FATHER FIGURES | Omeleto Drama

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Күн бұрын

A man works as a 'dad-for-hire'.
FATHER FIGURES is used with permission from Alessandro Chille. Learn more at fatherfiguresf....
Harold has a strange job: he works as a professional "dad-for-hire" for people who don't have fathers in their lives. His clients range from wounded souls looking for a dad to rage and yell at, to a son needing to talk to a father before his wedding, to a father who wants a grandfather to celebrate his young daughter's birthday with.
Harold's presence as a "hired dad" is meant to support and heal the people who hire him. But he discovers that to truly help them, he needs to confront the grief that led him to the job in the first place.
Directed and written by Alessandro Chille, this compelling short drama has an intriguing premise: a man hiring himself out as a professional father figure to men who have lost their dads. By following Harold through his various and incarnations, the film explores the various capacities and roles that fathers play, as well as the impact of the job on Harold, who must resolve his own unfinished business as a parent.
The set-up could sound glib, but the somber, almost minimal tenor of the storytelling, along with the wintry austerity of the visuals, treats Harold's work with great respect, capturing the intimacy and vulnerability of Harold's clients with sensitivity and restraint. Each of Harold's clients are wildly different from one another, from a young man longing for his deceased father before his wedding day or an angry son who wants to berate his absent dad for the abuse he meted out before abandoning his family once and for all. Rendered in spare but effective dialogue, the range of these situations captures the profound impact that different kinds of fathers can have, from the achingly loving to the painfully toxic.
Actor Steven Hauck gives a powerful, restrained performance as Harold. a man trying to fit himself into each father role's emotional demands, serving sometimes as a kindly, warm presence or a callous, angry one. But he also evokes a core emptiness within Harold, and how each situation begins to wear him down. Each time he plays dad, he remembers his role as father to the child he lost, and eventually, his job takes a toll on him. But he's also taken on the role of father for other lost young men, and he must look within himself to help them forward.
FATHER FIGURES is a meditation on fatherhood, but it also captures the unique grief of a parent who has lost a child. For many parents bereaving a son or daughter, they never stop being a mother or father, even when the child is longer there to parent. The figure of Harold captures his emotional truth; he lost his son but still aches for an outlet to put his love and care. In his unorthodox solution, the film also touches on the idea of found and chosen families, and how we care and heal one another through connection. Harold and his surrogate sons may not be related by blood, and they are thrown together by desperation. But by bearing witness to each other's struggles, they can access a kind of healing that comes from mutual empathy and compassion.

Пікірлер: 20

@Tamingsouls 3 ай бұрын

If I knew that this hug/father was the last hug, I would've stayed in his arms forever!

@marita2007aus 3 ай бұрын

I could write an essay on this one from a psychoanalytic point of view. Twisted brilliance, role play reversal, grief stages....well done

@michellejohnson592 3 ай бұрын

You put soooo much in 14 minutes. It's such a moving story.

@CommonSenseRevolution 3 ай бұрын

The quality of filmwork Omeleto consistenly delivers is incredible. Again, another superbly well done work. Emotional story, excellent cinematography, and amazing acting finishing off with a stupendous soundtrack. I often find myself 'Shazamming' the music if I don't see it in the credits. The ending song in this film is "Close to Me - CHPTRS". Very tastefully chosen considering the topic of this short. Well done Omeleto and the makers of this film.

@1Kaileegirl 3 ай бұрын

Incredible short movie The actors were all brilliant

@valerieking5265 3 ай бұрын

I watched this short film when it was previously released and it still brings up so many emotions even now. My Dad died in 2013 and my Mom died earlier this year, so this video hits me on a completely different level now.