Borrowing its name from the famous M Night Shyamalan thriller, Split presents us with a story that deals with a similar theme as well - a protagonist who battles dissociative identity disorder. As we are taken into his world, we realise the precarious balance on which his life rests, after having been isolated from everything else, owing to the hallucinatory image of a man that plagues him now. The film is marked by the repetitive appearance of the character who represents the protagonist's hallucination, making it a shared experience between two people. The presence of the same face as before makes it unclear what the true intentions of the film are - is it dealing only with a mental disorder which is specific and unique to each individual, or is it conveying that after witnessing a traumatic experience another person suffers from a fracture in his cognition too? Or is the hallucination simply a metaphor for inner demons that acquire a corporeal form for its characters? The film would have benefited from more lucidity on some of these questions that it raises.

Split | Short Film Nominee

Vast outdoors take you into the plot of Sinners Paradiso. Visuals soon develop to present a space where a group of people sit, waiting for something. The room is then revealed to be an in-between stop for the souls of the deceased as a decision is reached regarding whether or not they will be sent to heaven. Through the ensuing conversations between the myriad characters, the short narrative presents its comments to the audience. While none of them remember what exactly happened in the moment of their death, they all have expectations, ideas and opinions about the events unfolding before them. The aforementioned elements are then tied together as a whole for the viewer to engage with.

Sinners Paradiso | Short Film Nominee

The story is of a single night when a boy sits before his laptop, busying himself with some mundane task. However, little does he realize an intruder awaits him in the darkness. The character's interaction with this uninvited guest would reveal something that would justify the title of the film, while also unveiling a secret that resides in the shadows.

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