Mortimer
2010 · 6m · Canada
Directed by Nolan Sarner
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, dark
A short film featuring two characters — played by Carlo Rota and Levi MacDougall — whose encounter forms the dramatic center of a carefully composed work that deploys performance as its primary formal resource.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Sarner works with serious cast resources and a disciplined production — the presence of Carlo Rota and the full craft crew indicates this is not incidental short filmmaking but deliberate work in the character-drama tradition.
Five and a half minutes, Carlo Rota and Levi MacDougall, tagged "#Ventriloquist #Puppet." Strong cast for a short. The description does that thing where it doesn't tell you the premise, which is either trust in the work or fear of revealing how thin it is.
Carlo Rota and Levi MacDougall anchoring a 5:30 character piece where production design and DP work all subordinate to the dynamic. The cast signals ambition above the student-film register; reads competent but not vaulting.