Mavet

I was an attendee of the 2005 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (LA Shorts Fest) and I happened upon MAVET, which was in the Examining Eternity series (the fifth film out of nine). Of all those nine films, this one really stood out for me. Unlike the others, there was a sense of professionalism the filmmakers put into their work. This was the only one to have a great use of lighting (using an overhead lighting technique which made the characters more mysterious, with the background completely in the shadows – you can't see ANYTHING – VERY nicely done), great acting from the two leads, a wonderful score which pretty much acted as a cohesive glue for the 4 minute piece (it successfully created the EMOTION). All in all, the pacing was just right and it was a real pleasure to see. I hope this film gets into other festivals, it certainly is worthy of getting in. Congrats to the filmmakers.

"Mavet" is a great film from the filmmakers who brought you "Her Knight" and "Girl With Gun". Emile Haris (the writer, director) knows what he's doing, I liked his other works including his writing and editing on "Girl With Gun" and "Her Knight". I especially enjoyed the surprise ending, I wasn't expecting it, as well as the use of the overhead lighting (it added a mysterious sense of atmosphere).

And, Russ Emanuel has done a great job producing this film, he was also the music supervisor according to the credits, and worked very well with the composer Neil Argo. He also produced "The Diary" (a David Covarrubias film about zombies), as well as his own projects, "Her Knight" and "Girl With Gun".

This duo is currently hard at work on a new film called "Perfect Red" (according to their Russem Productions website), I'm not quite sure what it's about but it looks very neat from the looks of the website itself, with a red motif employed. They employ the same crew too including the aforementioned composer Neil Argo who did all the above mentioned films including this distinctive score for "Mavet".

I guess they found a team that works, which is fine with me because I look forward to their future films!

I recently had the honor of seeing "Mavet" at its World Premiere at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. I must say it was the best of the bunch in its time slot – Program 43, Examining Eternity. Unlike the other films, it actually LOOKED professionally made, with exquisite camera moves, great use of lighting and color, a memorable score (from what I see the composer Neil Argo has been the same for all the films by Russem Productions including this one – keep him on for your future films, he's good!).

I especially enjoyed the montage sequence in the middle of the film, where the two guys were really entwined in their chess game, as if they had something to lose. And it turns out there is a surprise twist at the end which explains why they were both playing the game so fervently! To sum up, it's less than 4 minutes long, but feels like an "eternity" in a good way! I'd recommend this film to anyone who's able to see it in other film festivals or on DVD.

I had the chance to see MAVET before its September 2005 World Premiere at the LA Shorts Fest, during its Completion Screening in March 2004 (unfortunately I couldn't make the LA Shorts Fest screening). For being only 4 minutes, this was a VERY VERY well done piece! It got to the point and kept you entertained throughout. It's basically divided into 3 Acts (I know, how did the filmmakers achieve that in 4 minutes but they did!), Act 1 is the setup introducing the two characters playing what looks like a harmless chess game, then Act 2 shows them really playing feverishly for seemingly no reason (at this point, you know something's up), then Act 3 gives you the climax and finale (and a good one it is, was really really surprised, don't want to spoil it!). See this film if you have the chance, you won't regret it!