Whore #4
2021 · 8m · UK
Directed by Florence Winter Hill
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, humorous, provocative
Dasha, a struggling Russian actress living in London, endures a demoralizing carousel of auditions where she is repeatedly typecast in stereotypical Eastern European roles — models, cleaners, spies, and sex workers — that are far beneath her actual talent and training.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Eastern European actress montage about being cast as Eastern European actresses — sharp premise, jump-cut energy, and the title alone has more personality than half of this batch. Yes.
Florence Winter Hill turns the audition montage into a satirical engine for industry-wide ethnic typecasting — Fleabag-adjacent but with sharper sociopolitical teeth. The bright-color jump-cut grammar suggests genuine formal ambition.
Seven minutes of bright colors, jump cuts, and dreamlike musical quality turning the soul-crushing audition grind into a pointed industry critique — that's exactly the form-meets-content marriage that makes a short feel essential. Sasha Alexis carrying it solo as a single performer in a montage structure is the right scale.
Reviews
This short is such a fun spin on the acting experience, allowing us to see how soul destroying trying to get a part can be, yet even worse when the character doesn't even have a name.
Festivals
- Norwich Film Festival 2021
- Women X Film Festival 2021
- BFI Future Film Festival 2023