackPrice Starring: #SarahLott, #HarryDuffWalker, #JamieCarter, #SoneraAngel Film Review by: Darren Tilby Director Joseph Archer's short film, Solvi, identifies itself as being for Game of Thrones fans. And while I understand the reasoning behind this, I do feel It's shooting itself in the foot with this particular comparison. Game of Thrones is known, and loved, for its intricate levels of political intrigue, cutthroat power plays and brutal violence. Solvi doesn't have that. But then how could it? At only 17-minutes in length, it's impossible to create the sort of depth required. However, what it does have is rather good. Solvi (Sarah Lott), a Danish warrior living in Saxon England, tries to convince her fellow villagers to flee an imminent Viking raid, asserting they aren't prepared. The Anglo-Saxon Christians, however, won't hear of it - they believe that God will save them. But when the village priest turns up dead, issues of religion and politics, clashing cultures and the villager's internal paranoias, get in the way of good sense. Leaving them divided and utterly defenceless to the looming threat. There are a few issues we need to address here. Firstly, there's a distinct lack of character given to the supporting cast. Sarah Lott as Solvi and Harry Duff-Walker as Asmund put in excellent performances, but they're really the only two given any sort of time to develop and shine. Most others are just kind of...there. Secondly, the film plays like a thriller; a whodunnit in Saxon times. And, to its credit, it does an admirable job. But it fails to reach the levels of intrigue it should be due to the lack of time and attention given to other aspects of the movie (mainly the characters and the politics surrounding them). There are really only two possibilities for who the murderer is here, and it's not difficult to figure out. These issues can be traced to one common denominator: the movie simply needed to be longer. Easier said than done, I know, but 17-minutes just isn't long enough to do this genre of film justice. However, Solvi excels in the attention to detail in its costumes, props, largely period-accurate hairstyling and fantastic use of location - a brilliantly recreated Saxon village. It's truly an impressive feat, everything looks and feels so authentic. But what I really loved was the movie's underlying message. It reminded me (of all things) of Night of the Living Dead. The implications it makes of man's inability to cooperate leading to our downfall is undoubtedly very similar to that of George A. Romero's zombie classic. All-in-all, and despite its problems, there's a lot of enjoyment to be had during Solvi's, albeit too short, 17-minute runtime. Just as long as you don't go in expecting too much.

★★★ Directed by: #ChloeYapMunEe Written by: #ChloeYapMunEe Starring: #AbigailMarieLaurel, #OphirBarak Short Film Review by Aaron Gillingham This artsy little short film from 2018 about two people leaving the outside world to inhabit a self-made sanctuary comes at a strange time in history whereby everyone is now currently doing a similar sort of thing thanks to the virus that shall not be named. However, this film is probably vastly different to most people’s self-isolation at the moment as I doubt anyone right now would want to be submerged into a small pool of water. Manifesting the End (For the Love of My Life) is an odd short film for me to review. The things that work are really impressive, but that being said there is a lot holding it back from being the masterpiece it thinks it is. I shall start with the positives. This film is gorgeously shot, the cinematography from Emmy Ong is truly something special. The film has an almost, otherworldly look to it which also somehow maintains a balance between feeling heavenly and unnerving. This is also complimented by the brilliant set design which feels very organic but slightly dingy at the same time. It makes you as a viewer think twice about being in the sanctuary yourself. The idea may sound nice at first but would you really want to live the rest of your life in a place such as this? The performances from Abigail Marie Laurel and Ophir Barak are really good despite there being hardly any dialogue for them to work with. The intimacy felt between these two actors is palpable from the moment they appear on screen together. However, the moments in which Abigail Marie Laurel has to carry the film on her own are also very well executed from both a performance and directing standpoint. To make up for the lack of dialogue, Yap Mun Ee chooses to display letters written by the main character on the screen at certain points throughout the film. I think for the sake of the story, these chunks of text do a decent job of filling the gap where the dialogue would usually be. My issues with the film mostly come down to its pacing and some specific sound design choices. The lack of dialogue doesn’t bother me, in fact it kind of works for the majority of the film. Unfortunately, a lot of the film is taken up with scenes of the characters either contemplating or doing something in a very slow manner. I have nothing against slowly paced films, some of my favourite movies of all time happen to be slow burners, but this film could have sped up a few things or cut some unessential parts out. The film is just shy of 24 minutes and I feel as if the message and emotional impact of the story could have been told a bit better in a more confined and manageable time frame. Also, the sound design, for the most part, is very fitting for this type of setting but there is one choice towards the end of the film which bugs me. During one of the film’s most important scenes, in which the two characters stare at each other while submerged in water, one of the actors has a very noticeable runny nose. Every time they sniff it suddenly becomes the most obvious and loudest thing in the mix and it is even more apparent by the fact there is no music throughout this exact scene. Manifesting the End (For the Love of My Life) is a short film that looks amazing but falls short of greatness ever so slightly. I am intrigued to see what else Chloe Yap Mun Ee and co. do next as this project showed a lot of promise. #AaronGillingham

★★ Directed by: #MiguelGaudencio Documentary film review by: BrianPenn Women’s football was once treated with antipathy by the game’s administrators and nothing more than an inferior companion to the male version. Happily, the last ten years have seen the women’s game expand, attracting large attendances and lucrative sponsorship. However, Offside seems to have missed the point with this ponderous film by Miguel Gaudencio. It follows Olimpia Szczecin in their pre-season warm-up for Poland’s female league. Black and white film provides visually sharp contours but totally overlooks any notion of narrative and context. The first 50 minutes are spent watching the team in training; all we hear is the coach barking orders and discussing tactics with players. There is no commentary to give the subject matter any real structure. Some background on the women’s game in Poland would have been useful; as would a brief history of the club’s origins. We learn absolutely nothing about the players, when a couple of interviews might have introduced the star striker and team captain. The first actual clip of a game was a cup final which took place in a school gymnasium. Two minutes of action was followed by half an hour of the team in training (again). An hour into the film captions appear finally introducing the players; Mloda, Zwedka, Ancior and Becia but nothing on their role or position in the team. Players receiving treatment was a good opportunity to build the narrative. Get them to talk about their hopes for the coming season – but apparently not. Players on the coach travelling to their last warm-up match is no more illuminating; they are filmed looking out of the window which does nothing to set the scene for a suitable finale. As the closing frames fade to black we learn that Olimpia won 8 out of 9 games in pre-season. They subsequently finished 6th in the women’s league and qualified for the Polish Cup. My mouth dropped to the floor reading that final caption. Why would anyone focus on pre-season training? From a film maker’s point of view the real drama is captured during the season. Key matches, pivotal moments that affect promotion and relegation. It’s a clumsy approach that frankly betrays the beautiful game.