The short film opens on a note marked by a sense of foreboding that would come to mark the entirety of the narrative. It shows stylistic zeal, enhanced by seamless editing and competent visuals that allow the story to truly amplify its unease and disconcertment for the viewer. Smooth transitions in between scenes blend into each other with a headiness that further helps to pronounce the mental and emotional struggles of the protagonist on his way back after an unexpected visit to presumably his therapist. Additionally, the visuals employ a play with colours and light to allow the spectator a glimpse into the suffocation and the sense of isolation the protagonist is battling. While the film is a notable achievement of skill and technique, it only offers a cause, and not an effect with regards to its protagonist's life and motivations. If the team decides to explore the latter, it would perhaps be an endeavour to look forward to.

Lone | Short Film of the Day

Engagement with any form of mental illness is a complex endeavour to embark upon and this film attempts the same. It brings in several elements that include child sexual abuse, childhood trauma and the manner in which they affect a person's mental makeup in their adulthood. The film boasts of a notable performance by Meghbalika as the protagonist, as well as potential in terms of storytelling and structuring of the narrative. It does, however, show a want of more polishing in the technical department, an aspect that would have greatly benefited it as an overall product. On the whole, the team exhibits talent and skill that can be realised further in latter projects.

Vacuum | Short Film Nominee

Dominated by red visuals, the short film is a dimly-lit exploration of a character's struggle with his mental health. The single-character narrative is a grim and gloomy representation of his inner demons and the constant battle he wages with them. From nightmares that threaten to bleed into his reality, to thoughts and voices that perhaps never leave him alone, the film truly is a disconcerting look at schizophrenia. However, it also runs the danger of over-simplifying the mental disorder by portraying someone who lives with it as inhabiting a reality far from normative society. It borders on perhaps stigmatising the disorder and undoing the fight of several schizophrenic themselves who are working towards raising awareness against this very perception of the disorder. Having said that, the film indeed is noble intentioned, irrespective of whether or not it comes across as being objective in its treatment of its subject.

Stabbed By Smoke | Short Film Nominee

Mental health is a supremely complex subject to engage with, to say the least. The short film is an honest and sincere attempt to do the same. It invokes chimerism and the manner in which it gets tied with schizophrenia and a girl's struggle to feel accepted. It raises questions about the marginalisation of those struggling with a mental illness and the treatment that is often meted out to them due to stereotypes and prejudice. The narrative shows investment of thought in the manner in which it is realised. The plot is confined to the bedroom of the protagonist, it's only character, as it attempts to play with sound and camera angles. Though lacking in resources and polished technique, the film shows potential that can be explored in latter projects by the team.

Chimera | Short Film Nominee

The Good-Bad Man is a film about a character who seeks redemption by attempting to leave his past behind. You can sense that kind of desperation and anxiety in the behaviour of the protagonist from the beginning itself.
He shaves his head in half, his room is in a mess, he is squatted somewhere in a dark alley, as
though in hiding. The tainted, bleak production is meant to lend him a madman-sort of a frenzy.
However, despite the efforts of the lead actor, the film doesn’t really see its story through. There
ought to be a method even to all that madness and that’s where the film goes disarray.

The Good-Bad Man | Short Film Nominee

The short film explores two narratives parallelly - the mental health of a man as well as his relationship with his mother. What starts off as a harmless date, soon takes the form of a dark reality for the viewer. A couple meets for the first time after a year of virtual communication. However, it is soon discovered that both parties are on very different pages regarding the future of their relationship. This is followed by a visual sequence that falls in the space of abstraction. The climax is soon followed by a disturbing conclusion which would have benefited with closer attention to detail. The shadows of the hanging feet reveal more than they should have to maintain the quality of the film, as do the twitching legs of what is supposed to be a dead body. At the conclusion, the film also enforces the cyclicality of the nature of the protagonist, and leaves the viewer about the gory reality in store for those who come in contact with him.

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