‘Sweven’, a narrative marked less by verbal exchanges and more by visual drama, is a story of a man’s interactions with dreams and nightmares. As sleep bleeds into waking life, the film comes into existence. It is marked by notable pacing and a smooth edit that allows it to put forth its intentions in an unmissable manner. 

Additionally, a sense of suspense, violence and the overwhelming unknown are roped in to enhance the story, while also keeping the viewer engaged throughout. It would be interesting to see the short film expanded into a longer narrative, with the current project simply serving as a premise, taking us deeper into the protagonist's disconcerting reality.

Sweven | Short Film Nominee

The film invokes a world of horrors and nightmares which a woman is unable to wake up from. There is a dangerous man, without face or identity, chasing her wherever she goes. When she does finally wake up from this terrifying realm, a far more sinister reality awaits her. 
The narrative employs metaphors of nightmares to locate itself in the real world which continues to normalize its own horrors, and more so for women. In the process, the plot invokes a pressing comment on gender dynamics, and patriarchy in a society which often chooses to shut its eyes to the evils that plague the existence of women on a daily basis.

Don't Blink | Short Film Nominee

The narrative that RBD presents to the viewer is one of shadows and hidden dangers lurking in the darkness. As a woman makes her way back home from her workplace, an atmosphere of unease is invoked for the viewer. Reality bleeds into dreams, and vice-versa to make the protagonist, as well as the viewer, question what is the truth and what isn't. The woman's tribulations continue, conjuring a break-in by a malicious intruder into the house she inhabits alone. Violence and blood soon get interweaved with the plot. As events unfold one after another in quick successions, we get closer to finding the answer to all the questions raised so far which, in turn, also find an echo in the very title of the film itself.

RBD | Short Film Nominee

The story is of one night and two men who share the same house. After wrapping up a regular day at work, they return home and make their own respective phone calls. Alongside the troubles that plague them, there is also a sense of unease and irritability that is shared between them. 

The plot of 'Iravin Paravaigal' (Birds of the Night) moves forward to further tie it with a sense of horror, fears, darkness and everything that lurks in shadows and nightmares. It is in this movement of the story that all its intentions are attempted to be dealt with. Albeit showing the want of a little lucidity, it eventually concludes with a suggestion of hope and a new understanding that the two characters now find entwined in their equation.

Iravin Paravaigal | Short Film Nominee

A gory image of violence sets the story off, which first takes the viewer into a fairly opposite world. Away from shadows and darkness, this is a world of bright daylight where a character goes about his day with energy and enthusiasm. However, this verve is soon followed by a deeply disturbing image - a nightmare that blurs the line between reality and dream and threatens to rob him of his life. Thus begins a spiralling away of the brightness and cheer with which we had been given the first proper introduction to the protagonist. Stylistically, the film attempts sleekness and smoothness, retracing its steps back to the first disconcerting image it had opened with. There is also a conversation around overcoming your worst fears, as well as the isolation which is finally broken by perhaps something as simple as even a familiar voice of a loved one.

Hollow | Short Film Nominee

Guilt introduces the viewer to the hellish experiences of a woman who finds herself unable to sleep, constantly being plagued by recurrent nightmares. As a man called Dev seems to hold bewildering and disorienting exchanges with her in them, a discussion of the same with her doctor takes the audience deeper into her world. In the process, questions of right and wrong, the fluidity of truth, and importance of perception in deciphering events around us are portrayed. The story continues to move forward, and just when one might think a resolution has been achieved, an unexpected development awaits the audience. 

The approach of the narrative is marked by a subjective and philosophical musing regarding the topic of hypnosis and the many complexities of the human mind, instead of an empirical or objective one. As the title suggests, there is further the attempt to explore repression and denial of different kinds. The storytelling also attempts to bleed dreams into reality, using special effects and sound, to familiarize the viewer with its world. 

The end result is sincere and dedicated, even though not entirely smooth. It is indeed the narratorial development which becomes relatively the most notable strength of the film. Additionally, the desire to share its story is evident enough to overcome the few other weaknesses in the progression of events that might make themselves known within the film otherwise.

Guilt | Short Film Nominee

The predominant action in 'Ear Damage' unfolds within a week, taking us into the fragile mental state of the protagonist, Rohan, in the brief span. The film chooses a non-linear narrative, along with a black and white palette to bring its reality to life. Soon, a world of extreme paranoia, obsession and fixation, nightmares and jitters is conjured for the viewer. 

For Rohan, it started with an article he read about a man's ear getting infested with cockroaches. This is followed by him seeing the insects everywhere, in wakefulness and in nightmares. They consume his reality, as he gradually ends up taking a terribly dark path of self-harm and destruction. The cockroaches could be a metaphor for the various struggles of a young man at a crucial crossroads of life. Or they can simply be a projection of a mind fraught with anxieties and trauma. 

The film leaves that open to the viewer's interpretation. It further exhibits potential in weaving a narrative, and employing different tools, be it the palette or the background score of Western Classical music, to achieve the same. Despite showing the need of a firmer hold on its sound, 'Ear Damage' concludes as what could perhaps be a seminal first step on a long road of storytelling.

Ear Damage | Short Film Nominee

We are in a world of nightmares as the film opens. There is an empty room, someone is fallen and
crawling on the floor. We see naked limbs convulsing. The next morning when the man is describing his
bad dream to his roommate, he talks about a place he has never seen before, a place marked by strange noises and
someone calling his name. He has the same dream again, and he reaches out to his roommate to
shares his troubles. The man is looking for all possible explanations, and considers the dream to be
communicating to him something about his future. As the film progresses, and finally ends, we see that
his nightmares were, indeed, communicating to him something about his life to come, but they were
more of a dystopian rather than a futuristic world.

N _ _ _ U | Short Film Nominee

The viewer is allowed a glimpse into the nightmarish reality of a man who has returned from war after undergoing some terrible experiences. As his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is engaged with, we get to interact with a past of bloodshed, violence and loss of friends. In the process, the film strives for a comment on mental health, especially relevant in a world and nation where a raging pandemic has confined us all indoors, away from the life that once was, opening the doors of physical and emotional trauma of all kinds.

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