2019 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

Our film shows an atypical bullying scenario. A teenaged-boy verbally attacks an older, sickly patient who is hopelessly pushing his IV stand down a hospital corridor. The patient just stands there, sadly, “taking it”. Then, the teenager tells the older man that he would have punched him in the face if he were in front of him; the situation makes even less sense now, as the characters are standing face-to-face. The teenager yells: “I hope you drop dead Eagle697”, a chilling statement given the fact that the man is clearly very sick. But the “Eagle 967” is a subtle clue to what happens next. The older patient is shown in his hospital bed, staring sadly at the words of his attacker in a gaming chat box, as viewers still hear the words echoing down the hall. It’s revealed that the whole attack which felt very real happened online.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

Online gaming has become a world by its own, where the avid players tend to forget that any person with a username is a human being. Anonymity of players and the use of avatars allow users to create alter-egos or fictional versions of themselves. But it also allows users to harass, bully, and sometimes gang up on other players, sending or posting negative or hurtful messages and using the game as a tool of harassment. Because players are anonymous their harassment can cause serious.

Tell the jury anything relevant about the edit.

The film is a reflection of the cyber world. The effect of the fast cuts combined with the integrated surreal shots that unexpectedly come in between the dialogue scenes, transports the viewer to an aggressive non-existent world. The sound design of the dialogue plays a very important role and adds a layer of surrealism to the film. The viewer does not clearly understand the reason behind this visual interpretation until the very end, only when we reveal the sick man real existence in his room holding the tablet.