A dead car battery leaves Safa stranded alone in a strip mall parking lot.
This week we return to fiction with a nifty short film. A young woman, Safa, is going about her day when suddenly she finds herself stranded in a parking lot. The film is about what Safa does about her dead car battery, but it is also about so much more than that. All her interactions from within her car – with an angry storeowner, a helpful stranger, her mother, and a car helpline operator – allow us to slowly piece together the character and her story.
The relationship between the mother and daughter is one of comfort and playfulness. The shots when the two physically come together stand out in the film. The intimacy of these moments are heightened by keeping the camera at a distance, as if to say that the viewer is not permitted in their private space. With a strong mise-en-scène, the film is able to accomplish restrained yet layered storytelling.
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Surbhi Dewan, Curator at ViewFinder, Saachibaat.com |
