Bonobo

One advantage of making a short film is you only need to present an incident or an idea well. Things like keeping an intact plot, narrative structure and character development... well, let those making feature films to worry about! No such problem for Bonobo, which is totally satisfactory on all layers and brilliantly realised in a short film format.

Three characters with no relations to each other but connected through their residency in the same housing estate, have their lives changed because of an elevator. The film brutally depicts the urban decay of our modern society and the multitude of social predicaments arises.

What happens when you live in the hood, in a high-rise block, and your elevator strikes? It happens nothing. No one cares. No money, no elevator. This thrilling short film portrays three residents of the high-rise block as they struggle in different ways with the damaged elevator and as they are left alone by the persons responsible and the society itself. In the disturbing finale of the film, the elevator leads to more problems and struggles and the viewer is left with the question: what would have been happened if society were fair? BONOBO is a well-composed, fast and fascinating short film that raises issues.

Bonobo is an impressive short film! Our program jury has voted the short into our 14th edition of 20minmax Short Film Festival. Congratulations!

If you are talented storyteller, the recipe is simple: mix one high-rise boulding, some ordinary people and bloody elevator. Result? Bonobo - wonderfull, gripping short about frustration.

The movie follows three different characters. There is an old disabled guy Felix, the type of neighbor who is always calling police and yelling at children; single mother Ana, struggling with her move and young guard Seydou, who wants to be a dancer (you may say he's a dreamer*). When the elevator of their boulding breaks down, the fates of Felix, Ana and Seydou intertwine towards an intense finale.

Young director Zoel Aeschbacher gives a realistic look on everyday life, social problems, relationships and clearly shows the anger and frustration of people who feel trapped by their circumstances.

The cinematography and editing are great, the story is really well written, characters are likeable and the actors do a very good job. Emotionaly Bonobo is a rollarcoaster. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of Zoel Aeschbacher.

* But he's not the only one.

I saw 'Bonobo' at the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival and thought it a cleverly interwoven story of intersecting lives, all influenced by the spasmodic behaviour of the elevator. It was all the more impressive on a second viewing. It winds up the audience with all the frustrations of modern life: bureaucrats who don't listen, companies with no service, social injustice. It's a universal slice of life in 2018 we all can recognise.