Narrative Short Competition presented by You42
Narrative Short Program 3 at Alamo Lamar 5
Dissolution is a film chronicling my parents’ divorce after forty-eight years of marriage. Starring my parents as themselves, this hybrid short combines archival home video footage with new footage based on the events surrounding their recent divorce and my father’s battle with alcoholism.
According to Muslim practice, burial ought to occur within 24 hours of death — so after Manny’s immigrant husband, Sameer, passes away in an accident, he is confronted by a representative of Sameer’s family urging him to sign the paperwork needed to ship the body back to Kuwait. Manny initially refuses, clinging to his rights as Sameer's husband, while knowing that with every passing hour, Sameer's family grow more infuriated. After an emotional climax, spurred on by the family’s homophobic claim that Manny and Sameer’s marriage was merely a green-card arrangement, Manny comes to realize that his objections won't change the fact that his husband died — try as he might, he cannot delay grief.
Hannah’s first week in the US isn’t going as expected. Rejected by everyone she meets, even her own friend, it seems nobody has time to practice English with her. So when she’s propositioned by a couple looking for a phone sex participant, Hannah uses the conversation as an opportunity to finally get some English practice in. However, as the phone call progresses, Hannah realises that this is a situation where online translators just won’t cut it, and she’s going to have to get resourceful with her vocab book if she wants to help this couple cum like a true fluent English speaker.
Bestfriends Gloria and Ruby are bonded through gossip and potty humor. At a lunch they joke about reincarnation and Ruby promises that after she dies she’ll visit Gloria as a portapotty. After lunch, Ruby is suddenly killed. Gloria is despondent in her grief when a portapotty is dropped across the street. Cautiously believing this is Ruby, Gloria begins spending time with the portapotty. One evening, Gloria approaches the portapotty with questions about death. The portapotty welcomes her inside and Gloria enters. She experiences a dream-state exaltation. As she comes back to reality, Gloria moves out of her despondency, until she sees the portapotty taken off site. She chases after it but...
Mo is a hopeful Arab actor in his struggle-filled youth, residing in London with his wife Dounya. Dounya believes Mo should pursue stable work rather than taping for leading acting roles, unattainable for actors of color. Unexpectedly, Mo's agent Steven rings, offering a sudden audition that carries life-altering potential. During his journey to the audition, a misunderstanding arises when a biased woman onboard misconstrues Mo's actions as prayer and suspects a forgotten bag. In a swift turn, Mo's world descends into a Kafkaesque nightmare of terror.
Sometimes you don't realize how thirsty you are until it's right in front of you.
Trapped follows the story of Joaquin, a highschool janitor at the prestigious Hallston Academy, finishing up his rounds in the early morning hours. Investigating voices echoing through the empty halls, he’s drawn to the gymnasium, where he stumbles into a group of boys in the middle of a senior prank. Tensions arise when his attempts to shut down the prank take an unexpected direction and he is caught between the boys, the head custodian and his own moral compass.