Tiny but Mighty

As we start this new year of 2022 at Cent, our theme for this first month of the new year is trim. A word that can mean slim, pulled back, minimal, or tiny, but doesn’t mean it lacks in punch. Short films are a perfect example of this. With sometimes only 15 minutes to get a point across they are the perfect example for trim and many of the new crop of shorts coming up have very powerful messages, have a look below at just a handful worth a trim bit of your time in our piece, Tiny but mighty.

Some of the movies coming out, many of which may well end up being Oscar Nominated, allude to strong social issues and injustices. Below are just a handful.

Oscar Nominee® film, Marianne Farley’s FRIMAS, is produced by Uzo Aduba and Meynon Media’s Dan DeNicola. A young woman named Kara decides to get an abortion in a country where it is not legal. Therefore, she pays to go to an illegal mobile abortion clinic. Her decision has several repercussions and is one that is full of emotion, showing the drastic trauma linked to anti-abortion laws.

Tackling another social issue, Play It Safe, written and directed by Mitch Kalisa, follows the story of when a black theatre student, Jonathan, is coaxed into playing a racial typecast in a fellow student’s play, he is presented with an all-too-familiar choice: expose prejudice or play it safe. He battles the issue at hand in his London theatre class.

EDICIUS, written and directed by Uzo Ole, is a short film thriller that brings about an inner dilemma between the main character Jason, and himself. Dealing with immense work pressure, he falls into a spiral between himself and his own intuition. The story follows the battle between discovering if he can trust himself.

Mark Rosenblatt’s period live-action short film Ganef focuses on a young girl who starts to believe her family cleaner is a thief. When her mother tells her a dark tale from the period of the Holocaust, Ruthy starts to become suspicious of her surroundings having been spooked by the story.

Inside a dying Weimar Kabarett club, seven-year-old Roma Helene hides in a wardrobe, concealed by tap-dancer Katharina who plans to escape the poison of Nazism and take Helene to America. The young girl’s mother is currently in a concentration camp, while Kathrina tries to save her daughter from the world around them in the film Mousie by David Bartlett.

These short films prove time is no constraint to get a loud and powerful message through the screen to the audience. Through talented products, writers, directors, and cast members, these five films address deep social issues in only a tight period of time.

If you enjoyed reading Tiny but Mighty, why not check out From Short Stories to Films here.

Images from h264, playitsafeshortfilm.com, ediciusfilm.com, Mark Rosenblatt, and mousiefilm.com

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