Every so often a short film comes along that sticks in your head for all the right reasons. Five Pounds of Pressure is one such short. It has been lovingly crafted and helmed by first time filmmaker Liam Petite.
The film not only stands out for its crafting but is also highlighted by the fact that its first accolade has been gained from a British film festival and not from within it's own local film community.
This brings to light a bigger question which is this, why are independent local filmmakers who do not wish to follow the rules of the local funding body not supported and recognised more within their local community?
I can only suggest that the rose tinted glasses of the local judging panels need to clean the BS dirt from their spectacles and remove the blinkers that only offer them tunnel vision. For if they did this a breathe of fresh air would open up the possibility of a brighter future for new filmmaking talent. The truly independent story tellers, the renegades who didn't take NO for an answer. The storytellers who wanted to tell stories in their own vision.
Petite is one such filmmaker. Coming from the small but beautiful eastern province in Canada called Nova Scotia, where producing and creating any sort of film is an uphill struggle (As it is anywhere in the world). Here you'll often find people opening doors to your face and closing them when your back is turned.
Thankfully for film fans around the world Petite has a passion and hard nosed determination to see his projects through to completion and not give up, especially when the local, official support is thin on the ground and all because the filmmaker wanted to do things ' THEIR WAY'.
So from a little charming Canadian province comes along a little 'diamond in the rough'. Not only has it been created with attention to detail and control, from its opening musical score to the atmospheric cinematography but also the tenacity of the young filmmaker Petite having the nerve to tell a cinematic story within the confines of the front two seats of a car. A gutsy decision for a first short.
The control of the storytelling bodes well for any future projects. Five Pounds of Pressure truly pulls off a big film feel on a shoestring budget.
I honestly hope that the team of filmmakers who beautifully crafted this gem get the opportunity to craft it for a longer format and just like the filmmaker I believe this story has got legs if given a little support along the way.
