DRAMATIC SHORTS

...is a set of four short films, all of them are about life struggles like poverty, abuse, and bullying. The first short is BUZKASHI BOYS, which follows the life of two young boys, best friends even though they are both very poor and they long to be the champions of Afghanistan, Buzkashi riders. The next short is NIGHT SHIFT, (SPOILER ALERT) about an airport cleaning lady who works day and night to take care of her kids but, nothing seems to be helping she still goes back to her car every night. The third short in the set is TIGER BOY following the life of Matteo, he wants to live behind his mask, his mask is the same as the one that his hero wrestler, The Tiger wears. Matteo’s mask gives him strength to take out the abusive person in his life. The last short is THE OTHER SIDE this short is about how people can become friends even though they have never met or seen each other, this short follows the life of one boy living in Israel and he becoming friends with another boy on the other side of the wall to Palestine all because of one soccer ball.

In THE OTHER SIDE there was this part that had amazing cinematography when the ball is about to come back over and the camera is just waiting for it looking at the top of the wall and then it does and it just barely makes it and it bounces on the top of the wall then it falls down to the boys feet. A part in TIGER BOY that they have a great use of sound is when he is running down his school hallway and he is so proud of himself that he stood up from himself and the music in the background is happy but adventurous and empowering and it is so perfect for the scene in that moment. In NIGHT SHIFT the camera really captures the look of worry on the woman's face when she is at work and then walking back to her car, you can really tell that there is something wrong then you see what is inside her car and then you realise why she has been so sad and worried this whole time. How they capture the colors in BUZKASHI BOYS helps to tell you that these 12 year old boys are very poor and have to work very hard every day in horrible conditions.

My favorite scene in THE OTHER SIDE is the scene where the boys soccer ball first comes back over the wall and the boy is so ecstatic a huge smile goes across his face then he kicks it back over, then the ball comes back to him and they play pass and become friends even though they have never met and they are on either sides of the wall. When I think about TIGER BOY the scene that I remember the most is the scene when (SPOILER ALERT) Matteo jumps onto the abusive, creepy teacher and knocks him out and starts kicking him and then successfully runs away then takes off his mask. I remember that scene the most because it is such a successful scene then Matteo gets this look of pride on his face and it is really heart warming. The stand out scene for me in NIGHT SHIFT is the scene when you first see that the women is living in her car with (SPOILER ALERT) her two little kids in the back. I remember this scene because I did not see that coming at all, and it was a big surprise. My favorite scene from BUZKASHI BOYS is when one of the boys gives the other boy the scarf that he stole off one of the Buzkashi riders and as he the first boy gave it to the second boy he said “wear this and you will have the strength to be like a Buzkashi rider.” I remember that scene the most because it was so sweet of him to do that and it really meant alot to both of them.

I recommend this set of shorts to ages 12 and up not because of inappropriateness but because of maturity and I recommend this program to anyone who wants to watch shorts about some of lifes main struggles and challenges. I rate this set of shorts 4 out of 5.