Shok (2015)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Set during the Kosovo war, this short deals with the friendship between an Albanian boy and a Serbian one. The two boys share a common bond of a bicycle and soon this here could lead them to tragic results.
This short was shot in Mitrovica, Kosovo and really isn't the most pleasant film that you're going to watch. It seems when you go through the Oscar-nominated short films they are from filmmakers who want to do something series and tackle very dramatic and sometimes tragic events. Director and writer Jamie Donoughue certainly paints a rather tragic picture with this one and there's no doubt that the emotional punch is right on the mark. Setting a film during the war and involving kids can always be tricky but this short manages to get its point across without being preachy. The story itself is quite simple but the director does wonders with it and turns in a very depressing and bleak film.
