Seeing short films is like shopping in a thrift store. One has to patiently search through piles and rows of mismatched, unsorted and often useless items in hopes of finding something suitable. On rare occasions one comes across a true find, a gem that makes the whole exercise of scavenging worthwhile.
Recently, I came across one such extraordinary find, not an Armani suit at goodwill but Tom on Mars a short film directed and shot by Andre Severny. Tom on Mars is a sophisticated treatment of an ordinary subject - love, loss and yearning. The protagonist, Tom Houston (played by Russel Smith) wallows in the emotions that follows a breakup with Maria (played by Leila Lemhadden) his gorgeous thing of the past. Tom's free association monologue which takes almost the entire script is told in the language of space travel to Mars and back. Maria's side of the story is conveyed not with words but beautiful images captured in Severny's exacting frames. Severny successfully creates a short, concise and effective film rich with elegant abstract imagery. This young man can use a camera and tell a story.