Below you’ll find the first of an upcoming series by Drink in the Movies own Anna Harrison in which she provides a capsule review of Oscar Qualifying Short Films. Alina won the Oscar-qualifying Award at Bengaluru International Short Film Festival. Remember to keep an eye out in the coming weeks for her correlating interviews and capsule reviews!
Audiences can view Alina at the follow film festivals: Hollywood Women’s Film Festival, Queen Palm International Film Festival, Asti International Film Festival, Borrego Springs Film Festival, Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival, and Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival.
Written by Anna Harrison
70/100
Alina wastes little time with its opening as viewers are thrust into the middle of a Nazi raid in the Warsaw Ghetto, surrounded by shouting and gunshots. At only 25 minutes long, the film has no time to waste: director Rami Kodeih immediately signals the stakes through rapid-fire editing (Kodeih served as editor and producer as well) and expert deployment of Zoë Keating’s cello-filled score, its staccato notes matching the frenetic cuts as Alina (Alia Shawkat) rushes to smuggle another woman’s child out of the ghetto. Kodeih knows when to pull back as well and let the camera linger, building a different kind of tension that is no less effective.
The film highlights the unswerving bravery of a group of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and focuses on the titular character rather than wallowing in the atrocities of the Nazis who follow her—though it certainly shows us their casual cruelty throughout, especially in a memorable scene where one officer forces Alina to remove her bra. Alina is the driving force behind the film, and Alia Shawkat plays her well, though viewers are left to fill in the gaps about her past and motivations. The other characters largely feel stock, though the film is so short that it would be hard to give everyone in-depth development. Still, even with these flaws, Alina remains a tight, stirring portrayal of heroism in the face of danger, elevated by its technical aspects rather than its script.
You can also read Anna’s Interview with Rami Kodeih the director of Alina or you can follow more of Anna’s work on Letterboxd and her website
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