No Love Lost

I am a big fan of films and am enjoying the Omaha Film Festival. Sadly the festival finishes today but I am hoping there will be more good films to see. It's been a mixed bag. My stand-out film of the festival is this short film NO LOVE LOST. I have seen a few films over the years that have no dialog and No Love Lost did it so well. The story is beautiful and powerful. You think it will go in one direction but it takes a few turns because the director makes you stay with each and every character, with each and every moment in the film. I loved the actors and how they portrayed their characters. It's a story about love and differences between people and how our prejudices can dictate us in every little thing. The directing is just awesome and I checked out other work by the director. His film Faux Depart made me go wow too. Love the music on the film. I am keeping my fingers crossed Omaha will give the film the Best Short Film award.

In a nut shell you have to see this film. I am not calling it a short film because it's cinema in 14'46. Saw No Love Lost yesterday on ILoveshortfilms and it caught me off guard. Let me say from the get go, I am a filmmaker and wished it was me who had done this film. Shekhar Bassi directs, also writes with his brother, a nuanced and very visual film dealing with love, hate, race and identity. This all is done in under 15 minutes and it is done with flair, confidence and serious directing talent. Having seen it yesterday I sat back questioning my own story-telling style. I realized I would have been over the top, laboring certain story points, using heavy-handed dialogue or some shitty smart-ass dialogue and finishing the film off with a full on gut punch to satisfy what the audience wants. Shekhar Bassi does none of that and takes the audience on a journey. He subtly questions our preconceptions but doesn't judge his audience. I was surprised how my sympathies shifted and presumed so much and was wrong. It's a beautifully told story with a fresh style and execution. All the actors are on top form. The three central characters are portrayed by talented actors. You really get a sense of the director and editor being in sync and crafting a real cinematic piece. The cinematography is great. The camera is directed with style and there is grace yet tension in everything you see. I loved the use of a proper musical score which really works. Hats off from me to this very talented filmmaker and story-teller. Will be watching out for more from him.

(My words have been translated from Spanish to English by a friend.)

It is the best film I have seen at the Ojo Al Sancocho. A very talented director with a smart and emotional story. I love cinema and am always wanting to see films from everywhere in the world. The festival Ojo Al Sancocho gives an opportunity to see many short films but a lot of these are from my continent and the stories are not special. No Love Lost made me feel it was made for me. It was imagined for me. It was meant to speak to me. I liked very much the director choosing to have no dialogue in the film. It made the film powerful and my heart moved with the emotional and visual journey that the three beautiful characters were taking. I think the music is beautiful and it is from a Brazilian composer. Wonderful to see that film is so universal in story and in design. No love lost is an amazing cinematic film that makes you question how do you view the people around you. Do you believe what you see or do you try to understand what you don't see. I am now hoping that one day I will see a long film from this brave filmmaker.

Seldom do short films impress to the point of leaving a deep impression upon you days later. This short took me completely by surprise and made me go WOW! As an American, watching a shorts program in London, it was really interesting to watch a story about the kind of discrimination and prejudice that is not commonplace here in the States. No Love Lost is a beautiful and dare I say brilliantly crafted film, without dialog, following a young Jewish/Muslim couple and if I say any more I will enter spoiler territory, which I like to avoid as much as possible. It had me intrigued and in suspense from start to finish. Director Shekhar Bassi keeps you fully engaged with his beautiful story, and visual style, told through strong-centered performances from actors Joshua James, Scarlett Brookes and Meena Rayann – a perfect cast of unknowns. The characters are well developed, as is their emotional journey. You never feel as if there should be dialog in the film that invites you to use your own interpretations and goes as far as playing with your sympathies as they shift unexpectedly between the characters. In hindsight, the director does not over dramatize or play up the discrimination subtext and concentrates on telling a simple love story, which keeps with the interpretive aspect of the film. The beautiful cinematography and powerful music score add more layers to this smartly crafted short. The editing is seamless and smooth. An impressive film from clearly a very talented film-maker.

---------------------------------- NO LOVE LOST was one of eight short films nominated for the Satyajit Ray Foundation Short Film Award, that I watched on Tuesday the 15th July 2014 as part of the London Indian Film Festival at the ICA in Central London. Unfortunately I can't post reviews on three of the eight shorts: RANI, ALCHEMY & DEVIL IN BLACK STONE as they don't have supporting IMDb pages.

That kind of film who seems wise exploration of each detail of near reality. In the best manner. From religion, love, obsession, courage, need to be yourself, all is presented, in splendid manner, in this short film about a young couple, a loneliness woman, a trip with the subway using great intensity of image and gesture and the inspired end, remembering old fairy tales final. A film who must see. For the beautiful way to show, inadmirable manner, realities of every day in the most seductive and powerful way.