BEST CANADIAN SHORTS - 4
Sleepless Night by Arev Manoukian ('09) (Canada) (5m) *
Unusually for FILMSshort, Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche) by Canadian filmmaker Arev Manoukian is perhaps more about the visuals than the story, but I have admired it for some time and felt it deserved a place on the site. It shows us a fantastic, fleeting moment between a man and a woman, and a visual representation of their inner thoughts. The brilliant visual effects are by Canadain Marc-Andre Gray.
Trapped In Transition by Robert Mentov (2015) (Canada) (6m) *
Trapped In Transition, winner of the Best Documentary award in the 10th FILMSshort competition, tells the story of Syrian refugees stuck in Lebanon, which borders the war-torn country. As of December 2015, nearly two million Syrian refugees were in Lebanon, including women and children who, as this documentary exposes, have witnessed the murder of the men in their families. There are of course various agencies trying to help these people and this short film touches on the work they do. Children try to find happiness in play but many carry the scars of brutality.
Sunrise Over Tiananmen Sq. by Shui-Bo Wang ('98) (Can) (30m)
This Oscar winning documentary is a visual autobiography of an artist who grew up in China during the upheavals of the late 20th century. A film from Canada, it is not surprising that it mixes animation with real life photos to present a narrative on the Cultural Revolution. For Shui-Bo Wang and his generation, the bloody scenes at Tiananmen Square were a symbol of the new China. This short, animated documentary traces Shui-Bo's roots and his own journey as he searches for the truth.
