“A beautiful portrait of the trappings of screen addiction by a brilliant filmmaker whose name we will not be forgetting!” Marcus Blake | That Nerd Show!!!
It’s true that short films never get as much attention as feature films. Often shown as a working concept, short films can show an audience all the possibilities of what would make a great story for a featured film. But every once in a while, I come across a short film that is so powerful in its message that it feels like I’m watching a poignant full-length movie. Valentina El Harizi’s, “Behind the Scenes” is one of those rare films that even though the story would make for a great feature length film, It may just be better as a 20-minute short film that’s beautiful, concise, and sends a powerful message about the dangers of social media and screen addiction. And what’s even more remarkable is that this film was made by a then 17-year-old filmmaker whose entire growing up has been in a world with social media. This isn’t an insult towards young filmmakers, but a compliment to help receptive the director is on the subject when most teenagers view life through social media and lack intimate connection. I thought the film was great and is certainly a must see!
The story centers around a couple whose life is portrayed on social media mostly by the girlfriend who as she states, is wanting to show off the best versions of her and her boyfriend, but the great irony being it is only a facade. The themes in the movie are very real in that social media is a way to show off the best persons of ourselves or what we think are the best versions. Handed his become more and more common that the connections we crave in society are through the words and pictures we put out to the world and how many people see or like. It has only gotten worse since the pandemic when it seemed like all our lives were centered around social media. But as you can imagine, this perfect love story begins to crumble when one doesn’t want their entire lives displayed on social media. But the other must show the world how perfectly in love they are which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Oscar Wilde… “Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth!” This isn’t a simple story, there are many layers to it but as the audience peels back those layers they will find that all that is being displayed are the masks that these characters put up and show the world. Perhaps that is the real danger of social media, we don’t really put our true selves out there, only what we want people to see!
This 20-minute film is brilliantly shot through different color tones that greatly display the mood that the characters go through. There’s a lot of metaphor built into the story especially with the Greek statues. For a short film, there’s a lot of deep thinking that goes into the story that will make us question more about our connection online, then maybe we really want to. I think that’s the brilliance of the film and more about how perceptive the director is within telling this kind of story. Valentina El Harizi direction and performance is fantastic. At 18, she is already a force to be reckoned with as a filmmaker and I feel that we will certainly remember her name in the future. But for the debut view of a first film, she knocks it out of the park with a meaningful and poignant story about the connections that people crave online and holds up with a mirror the frailties of humanity. This is not a film that will be forgotten, but will be thoroughly discussed among film buffs and film students as it should be. And even if you don’t like the film, you will be discussing it… that’s the true genius of this young filmmaker whose name we won’t be forgetting! “Behind the scenes” is definitely a film that everybody should see.
