Bright

The Hamilton International Film Festival, run by Slater Brothers Entertainment, was pleased to welcome Benjamin Busch and his film, Bright, to their annual film festival this past summer in Hamilton, New York. The Award Winning short film received a standing ovation and was one of the key shorts that played at the festival. The film was incredibly well done with acting performances that are truly memorable. The film played incredibly well and the story was both thought provoking and touching. Special attention should be placed on Busch's directing ability. The cinematography was beautiful as where many of the set ups throughout the film. The festival was thrilled to have the film in attendance.

I really liked this film. The writing is elegiac and the directing elegant. Though a short movie, the performances are never rushed and the actors are given the space to take ownership of the moments. As a result the story accrues a deep emotional resonance.

Robert Wisdom is fantastic, digging in to create a rich and complex character. And Eric Nenninger's work as the central character carefully avoids the typical (read: banal) quirks and tics that are usual employed to indicate a character is damaged in some way and instead brings someone very real and captivating to life. the And any time one gets to see Andre Royo on film is a gift.

A wonderful debut(?) for director/writer Benjamin Busch who subtle writing is not without little gems of poetry.

This is a brilliant and sophisticated short film showing the vivid struggle of a young man overcoming his most terrifying fear. The film doesn't tell the story, it shows the story, giving credit to the audience for having the intelligence to follow a tightly bound script. Nothing is rushed, and the director is unafraid of using silence at times, without feeling the need to fill the heavy weight of that silence with unnecessary dialog. The true nature of the main character's fear is magnified by this quiet, and this even pulls at the viewer's own fears. I found it very effective.

The performance of the main character (played by Eric Nenninger) is subtle, and honest, without being overly emotive. There is a lot more scope to his story arc than can be shown in a short film, and a part of me would love to see a feature length version of Bright. But it also resides very well within the realm of the short film genre, because the viewer is allowed to fill in the rest of the story with their own imagination, making Bright unique to each person who sees it.

What struck me most was the artistry of the cinematography. Each scene seems to be so well crafted, and almost every frame would make a beautiful still photograph. This speaks volumes for the talent of writer/director Benjamin Busch, who closely choreographed every facet of Bright. The cast and crew obviously deserve a lot of credit too.

I highly recommend Bright, and hope it gets picked up by HBO or the Independent Film Channel so that more people may get to see it!

We watched BRIGHT with our 13 year old daughter who was extremely moved by the film, as were we. The message of the film is very personal and powerful: that we need to leave our safe worlds, face our fears, and go and search for our lives. Only in this way will we become strong and grow into the full, multi-faceted and complex individuals that we have the potential to be. This overarching theme is artfully developed on several different levels throughout the film, both through the storyline and the beautiful use of symbols. But the reason this film succeeds is that the actual story line is extremely compelling and we are left guessing throughout the film as to the "real" story behind the characters. In short, we are left wanting more. Thank you for a beautiful film. Karen Puschel

I recently had the chance to watch BRIGHT at the Magnolia Independent Film Festival- one of several festivals was screening at in mid February 2011 as it began its tour on the festival circuit.

From the first frame to the last, this film is a cinematographic feast. Rich visuals support a skilled writing hand, and experienced direction in this longer than normal short film. It's length however, is not a detriment. The story takes as long to tell as it needs to and the running time felt perfect.

The acting is performed with such natural, believable deliveries that, as a viewer, you often feel like a fly on the wall witnessing the true lives of real people. Sometimes you will laugh with the characters, and at other times you will feel their pain, and ultimately their redemption.

BRIGHT, for me, is about the fear of living and coming to terms with that fear. It is something many people can identify with, and I highly recommend catching as it continues touring at film festivals.