Koimoi Recommends Oscar 2021 Nominated Short Film Feeling Through(Pic Credit: Youtube/Omeleto)
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Koimoi Recommends Feeling Through: All of us born on this planet are seeking something. Some fame, some power, everyone money and a few ‘home’. There is a thing about encounters with strangers that have a realisation worth a lifetime to offer. Remember when Nick & Brooke met in Before We Go, or Jesse and Celine in Before Sunrise? Oscar 2021 has a short film, ‘Feeling Through’ nominated in the Best Live Action Short category, a piece of art that is still lingering in my thoughts and will hit every time I spark a conversation with a stranger. Today on Koimoi Recommends, I suggest you watch this short, also known as Omeleto, a film about a homeless helping another find his home.
Director: Doug Roland
Language: English
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Available On: YouTube
Coming straight out of writer-director Doug Roland’s real-life experience, Feeling Through begins with a young man Tereek (Steven Prescord), trying to convince his girlfriend to let him crash at her place for a night. She disagrees, and he is left homeless. Across the street, he sees a calm man Artie (Robert Tarango), standing with a placard in hand, which reads, “Blind and deaf, please help me cross the road”. Tereek decides to help him and ends up with a ‘homely’ experience for the first time ever in his life.
I would suggest you get in Feeling Through reading about everyone involved with the film. Director Doug Roland met a deaf-blind man for real in 2011 and has been behind making this film a reality since then. Robert Tarango was born deaf. Another life-threatening disease took away his eyesight. His biggest wish was to become an actor, and he made his debut with Omeleto. Steven Prescord was imprisoned at the age of 16 for robbery. Joining theatre gave his life a new direction.
Feeling Through, in a way, has given these three lives a purpose. You see, why the realism, love, art and quest for belonging shines so bright in this 18-minute short film. Doug, who is credited as the writer and director, might have had the most enlightening night of his life when he met the real Artie. In his film, he makes Tereek a subject that sees a transformation. You meet him as a clueless boy having no strong purpose or anchor to his life. He finds sparkle when he decides to help a blind man.
Both start conversing, and he learns his language. They introduce each other. And in a moment when Tereek realises how fulfilled Artie is with what he has, is where Feeling Through starts living up to its name. In a runtime of 18 minutes, Roland shows how many are dealing with problems bigger than us and more gracefully. He even touches on how empathy is not the virtue of the world in general, and only a few posses it. When the shopkeeper looks at Artie with an alien gaze, or the bus driver refers to him as ‘the man’ even after knowing his name, Roland with Tereek makes you realise how much we lack empathy for the lesser abled in the smallest of our moves towards them.
It is the moment after that, when Tereek is validated by another stranger who with a smile and a nod appreciates his help to Artie, is where magic concludes. A young man who has only experienced temporary refuge has finally experienced a permanent feeling of being there for someone.
(Pic Credit: Youtube/Omeleto)
There is a lot to explore in Feeling Through, and I want you to do some of it for yourself. I can assure you one thing, the next time you meet a stranger in real need, your face will have a broad smile, and you will lend your hands, after watching this one. A fine choice Academy, kudos!
