‘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

Soon after Om and Amit experiment with DMT, the chaotic, disorienting ride of ‘Into the Mind’ (a play on the phrase about entering a suggested wilderness?) begins. A clandestine ritual with a shaman is coupled with the drug that soon leaves the two men losing a hold on their sanity. Their tryst begins with heady ideas of spirituality, otherworldly creatures, a pursuit of the meaning of existence, with death being a constant thematic concern throughout. The film’s strongest aspect is its storytelling, and the visual experiments it adopts to portray it. It would have been interesting to see different choices for the background score, especially in the second half when it becomes reminiscent of a very iconic television series, perhaps potentially taking away a little from all that the film has to offer in its own uniqueness and individuality. On the whole, nevertheless, the end result remains earnest, dedicated and deeply engaging for the viewer.

Into the Mind | Short Film Nominee

Blurred lines often make for interesting subjects for art, and the short film goes ahead to prove the same. It endeavours an interaction with reality and illusion, presenting to the viewer an intelligent narrative that requires your undivided attention as it shares its story of a young Hindu priest. Along with invoking a sense of dreaminess and surrealism, the plot also exhibits a conversation with ideas of loneliness and isolation. The echo of being by oneself is found in the protagonist's day-to-day life until one day when he finally decides to take shelter in a fantasy of affection and perhaps possible romance. However, can something as effervescent and calm as his little romantic escapades be eternal and enduring too? The short film offers an answer, while maintaining its organically slow pace throughout.

Chafa | 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

As the title suggests, the film invokes a conversation about the blurring of lines between reality and make-belief. Two people, a woman and her doctor, are having a conversation about a person, a hallucination that seems to overpower her life. She shares with him the intimacy and comfort, one she finds unable to replicate in any other relationship of hers, explaining precisely why she clings to this non-existent companion of hers. Now that the premise of the film has been established, an unexpected shock awaits the viewer. And it is in this development that the narrative justifies its title and the question it has pivoted itself on all along.

What Is Real? | Short Film Nominee

The complexities of the human mind are endless, and so is the number of versions of realities and illusions it can conjure. The short film is an interaction with the same ideas, portraying the extent to which a person's consciousness can create problems for itself, as well as the extent to which the defence mechanisms would go for self-preservation. The narrative is an honest attempt to tell its story of a protagonist who has recurrent nightmares about a killer following him. Fearing for his life, he seeks out a mental health expert to help him make sense of his reality. As things unfold one after another, there indeed awaits the most unexpected truth for him as well as the viewer. At the unravelling of it all, where will the protagonist truly find himself?

Cursed | Short Film Nominee

The film treads a path between reality and dreams and eventually asserts a strange, even amusing, message about self-love. It employs no dialogue and predominantly uses a black and a white palette to bring its world to life. The protagonist goes to bed and delves into a world of strange developments. Objects and people appear and disappear before him - there is a suggestion of alcohol, a woman and a stranger. And yet, when he wakes up from it all, the overarching sentiment in his life remains of a deep love towards the self.

Arcane | Short Film Nominee

The narrative is an attempt to weave an interesting narrative about a young man's struggle to wake up on time. As dreams bleed into reality, he finds it difficult to keep track of boundaries and which belongs where. The film opens with the protagonist on his phone late into the night. His day progresses and concludes with sharp reminders from a friend to turn up on time the following morning. The execution of the story is desirous of being experimental and unique, with the aim to also invoke elements of fun and lightheartedness at the same time.

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