Review of Asad

"Asad" is an American / South African 17-minute live action short film from 2012, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. It was written and directed by Bryan Buckley and the cast is apparently (if we trust the closing credits) exclusively Somalian refugees, which means that you will most likely not recognize any of the actors' names from other projects or films. It is the story of a boy who lives in Somalia and is confronted on a daily basis with what you could call the piracy sector. He helps an honorable fisherman by agreeing to take care of a huge fish, but ends up losing the fish when he has to help his friend who gets harassed and threatened by a gang of violent thugs. So how to make up for it. Eventually, piracy still has something positive in store for him as a lucky coincidence provides him with a rare white lion. I must say the film's biggest strength is probably its authenticity. It really feels as if we are watching a documentary almost. Acting is solid, but it really is all about the plot and even if the white lion part came a bit out of nowhere, it still worked I guess. It's okay this one got an Oscar nomination, even if I would not call it a great film. Still, it is definitely more deserving of the win than the really overrated Curfew, the actual winner. I give "Asad" (named after the title character) a thumbs-up and suggest you watch it if you manage to get your hands on a copy. Make sure you get a good set of subtitles unless you are fluent in Somali.