Durban - THE South African short film Alone has been awarded the best short film at the Enfoque International Film Festival, a first for the South African film industry.
The five-minute film depicts a young woman in the grips of isolation during lockdown.
The award is given to films that give impactful portrayals of people’s lives. The film was written, directed and produced by Durban couple Tami and Dylan Marriot.
Tami said the film had been a different project, but was inspired by events due to the lockdown.
“It was never intended to be what it became. We filmed the bulk of it over a year ago as a passion project to bulk up our individual portfolios. The original script was written about a girl who was trapped indoors and could not go outside because of a zombie apocalypse that had destroyed mankind.
“Then Covid-19 hit us and we started conceptualising a story to support those who are alone and taking emotional strain.
“It was filmed during the lockdown, and the biggest challenge in producing it was in the editing, which was possible because of the teamwork of the film group the couple founded - the Edit Room.
“It was a group effort through and through. When it was filmed, lockdown wasn’t a problem. When it came to editing, it was. One of our editors is in Pretoria, our voice-over artist in Cape Town, our sound designer on the South Coast, and our graphics artist on the North Coast.
“We used We-Transfer to send each other edits and files, and had Skype calls for direction. Through the internet we managed to pool our resources to pull it off.”
The film was in competition with 475 other entries, and the Marriots hope winning the award will open the door to the international film
community.
“It is an interesting time for the film industry. It will need to keep down costs and work with small teams. Luckily for The Edit Room this has always been us, and we are very well practised at making beautiful work with micro crews.”