Short Film Review #39

WOW 2014 – A Day In Detention
Not a short film as such, but utterly essential. The Women of the World Festival took place at the Southbank Centre in early March and A Day In Detention was part of that event. A piece of verbatim theatre pulled together by Nell Leyshon and directed by Jessica Swale, it looks at varying experiences of refugee women in the UK asylum system with an unblinking eye and a near-shocking straightforwardness. The harsh reality of what they are forced to go through, after escaping untold horrors in their own country, is appallingly bleak but there’s a beautiful dignity to the way in which their stories are told, both in the way they have been captured and also in the stunning performances of Juliet Stevenson, Bryony Hannah and an unbearably moving Cush Jumbo.

Life’s A Pitch
Another of the Young Vic’s short films, Life’s A Pitch is a highly amusing take on the pitching of musicals written by Olivia Poulet. The Young Vic’s Artistic Director David Lan stars as himself as he is forced to endure a range of ideas from the bizarre to the downright awful, from some very familiar faces. To say much more would ruin the fun, so just give it a look-see.

The Open Doors
James Rogan’s The Open Doors is based on the short story The Open Window by Saki and is a beautiful thing indeed. Martin Sheen is a haunted young man who arrives at a country pile for a rest cure but finds little but creepiness...




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