Most

This film is perhaps the most powerful and brilliant piece of film making I have seen in recent memory. I attended a film makers panel at the Maui Film Festival where Garabedian, Director/Writer & Zabka, Producer/Writer shared their experiences in getting the film made. Their stories were captivating, inspiring and ultimately bold. I was astonished to learn that this brilliant, European, Czech language film was made by two young filmmakers from LA!

MOST was awarded Best Short Film - Best Newcomer - and also the Audience Award.

I saw MOST at the Nashville Film Festival in May,2003. The film is about a single father and his son in modern day Poland. They seem to have only each other, and through the course of the film we see the nature and depth of their relationship. There are a set of secondary characters developed in the opening scenes and we are allowed to understand that the train these characters are getting on, is key to the story. We learn that the father is a railroad drawbridge operator when he takes his son to the work with him. The journey to the bridge is when the film sets the hook. It is among the most subtle and effective uses of foreshadowing and emotional participation I have ever seen. I will tell no more, but that the father must make the most difficult decision of any parent's life and the audience, now involved , must make the decision with him. It is masterful storytelling. If you have a chance to see it, please make it a priority. It is the kind of short film that raises the bar.

MOST is about 30 minutes long and manages to tell a feature length story. It has a primarily Polish cast and is subtitled. The film was written by producer Billy Zabka( "Sweep the leg Johnny!") and director Bobby Garabedian. They are best known as a music video directing team(Sarah Evans, among others), but prove themselves capable of narrative storytelling in this medium.

By my unofficial tally, speaking in a theater lobby with many attendees, at The Heartland Film Festival (October, 2003) this short, MOST (The Bridge), was the favorite, and most discussed, among all of its various films. The plot may become familiar as you watch the piece. It's from a story that was once passed along at summer camps, and now circulates the internet. No matter - it has been transformed into both an instantly captivating work of its own, and the best possible presentation of this tale. Intense care was taken in the film's details, from story to cinematography to sound. The latter was clearly edited on the emotion, which plays amazingly. As such, MOST lends itself to scrutiny, if you want to do that. Deeper meanings are there to be plumbed, but, like the best of all such cinema, it also works intuitively. Effort isn't necessary - you can just let it wash over you. In that way it approaches, if not meets, the singular style and quality of WINGS OF DESIRE.

I've allowed a few months pass, just to let it settle with me, and I'm now reasonably sure that MOST can be called a masterpiece. Really - it's that good.

Saw this film at Sundance 2003. I felt as though I were watching a feature length film...has all the qualities. From the opening scene you are drawn into a beautiful but edgy, visually captivating story that touches your heart. It was filmed in Prague with incredible Czech actors (English Subtitles) and the production value is first class. Not to be missed if you have a chance to see it.

I first saw this short at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and it blew me away. It was better than most of the 22 full length feature films that I screened! The other comments here are truly right-on as to the description on the film and the skill in which it was made. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when the lights went up! Truly amazing for a 29 minute film to elicit such an arc of emotions. It should have won an award at Sundance. Instead, it is nominated in the Best Live Action Short category for the 2004 Academy Awards! My quest will be to see it once again (not easy for shorts!) and to own a copy.