Short Film Weekend: Send

So I’m doing this thing where I’m going to try and post a short film I’ve seen during the week over the weekend, and call it Short Weekend. How cool is that? I mean, see what I did there? Because it’s not a long weekend, you know.

I digress. So, each short film featured will be under 10 minutes, from anywhere on the web. I watch a ton of short films, so it’s often hard to pick my favourites. I hope you like my selection, and if you think there’s a short I should check out, please let me know.

The first film I’ve chosen for this series is by director Peter Vack, and it’s called SEND. The film literally puts a relationship between two young people on a stage. Please note that this film does contain mature content, including depictions of sex, and strong language.

Check out the film below:

This film freaked me out. I rewatched it about five times, and then I felt terrible, as if I was this perverted voyeur gazing on this (main) character’s suffering. For a second I tried to substantiate it with “This is fiction!”, but actually it’s really not. Many women are often subjected to similar treatment in person and online.

Director Peter Vack stated the following: 

“I knew two girls who were exposed to many of their peers after an explicit video or photo was passed around online. At the time I was writing the script in 2011, this event was less common than it is now and I thought that it could work as the plot for a short film. Also, I am someone who is effected by what I see online and I know how emotionally large even the smallest piece of information from a significant person can feel. I can relate to having a very raw and complicated emotional experience in front of my computer screen and that felt new and strange and potentially good for cinema.” [Source]

From an artistic perspective, I have to mention what everyone is raving about, and that’s the stage. Depicting the online relationship in this manner perfectly sums up the public nature of that kind of social and emotional exchange. It’s brilliant because it’s simple in a “Why didn’t I think of that?” kind of way.

I hope you liked this film as much as I did. If so, you can follow more updates about SEND on Facebook. Feel free to continue the discussion in the comments below.

About the Author: Stephen is a film critic who’s also an aspiring writer-director. Catch more of his film musings on Twitter @thesnagel.

Editor’s (side) note: I’m currently involved in a project called #BreatheEasy2016 as one of the many co-directors on this really unique project. I’m from Cape Town and currently assembling a team to get this done. If you’re interested in getting involved, please email me at [email protected] or tweet me @thesnagel.