Sign Language
2010 · 5m · UK
Directed by Oscar Sharp
Tones: contemplative, tender, whimsical
Ben is a professional sign-holder who loves his work — this short follows his final day on the job, a character study that won the Virgin Media Shorts award.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Sharp shot this on a Canon 7D before that camera defined a generation of no-budget filmmaking, and the choice to stay at street level — keeping the camera in Ben's world rather than pulling back to comment on it — is what makes Sign Language feel generous rather than condescending.
Professional human-billboard's last day. The premise has dignity and Oscar Sharp later did real work — but Virgin Media Shorts is a commercial prize and the film knows what it's selling.
Oscar Sharp takes the most visually overlooked job in the city — human billboard — and makes it a meditation on dignity. Virgin Media Shorts winner; the kind of small-scale grace that's hard to fake.
Festivals
- Virgin Media Shorts 2010, Winner